general info

Question
was looking to buy a German shepherd.  a friends friend is willing to sell a German shepherd which is 6 months old.  Was wondering if this is too old of an age to get a dog also wondering which is more of a protective sex, male or female? is it also possible to train it at this age or should i get one at a younger age and if so how old would you recommend? any additional information would be greatly appreciated. thank you for your time.

Answer
Going with the 6 month old sounds good.  I don't think a male or a female make much difference.  Understand that if you want it to keep its mind on protecting you, it must be fixed.  There are some advantages to starting with a 7-8 week old puppy.  You can carefully expose it to the environment and things it will need to be comfortable around.  Past 12 weeks, dogs are less likely to accept new things.  OTH, a young puppy is a lot of work requiring large amounts of time and work.  You also are constantly running to the vet's for shots.$$$$$   Even with the best shot schedule, a puppy can still pick up fatal diseases.  

You can train a dog at any age.  I start training my puppies the day I get them at 7 weeks.  You must keep the training sessions short, only a couple of repetitions at a time.  Those that wait until the dog is older are successful too.