The modern day German Shepherd breed is a cross between the long-haired, short-haired and wire-haired shepherd dogs of the German regions of Württemberg, Thuringia and Bavaria. Initially bred for herding, due to their strength, intelligence and excellent temperament, they became popular as guard dogs, guide dogs, search and rescue dogs, police dogs and military dogs. The German Shepherd was first recognised by the AKC in 1908. The white coated variant was removed from the main breed standard in 1968, and was conserved by breeders in Switzerland which developed the breed seen today. In some countries this is called the White Swiss Shepherd or the Berger Blanc Suisse. Due to its shared ancestry with the German Shepherd lines, and the nature of genetics, it is possible that some German Shepherd signals are reported as White German Shepherd in the ancestry chart; especially in a white mixed breed. However, the size, conformation and behavior is the same, so this is not surprising.