The first German shepherd dog was bred in the 1890s by Captain Max von Stephanitz in hopes of breeding the perfect herding dog. The captain would go on to dedicate his life to the breed, and he eventually began the organization that would introduce and popularize Schutzhund.
Originally, German shepherds were herding dogs, but the industrialization of Germany encouraged breeders to promote the use of their dogs as police and military dogs. Captain von Stephanitz was concerned that this change in vocation would lead to careless breeding of the dogs and undesirable traits such as mental instability. This motivated him to found the Verein fur Deutsche Schaferhunde (German Shepherd Association in English), also known as the SV.
The SV developed the Schutzhund test to emphasize the correct working temperament and ability in the German shepherd, and the first Schutzhund trial was held in Germany in 1901. This trial was to emphasize the correct working temperament and ability in the German shepherd breed. These trials continued as it was believed that they helped produce dogs of the highest working ability, in addition to eliminating from the gene pool those that couldn’t handle the workload.
Since then, many other countries and working dog organizations have also adopted Schutzhund as a sport and a test of working performance in dogs. International rules have been established, and they are administered by the Verein fur Deutsche Hundesport, or VDH (German Dog Sports Association).