re: German Shepherds as Pets (with cats, small dogs, and kids)

I currently have a 5 year old German Shepherd female.

She is far and away the most intelligent dog I've ever had. When she was young, we spent every free hour I had working on training, training, and more training. I wouldn't feed her breakfast...I'd take her big bowl of food, fill it up, and work on basic commands...sit, stay, lay down, heel, wait, taking food from my hand gently, etc over and over and over, one little piece of dog food at a time. By 1 year old, her behavior was near perfect.

I don't have kids here living with her, but kids next door often play with her. She loves it and is super gentle with them. I do have a Labrador puppy here with her now, and they get along great. The German has never once had an issue with anybody at my house. The one time I've ever seen her display any aggressiveness is at the vet. When she goes in for her yearly shots and checkup, she ALWAYS shows teeth and/or snaps at the vets, even with me holding her. Something about getting that stool sample thing shoved up her arse and the needles that she just isn't a fan of.

They are very family oriented and demand attention. She was very destructive as a puppy if she wasn't given attention. I couldn't leave her inside while I wasn't home because she'd chew anything in sight. Indoor potty training was a breeze though. This labrador is giving me fits with that. Now she has chilled out and I can leave her indoors all day if I need to and she won't bother a thing.

The absolute worst thing about her is the frickin hair. When I tell you that you will have to sweep/vacuum every single day, I mean that. The shedding is terrible, especially in the spring/summer.