Manfred Heyne is now 74 years old. He has spent most of his lifetime with sheep and German Shepherd dogs. He is the most successful breeder and the most successful instructor in the SV. But hardly anyone knows him. That is the reason why the “Der Gebrauchushud” visited him in his home town of Wartenberg (Hessen) to get to know something about the original work of the German shepherd dog.

People who compete in the sport of schutzhund and breeders often like to quote the founder of the SV. But which point of view did von Stephanitz have? One can look it up in his book, the German Shepherd Dog In World and picture: “The true and most noble job of the German shepherd dog is of course looking after the herds and, as the name says, specifically the sheep herds.”

Manfred Heyne originally comes from Meissen (Sachsen). As a little boy at his grandfather’s house, he got to know goats and sheep and was especially fascinated by the little lambs. He still remembers the wooden toy horse barn he got as a Christmas present when he was six years old. “You know what I did? I took the two horses and carriage and put them under my bed. When spring came, I took pussy willow buds and put them into the barn. They were my lambs!” At the age of sixteen Heyne started his education with Schäfermieister Walter LorenZ. He learned from one of the best. Lorenz was 1943 Reichsieger (National Herding Champion), then later two-times DDR Herding Sieger (DDR Herding Champion). After his apprenticeship – he had just completed his Journeyman’s examination – Manfred had his first herding competition with his Schäfermieister Lorenz. The result was that the other shepherds were shamed into announcing that they would not come again to this competition. Schäfermieister Lorenz won and Journeyman Heyne came in second! [Both Lorenz and Heyne scored the same points. In the case of a tie the higher placing goes to the senior shepherd – in this case it was Schäfermieister LorenZ.)

After Walter Lorenz won the Reichsieger title in 1943, he was invited to be honored at the Albrechtsburg Castle in Meissen. The whole castle yard was filled with Nazi Party members and members of the SA.As Lorenz was going up to accept his honor one of the GAU (county) leaders yelled into the microphone: “why aren’t you in the Nazi Party yet?” Lorenz turned red in the face and yelled back: “if this is what it is all about you could have asked me that earlier!”

Lorenz turned around and quickly left the castle yard. As a result of his “disobedience” Lorenz almost got thrown into a concentration camp. The very famous SV breeder Willi Hantsche (vom Burg Fasanantal, breeder of many herding dogs) used his influence to prevent this. As an alternative punishment Lorenz was instead required to make his famous herding champion, Clothar von Erlingshofen, available every 4 weeks for breeding 2 bitches from the police without getting paid. Hitler’s dog, Blondie, is said to have come from of one of these breedings. Clothar von Erlingshofen was nearly killed at the end of world War II. Russion soldiers went to his kennel and short into it . The dog’s left ear was injured on the inside and [because antibiotics were not available to help the resulting infection] suffered years from this shooting. But Herr Lorenz overcame this problem also.

At the end of his apprenticeship his Schäfermeister Walter Lorenz gave Manfred Heyne a gift – a Clothar von Erlingshofen grandson named Erwin von Der Sobigauer Höhe. A few years later in 1952, after the founding of the DDR, Heyne was sent a draft notice by the Volkspolice. At the same time, the state was in the process of confiscating his boss’ property so they both decided to flee from the DDR. Upon leaving Marlow they went to Rügen where his boss had a girlfriend. But Heyne did not want to stay there. “From Rügen there is only one way in and out, over a dam. I did not want to stay there. It was too great a risk in my opinion. “From Rügen they went on to East Berlin. There his boss’ relatives brought them by subway to the refugee camp in Berlin-Reinickendorf. The leader of the camp told them that they would have to give up their DDR passports in two days. This was a big problem for Heyne because he had left his dog, Erwin, behind with friends in Marlow. He took the subway to pick up Erwin. “All this was a spur –of –the moment decision we made there. “In the refugee camp the people made bets on whether Heyne would make it back—most gave his no chance.

He took the train to Rostock and grabbed a taxi. “It was just good luck that I had a bit of money on me. “Two villages before Marlow, Heyne began to tell the driver why he was going there. “He wanted money from me for not telling anyone and for not bringing me to the police.”
When he arrived at his friend’s in Marlow, Heyne was surprised to find that they had brought his dog to a farm in Ribnitz-Damgarten. And, so, the nighttime taxi drive continued on. “The night seemed to last forever. “Heyne found his dog, put him in the taxi and they went back to Rostock.”

But, now how could Heyne and his dog get back to West Berline? His friends told his that the police were searching for both him and his boss. “I couldn’t take the train. They were too closely watched. So I decided to take the bus.” But as Heyne opened the door of the bus to Berlin, he was shocked to the core. “The whole bus was full of people from Marlow. They were all going to Berlin shopping. “He ran away from theer as fast as he could.

So Heyne did take the train. However, at that time all of the trains were under close surveillance. The trains were escorted by one Volkspolice and one Russion soldier who would escort the trains back and forth between stations. Whole families or anyone with a lot of luggage were assumed to be fleeing the DDR and arrested.

Heyne was very smart and thought of a way to get past the control officers. “ I Went to the conductor and told him that I had to go to the police I n East Berlin. That the police had bought the dog he had with him. But this dog was very vicious. Did they have an empty compartment that he could have?”

Heyne got an empty compartment and sat down next to the door. He held the dog by the collar and every time a policeman or soldier passed by Heyne pulled the collar and whispered “Pass auf” in the dog’s ear. Then when the soldier opened the door, the dog would bark and growl at him. He would shut the door immediately and Heyne had no problem getting to Berlin.
A very exciting story, isn’t it? But why is it printed in “Der Gebrachtshund “? Well, the answer is clear and simple. It was with this dog, Erwin, the one that Manfred Heyne risked his life to get out of the DDR, that he won the SV’s Bundesleistungshüten (National Herding Championship) in 1954 for the first time. With a son of this dog he won the Bundesleistungshüten 13 times with seven dogs:
1954
Erwin vd Sorbigauer Höhe SZ 641855/born 4/13/47
Sire: Aldo vd Birngrudwiese
Dam: Marka vd Liebchesmühle
1959
Clothar v Dreibrüdehof SZ 914420/born 1/6/55
Sire:Erwin vd Sorbigauer Höhe
Dam: Elfe v Himmelfeld
1963
Erlo vd Stammherde Ramholz SZ 969031/born 12/16/58
Sire: Clothar v Dreibrüderhof
Dam: Adelheide vd Stammherde Ramholz
1967, 1969, 1970
Nando vd Stammherde Ramholz SZ 1039447 / born 9/23/62
Sire: Erlo vd Stammherde Ramholz
Dam: Billa v Haus Ufrecht
1972, 1973, 1975
Witz vd Stammherd Ramholz SZ 1107851/ born 6/8/66
Sire: Erlo vd Stammherde Ramholz
Dam: Gera v Mummelsee
1976
Edo vd Stammherde Ramholz SZ 1311164 /born/ 11/19/73
Sire: Witz vd Stammherde Ramholz
Dam: Ulli v Kirschental
1981, 1984, 1985
Fax (Heyne) Reg. 317432/born 9/1/78
Sire: Wotan vd Stammherde Ramholz
Dam: Elfe vd Stammherde Ramholz

There are three million sheep in Germany produced for meat and subsidized by the EU. [The EU pays the shepherd a subsidy of 1.2EU per ewe per year to encourage the grazing of unused cropland and state-owned fields—thereby preventing fallow farmlands from becoming overgrown and saving the state cost of mowing.] Wool production plays only a minor role.

The shepherd used the shepherd dog to manage large flocks of sheep on unfenced land. What is demanded of these shepherd dogs is that they keep the large flocks together on the road as they move from place to place, keep the flock together inside designated boundaries, and, keep the flock out of valuable crop fields during their daily graze.

There are three million sheep in Germany produced for meat and subsidized by the EU. [The EU pays the shepherd a subsidy of 1.2EU per ewe per year to encourage the grazing of unused cropland and state-owned fields—thereby preventing fallow farmlands from becoming overgrown and saving the state cost of mowing.] Wool production plays only a minor role.

The shepherd uses the shepherd dog to mange large flocks of sheep on unfenced land. What is demanded of these shepherd dogs is that they keep the large flocks together on the road as they move from place, keep the flock together inside designated boundaries, and, keep the flock out of valuable crop fields during their daily graze.