Rin Tin Tin - The Worlds Best Known German Shepherd Dog

I imagine you have heard of the name Rin Tin Tin before. Especially if you are a dog lover of any kind. And if you are a German Shepherd lover, then this is almost a must have to be a part of the GSD club. ;)

Yes, Rin Tin Tin was a real dog. In fact, this particular name was given to several German Shepherds over the years, all descendants of the original.

And the name and memory of that one GSD is now connected to our history in many ways - as a member of the German Shepherd Dog breed, as a well known and loved movie star and as a part of German Shepherd history too. But just what do you know about "Rinty" anyway?

There is a lot of misinformation to be found in connection to this dog. Legend and myth over the years have made this particular German Shepherd Dog a hero and a legend and almost a superhero in his own right too.

And this dog did it all too! He was in movies, both silent films and the talkies too, on various radio shows and even on one of the most popular TV shows of the entire baby boom era, "The Adventures of Rin-Tin-Tin". If you were a child in the thirties, fourties or fifties, then you were probably a part of the universal-ness of this wonderful dog and all his adventures too.

Turns out, the beginnings of this one GSD, Rinty, were much more humble. Found along with his mother and littermates by an American soldier, Lee Duncan, when he was only a few days old, RTT was born in France during WW1, probably sometime in the beginning of September 1918 (but no one knows the exact date).

Lee Duncan took ownership of Rinty and a sister he named Nanette, and the mother and other littermates were given to others - these other German Shepherds never reached the United States. From the beginning Duncan thought the female GSD puppy was the brighter of the two German Shepherd puppies he had rescued.

There are numerous books written about the life of this one German Shepherd Dog. There are also many movies available that you can watch too, TV shows you can see and even relatives of Rinty that can still be seen today thanks to the lifelong work of Daphne Hereford.

So if you want to learn even more about this wonderful German Shepherd you can easily, thanks to reruns, movies and even Youtube! After all, as far as Daphne Hereford is concerned, who has lived with Rinty bloodline pups since she was 7, "There will always be a Rin Tin Tin."

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" Buy a pup and your money will buy love unflinching." -- Rudyard Kipling