@floaton I have a little different story. My shep was a rescue and just under a year old when we got him. He had basic training and he was house broken but other than that nothing special. My dude is very protective of his pack. We recently had to have some A/C work done and when the tech showed up my dude was in full FAaFO mode!!!!!! My wife has takes him with her when she goes to pick up our daughter from work and in a couple of occasions he has given a deep growl to a passer by according to my wife. I also wanted a shep because I do work nights sometimes also and we have a security system but I feel 100% more comfortable knowing that my dude is around. I will say this there are three things that bad guys don’t want to see and that’s dogs, cameras, guns. So even if he just barks loud when someone knocks on your door it gives you a sense of security even if he didn’t bite as king as he sounds like he will that makes people think real hard before trying anything!!!!! Hope this helps and if you have any questions please feel free to ask. Good luck in your search for a furry family member!!!!!
@floaton I wouldn’t get a working line in your situation if I were you. Just from what you’ve described it just doesn’t sound ideal. Your kids are young so they can’t help much and to saddle your wife/SO with the kids and a hyper dog while you’re gone isn’t fair. Show lines are great GSDs too. Most of them love to work and can be very “protective”. If you’re set on a GSD, get a show line. When your kids are older and can help, and you’re ready for a 2nd dog or a “next” dog then maybe consider a working line.
I’ve had a show line and I currently have a working line. My working line, that first year: non stop biting. He was relentless. I wanted to give him back to the breeder every day. Not even close to kidding. High drive, high energy. Everything he does is at full speed. He’s always “on”. He doesn’t do anything at regular speed; everything is fast fast fast. Needs more training than my show line did. More wary of strangers. More wild or primal for lack of better words. At 8 weeks he was already trying to climb stairs. They’re almost like a whole different kind of breed. I personally see working lines as almost like Malinois.
