width: 100% body { font-size: 16px; } .small { font-size: 12px; /* 75% of the baseline */ } .large { font-size: 20px; /* 125% of the baseline */ }
About Us
alternate

Our Mission:

The object of the Club shall be to encourage and promote the breeding of purebred German Shepherd Dogs and to do all possible to bring their natural qualities to perfection, to urge members and breeders to accept the standard of the breed as adopted by the German Shepherd Dog Club of America and approved by the American Kennel Club as the only standard of excellence by which the German Shepherd Dog shall be judged. To do all in its power to protect and advance the interests of the breed by encouraging sportsmanlike competition at dog shows, obedience trials, and tracking tests, to aid with every possible means in demonstrating the German Shepherd Dog's conspicuous ability as a companion, war, Red Cross, police, herding, rescue dog, and lead dog for the blind. To conduct shows, obedience trials, demonstrations, etc., under the rules of the American Kennel Club, to publish literature and periodicals in the interests of the German Shepherd Dog. The Club shall not be conducted or operated for a profit, and no part of any profits or remainder or residue from dues or donations to the Club shall inure to the benefit of any member or individual.

 

Our History:

The German Shepherd Dog Club of St Louis was founded in 1926 and was incorporated in 1927. We are affiliated with the American Kennel Club and German Shepherd Dog Club of America.  In 1960, the club set aside one acre to serve as a cemetery for police service dogs at the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department K-9 Corp Cemetery at Fort Belle Fontaine County Park in Spanish Lake, MO. (Refurbished Cemetery Honors St. Louis Area Police Dogs). This cemetery is supposed to be near the Canine Training School, 1330 Bellefontaine Road, St Louis, MO.

If You Had Ever Had
No Words Are Needed

Tribute to the Dog

 

George Graham Vest (1830-1904) served as U.S. Senator from Missouri from 1879 to 1903 and became one of the leading orators and debaters of his time. This delightful speech is from an earlier period in his life when he practiced law in a small Missouri town. It was given in court while representing a man who sued another for the killing of his dog. During the trial, Vest ignored the testimony, and when his turn came to present a summation to the jury, he made the following speech and won the case.

 

Gentlemen of the Jury: The best friend a man has in the world may turn against him and become his enemy. His son or daughter that he has reared with loving care may prove ungrateful. Those who are nearest and dearest to us, those whom we trust with our happiness and our good name may become traitors to their faith. The money that a man has, he may lose. It flies away from him, perhaps when he needs it most. A man's reputation may be sacrificed in a moment of ill-considered action. The people who are prone to fall on their knees to do us honor when success is with us, may be the first to throw the stone of malice when failure settles its cloud upon our heads.

 

The one absolutely unselfish friend that man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him, the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous is his dog. A man's dog stands by him in prosperity and in poverty, in health and in sickness. He will sleep on the cold ground, where the wintry winds blow and the snow drives fiercely, if only he may be near his master's side. He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer. He will lick the wounds and sores that come in encounters with the roughness of the world. He guards the sleep of his pauper master as if he were a prince. When all other friends desert, he remains. When riches take wings, and reputation falls to pieces, he is as constant in his love as the sun in its journey through the heavens.

 

If fortune drives the master forth, an outcast in the world, friendless and homeless, the faithful dog asks no higher privilege than that of accompanying him, to guard him against danger, to fight against his enemies. And when the last scene of all comes, and death takes his master in its embrace and his body is laid away in the cold ground, no matter if all other friends pursue their way, there by the graveside will the noble dog be found, his head between his paws, his eyes sad, but open in alert watchfulness, faithful and true even in death.

 

George Graham Vest - c. 1855