World Union of German Shepherd Associations
All over the world, almost half a million friends and lovers of the breed German Shepherd are banded together internationally via the German Shepherd clubs of their country.
German Shepherd breeding clubs originated in Europe soon after the foundation of the SV. All over, lovers and friends of the breed banded together in their own breed clubs, spreading the breed’s popularity. The SV, which already at that time was selling dogs to all countries of the world, was especially interested in consolidating its relationship with foreign associations. In 1968, the SV therefore called to life an initiative aiming to promote the international collaboration in all different areas and preserve the uniformity of the breed. Its objective was (foremost) a Europe-wide union of the associations in the neighbor countries.
A few months later, the undertaking was successful. In May 1968, the representatives of German Shepherd associations of eleven nations came together in Augsburg to deliberate upon the foundation of an international association for German Shepherds. After a busy weekend, it was born – the Europa-Union der Vereine für deutsche Schäferhunde (EUSV) (European Union of German Shepherd Associations): Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, the former Czechoslovakia and the Federal Republic of Germany founded the new union.
Five years later, this supra-national union became the nucleus of a bigger and more important federation – a World Union of German Shepherd Associations. In 1974/75, the foundation took place – since then, the WUSV has grown to 95 member associations in 88 countries. Its aim: uniform breed standard, comparison of positions and of the evaluations of German Shepherds in breeding and performance, clarification of open questions about breeding and training, upbringing and keeping as well as the abatement of hereditary diseases. Its head office reside with the SV in Augsburg.
One of the peaks of the WUSV work was reached in 1988: In that year, the existing European Championship of German Shepherds was substituted by the WUSV World Championship. The championship is now one of the annual highlights for international German Shepherd enthusiasts.