Just bean speaking to a customer and said a campaign has been launched to seperate the breeds of Alsatian and German Shepard? I always naively thought this was the same excuse my ignorance but what's the difference?

As a quick answer: They are one and the same

I am sure others will be along later to provide a more detailed answer :)

http://www.thealsatian.co.uk/index.html
Apparently some people would like a split.

the only difference is in 'type' and attitude, people within the breed want a split it's not really to do with the dog, which is of course the same breed, although you can get very different types

I suppose it's like the show-bred v working-bred cocker and springer spaniels. They look like completely different breeds.

An Alsatian is a German Shepherd there is no difference the name was changed during the war because people did not like to think they owned a German dog and perhaps feared retaliation.

The correct name is German Shepherd Dog.

> [url=undefined]http://www.thealsatian.co.uk/index.html[/url]
> Apparently some people would like a split.

Isn't that similar to what happened with the Akita and Akita Inu?

I can see the logic/why some people want this split, and what springs to mind for me is the Cocker Spaniel and the American Cocker, which originally was the same breed.

I think some of it is because of the differences in showing between continent and UK - some people would rather go away from the KC with their GSD and leave the UK to have their British lines 'Alsatian', some of those seeking to call the breed 'Alsation' prefer the more UK type.

by the way it's nothing to do with the 'correct' terminology, the people involved know why the names are there, it's just that some prefer one way and others prefer the other.....