Intellagence in the german shepard

Question
Hi, I am adding a german shepard to the family this summer and even thou I've read many things about them and know they are renowned police dogs I was wondering how smart these dogs really are? Is a labrador retreiver compariable in intellgence to a german shepard?

Also I can devote at lest a 15 minute daily sesion to clicker training the puppy once he or she comes home... will this be enough to get the point across and train the puppy? I really only want the dog to come/sit/down and stay nothing else really matters to me I am experianced in house and crate training so dont need any help to do that.

And will the puppy be ok penned indoors or crated indoors for 5-8 hours 4/5 days a wekk like my other dogs? It will recive a 10 minute morning walk and we've a large yard for the dogs to run around in,  

Answer
Labrador retrievers and German shepherds are two totally different breeds that were created for two totally different purposes. The lab was created for bird hunters, to fetch a bird after it was shot. The German shepherd originated as a flock tending. Note I did not say 'herding,' because the German shepherd does not herd like, say, a border collie or cattle dog - a German shepherd enforces a boundary, and does not usually actively move the flock, although they can be taught to do this as well. They were then developed into more of an all-purpose dog, and became popular with the military and police due to their many capabilities.
Labradors tend to mature mentally much more slowly than German shepherds, and so they can be more puppylike up through adulthood. German shepherds are generally mentally mature between the ages of 2 and 3, and some earlier than that, depending on bloodlines. As far as intelligence, both breeds are intelligent, but often require different training methods due to their temperaments.


When the puppy comes home, depending on its age, you can do clicker or marker training as often as you want. However, if it is going to have to be crated 5-8 hours straight during the day, I would recommend that you do not get a puppy younger than 5 or 6 months, because a puppy much younger than that will not be able to hold it for that long. If you're getting a younger puppy, you may want to consider having someone come to your house one or two times a day to let the puppy out to potty, or bringing him to work with you if you're able, so you can take him out every few hours to potty, or putting him in a 'doggie daycare' or boarding facility until he's old enough to go all day without needing to potty. The general rule with puppies is that they can go no longer than they are old, in months. That means that a 3 month old puppy should be taken out at least every 3 hours or so. Each puppy is different, however, so you'll just have to see about yours. One 3 month old may be able to go 5 hours with no problem, and another may need to go out every 2 hours. I have 2 German shepherds. My male, at 5 months, could not go all day in his crate, but my female, at 5 months, could. My  male actually couldn't go all day in his crate until he was nearly a year old. For this reason, we got him an outdoor kennel to keep him in during the day. That setup works well for him even now, at almost 2 years of age. He's much happier being out there than in a crate all day.


If you don't mind me asking, do you know where you're getting your puppy from? What are his bloodlines?