The Search for the Next Dog

Hello Everybody!
My name is Jacqi and I am looking for another dog, well, technically I am looking for me second big dog right now and plan on adding a small dog about a year after the big dog.
Here's a little bit about myself:
I live with some members of my family (but no children) in a very large house settled on five acres with nothing but farm land and forest surrounding it in rural MN. I currently am owned a wonderful male lug-butt mutt named Nuka whose mother was a German Shepherd and father was a Great Pyrenees. I love to go running hiking and backpacking and want a dog who can keep up with me. I have experience working with Akitas, Great Pyrenees, German Shepherds, working line Golden Retrievers and various other gun dogs, and Yorkshire Terriers.
I would prefer to get a puppy from a breeder, the puppy phase doesn't phase me one bit and I have become surrogate to a few orphaned litters in the past.
Here's some pretty random things I am looking for in my next dog
Shedding: I'm oblivious to it
Grooming: I enjoy brushing and combing things and am more then willing to take an animal to a pro if need be
Looks: I prefer a more rugged looking dog, but am not completely against a foo-foo look if it is the right temperament
Activity Level: Minimum working line GSD energy level
Intelligence: Enough to keep on my toes and to want a job
Train-ability: I can work with pretty stubborn dogs but I would prefer a dog with a little ease of training
I would also prefer a dog that I can let off-leash
Here are some breeds I am looking into:
1. German Shepherd
2. Collie
3. Belgian Shepherds
4. Doberman
5. Beauceron
6. Curs

A couple questions regarding possible breeds
Dobermans in MN: I know dobermans have extremely thin coats and I am wondering how cold does it have to be to put a coat on them if your going to be outside for a couple hours
Mallinois: Are these dogs super reactive? I read somewhere that they are very nervous dogs and that little things set them off. Is this true?

Thank You

http://dogtime.com/quiz/dog-breed-selector

This might help you.

Dobermanns don't have especially thin coats, they are short haired with a normal coat. No clue how cold it gets where you are but in the uk mine never wore coats, were walked in all weathers, as long as they keep moving they are fine. Quite short lived though, none of mine made it past 8, all succumbed to various cancers.

How about a http://www.breedia.com/dogs/belgian-...d-dog-laekenos

I've heard of the Laekenos, they look like shepadoodles!

Sounds like a great life you can offer a dog.

I would say working line GSD (I have one and he is my main man ), border collie from working stock, or Belgian Malinois.

How about a Giant Schnauzer?

Highly intelligent, agile and athletic, easy to train and real fun dogs to have around. Generally they get on well with other animals and are affectionate toward their owners.

They don't shed their coats much, but do need regular grooming, and in summer need to be clipped, but in winter their coat can be kept longer to protect them against the cold.

Giant Schnauzers are popular in Hungary and other parts of continental Europe, where some are trained as police and security dogs. They also do well in agility and compete in Schutzhund (IPO).

have you considered the Portuguese Water Dog, they fit pretty much all of your criteria, and if you can cope with a stubborn/willful personality then they sound like the ideal dog for your needs.

It gets REALLY cold in Minnesota. And I say this coming from central New York, which gets pretty darned cold too. It is not unheard of in MN to get cold in the -30F to -40F range during a cold snap and some places have seen below -50F for a record low temp. I'm not sure where in MN the OP lives but definitely the cold can be pretty excessive there.

What about Belgian Shepherds or maybe a Tervuren? Great high energy working dogs, nice thick coats.

They're not LARGE, but a working line Border Collie might be up your alley too. They may be medium sized dogs but they're a LOT of dog. And generally great off leash with a bit of training. Fun to train, can be difficult only because they may interpret things differently than you do (e.g. I was training my BC to lay down and the first time he laid down he also let out a bark...I rewarded it....so he thought that "down" meant "throw yourself to the ground and bark once"...not what I would have expected at all!), definitely need a job, and very bonded to their people so off leash training is often pretty easy with them.