Thanks everyone for the comments. One thing a couple of you said though, was that feeding them by hand will make them a fussy eater? I'm not really understanding why. So if one of you could explain that, that would be great.

And as for the German Shepherd being really affectionate, I just always thought that they were more serious dogs, I guess that's why I thought they weren't as affectionate as say a Lab or a Golden. I've kind of been asking around about that alot, lol, because I really want an affectionate dog, so I think I have my answer though, they are affectionate, so that's good.

Hi DrIvEn I think what people mean is if you only hand feed your are training your puppy to only take food from a hand not a dish, a puppy needs to learn to eat from a dish .
You can still feed some food by hand if you are using reward based training.

If you always hand feed your puppy you actually train it only to accept food from your hand(& you alone)which can(& often does)mean that your dog will not eat from a bowl & possibly only eat if you feed it. So if you are not present & the dog needs feeding it could well refuse to eat altogether or only eat if the person with it hand feeds it. It is not natural for an adult dog to be hand fed(in the wild they do not have their food given to them once adult)

As for GSDs being serious LOLOL one of our late GSD dogs favourite trick was to get on the settee & end up with his head on my lap & his back legs in the air up the back of the settee with a silly look on his face

Having had 6 german shepherds, I can honestly say all of them were more than affectionate to me, because they were in love with me because I had their respect, and that you've got to earn with a gsd I'm afraid. They're not babies that you can kiss and cuddle constantly, they're dogs and have to be respected as such, and that way you gain their trust, their respect and their unequivacal (did I just make that up????!!! probably not the word I'm looking for!)loyalty! German shepherds are known to be the type of dog who "comes to you!" not the other way around, and the only reason they will do that is because they want your affection. It won't be difficult, you've either got it or you haven't with these dogs, so I hope you are one of the ones who have! Good luck.

My GSDs(all German Breeding BTW)from 1958 until last year have all been people dogs, they all enjoyed being cuddled & have been dogs that have always gone to people for attention. It does depend I think on how the dogs are bred & reared, Some lines(usually the English type)are not the confident outgoing types & in fact some are downright "windy/nervous"just as the same type were in the !950s & !960s. If the dogs are reared right & bred from parents with good temperaments then they should be outgoing affectionate dogs. The puppies like all puppies should be handled from birth to that they associate humans with good things.

The old adage that they should be suspicious of "strangers"is totally wrong & out of character & was only added(& now removed)to the breed standard to cover up the dreadful temperaments of the breed from the 1940's onwards. GSDs should be bold self confident dogs that take every experience in their stride.

I was told by Alfred Hahn(one of the top German SV judges)that there was no such thing as too friendly a GSD & that the dog I was showing was of superb temperament & character & this was why he had won three classes at the show-my boy was a super dog, never heard or saw him growl or be aggressive & he often acted as a "stooge"dog. He won many people over to liking GSDs from being frightened of them

Couldn't agree more, gsd's are definitely "people" dogs - have I said any different there then????? Don't think so!!! I still say you have to earn that respect from them, then they'll smother you to death, whereas a little jack russell would go to anyone and do that!!!!

Thanks, everyone. I will hopefully be getting a GSD puppy soon (maybe in the next year) and I want to get him from a very good breeder. I'm going to train him really well too. When I get him, I will definitely let you know and post pictures. I'm thinking about naming him Rain or Rain spelled Rayne. There was a movie on animal planet a few years ago about a war dog named Rain and I want to name my GSD after the dog in the movie.