Do German Shepherd make good family pet?
VERY few of the hundreds of shepherds I’ve worked with as a vet assistant and as a German shepherd rescue volunteer have been aggressive. They are large strong dogs with a protective instinct and so they NEED to be well socialized and trained in order to make good pets…but a well socialized and well trained GSD is a GREAT family pet. I own two and while one is fearful (we got her as an adult and she was not socialized as a puppy) of people and would *probably* bite if she felt threatened and cornered enough she would MUCH rather run away. And if people are ignoring her she is fine around small groups of strangers. My other dog WAS well socialized as a puppy and is a big marshmallow. He can sometimes be a little wary of people we meet one-on-one (like walking down the street) but put him in a crowd of 20+ people and he’s ALL about the attention. He’s horribly tolerant of young creatures, both four-legged and two-legged, and while he will bark at people who enter our house for a few mi
