Bhuachaille German Shepherds Pat and Tom Smith Lakesland, NSW Australia Ph : (02) 46809289 Email : bhu1968@bigpond.com

"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 honour 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 grave side 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

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, but when his turn came to present a summation to the jury, he made the above speech and won the case.

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Whilst you are here, please enjoy a short history of the GSD, in Australia.

Commencing in 1968, and continuing to the present day. I have used photos of my own dogs, from that time, to give you an idea of the radical changes that have been made in Australia, in the last 28 years, since the lifting of the import ban.

I believe it is common knowledge throughout the German Shepherd dog world, that a ban was imposed upon the importation of GSDs into Australia in 1929. This ban was imposed by the Government of the day due to lobbying by members of the Graziers Association, who believed our dogs would mate with the wild dog, the dingo, thereby giving the offspring brains as well as the dingo cunning, plus greater strength.

Through the "very" great efforts of a few, dedicated members of The German Shepherd Dog Council of Australia, the ban was eventually lifted in 1972, for a trial period of 12 months, after a total of 43 years and thankfully is still lifted to this day. During the ban and against all odds, staunch and loyal Shepherd enthusiasts continued to breed their beloved dogs, and might I say improve the breed with what little they had to work with.

In Consequence when the ban was lifted Australian breeders had bitches, some quite nice for that era, and they were able to breed on with the newly imported bloodlines.

Enclosed within these pages is both the past and the present and naturally we are still looking ahead with eager anticipation to the future.