Good for a growing family

Question
Hi i was wondering if you could give me some insight on the breed? Me and my fiance want to get another dog, we currently have a 10 mnth old collie mix. I've always loved the shepard but i dont know much about there temperment. We're getting maried next year and we want to have a family soon after the wedding. Are they good with babies and young childern? how much activity do they need a day? How "hyper" are they as puppies? What are the down fall of the breed? Any advice would be wonderful
thank you
Stacy

Answer
Shepherds are a real crapshoot.  They are near the top of great breeds along with Poodles and Dalmations ruined by over popularity and uncontrolled breeding.  A good Shepherd with good leadership is fine with children and babies.  Our daughter has one plus a 2 1/2 year old and a newborn.  If you have a fenced area for it to run in, a Shepherd may not need much more activity.  Up until she was about 4 months old, I though the one Shepherd we had was as active as a Lab.  then she settled down and di very well.  However, dogs are individuals, and any given Shepherd may or may not be right for you.  

Finding a good breeder and purchasing a puppy that will make a good pet is very difficult. Almost nobody is intentionally breeding dogs to be nice pets. Most of your so called reputable breeders are breeding for show or something. They may say the puppies they don't keep for their purpose make great pets, but the truth is that the parents were selected for other than health and temperament. Often they keep the puppies in the kennel too long and they miss the important early socialization puppies need to live in the house with people.

Next are the disreputable breeders. Puppy mills breed any 2 registered dogs they can lay a hold of looking only at the money they can make selling them to pet stores. Pet store puppies are easy to find, but difficult to socialize into nice pets, perhaps difficult to even keep alive. You will not get what you pay for at a pet store.

Backyard breeders are only slightly better. At least there, most of the breeding stock is acceptable to live in somebody's home as a pet. Unfortunately many of them know nothing about what it takes to produce quality puppies. Some of them are breeding for the selfish pleasure of vicarious motherhood, and others the same greed as puppy mills. If you don't get good answers to questions about allergies or OFA and CERF certification, go elsewhere.

Avoid puppies forced to live in their filth or that saw little outside their kennel between 6-12 weeks. At 7-8 weeks, a puppy is quick to adjust to its new home, new people, and new things. Past 12 weeks, it may never adjust to its new life as well. Even some of the better breeders hold puppies too long without proper socilization.

One of the best sources for dogs with a predictable personality is the rescue dogs. These are dogs that lost their home, but were taken into a foster home to be retrained as necessary and placed in the right home for them. You may find a rescue near you starting at http://www.akc.org/breeds/rescue.cfm The rescues charge a fee to help cover their expenses, but is much less than the price of a puppy plus all its medical expenses the first year.