I know this seems a stupid question, but ......?

I know that in England we used to call the German Shepherds Alsatians. The fashions changed and they started to call them German Shepherds over the years. The dog is the same breed but has changed a lot over the years as the breeders concentrated on getting very low slung dogs (with the consequence of hip dysplacia) and lighter dogs. The Alsatian fell out of fashion after it became the most popular breed and was overbred and hit the headlines for attacking children like the rottweiler nowadays. In short German Shepherd became the 'posh name' for the alsatian.