GSDs - soft or scary? Discussions

As much as it would make our lives easier I would be sad to have a robot dog or child. I like my rebel girl ;-) she is quite a character

And if some people are frightened of her and cross the street then it is not something I have noticed because I dont' tend to think of her as fearsome. I was bitten by a border collie on a farm when I was a child but it hasn't made me frightened of collies. Do you think the non-dog owners who are frightened of shepherds are a bit fearful of all dogs?

Oh I agree, I love the character/cheekiness my dogs have

I would guess that some of the non-dog owners who are scared of shepherds are possibly fearful of all dogs, but I do also think there is something about shepherds that scares some people (I wonder if some are scared because of their "wolf" look?).

I think it`s because GSDs have traditionally been used as security / enforcement dogs by police and armed forces, so when people see them in action they are pretty confrontational.
One passing chav admired Daisy then regaled his friends with the tale of how this `awesome` police dog chased him down when he was burgling a gaff, and admiringly spoke of its` speed and power. Effin amazin he said.

Neither as far as I am concerned I have never owned a GSD but have been badly bitten by one as a 10 year old culminating in over 30 stitches in my left hand and wrist (still have scars) I find the majority I come in contact with when out and about with my dog are confident and sensible dogs and are o as a breed but when they are allowed to become too cocky or too unsocialised they are a bit of a nightmare...but same can be said of most breeds.

About 15 years or so ago lots of really hyper GSD's around but now I see mostly sensible ones.....

Some of it depends on the handler but in some lines there are a lot of weak temperaments, if you breed from a 'windy' bitch you are going to get nervous pups then if they go into homes that do not socialise at an early age they will stay nervous and develop fear aggression.

My current male was brought up working with people whom had LD and challenging behaviours: he is 100% around people and you can take him anywhere without him reacting even an acute psychiatric ward.
He is 99.9% sound around other dogs and will put up with a lot before reacting even strange dogs. The dogs he doesnt like on the estate are 1 jack russel type 2 westies and a mongrel all were aggressive and allowed to attack my other GSD by their owners when he was alive, Zandi is like an elephant never forgets a person or dog. He will defend my other dogs past and present if they are under attack from others, he will also defend people from other people if they are under attack. But he knows the difference between an aggressive human and an unwell one, and will not show aggression just because some one is shouting or screaming.

Zandi sounds amazing Pam!

Bullies are the only people who put fear into Respect!