The German Shepherd Dog truly is a wonderful animal and not only do they make good working dogs they also make superb family pets They are however very different from other pet breeds and need to be handled and trained with a different approach to say your average labrador or poodle for instance.The GSD is a large strong athletic dog which needs a lot of mental stimulation and exercise but a well trained shepherd can learn to do almost anything These dogs positively thrive on challenging activities and they are so willing to serve their master and please As a working dog used by most police forces the very look of a GSD is usually enough to act as a deterrent but when called into action there are few dogs that can match the German Shepherd as an all rounder.