For instance, the ‘Alsatian wolf-dog’ comes from Alsace, a territory contested by France and Germany for many years. These canines are better known in English as German shepherds, although during the world wars, many English speakers preferred to call them ‘Alsatian wolf-dogs’ or simply ‘Alsatians’. Similarly, German boarhounds were renamed Great Danes (possibly as a reference to an earlier breed known as grand danois in French). Great Danes may be Great, but they’re not Danish. The canine-themed nationalism went in both directions. Certain long-legged hunting hounds bred in Germany were initially called Englischer Hundes, or ‘English dogs’, because their mix included English breeds. In Germany, they were renamed Deutsche Dogges, or ‘German dogs’, even before the world wars.
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