GSDs from Europe were a bit bigger back then. They have “shrunk” the breed in the last 10 years or so, as they were getting bigger than the standard dictated. But, keep in mind that in Europe, the dogs that are not suitable for breeding and show (for one reason or another) are sold into police departments, and to foreign buyers. They keep the really good dogs until they are done breeding them, generally after they are 4 or 5 years old.
So, back then, any dog that was sold to a police department in the U.S. would have been a less valuable dog for breeding (i.e. with some sort of breed fault, such as size). It doesn’t mean in anyway that it wasn’t a good dog: it was just not a dog they wanted keep in-country for breeding and showing.
The GSD world in Germany and Europe in general is a very different world than what is here in the U.S.
And, as an aside, that price was a very cheap price for a trained, x-rayed, male GSD. For one we would have considered for our breeding program back then (an older, proven, titled male, essentially retired in Europe) a price of $15,000 and up would have been the norm. For a young, nice, titled breeding-quality male back then, the price started at $25,000 and then went up fast, if the dog was even for sale.
When I first got into civil service, I managed Mitchel Hall Service Club for a few months.
Lackland was the home of the Air Force’s dog training program. They had two types, sentry dogs and I think gurard dogs. I don’t recall which was which but one was vicious and the other very well trained.
every now and then a handler would drop by the club with his dog. They were always shepherds. They would do tricks such as shaking hands, playing dead etc. We also were allowed to pet them.
One day a guy who worked for me and I were just tussling playfully. Before any of us realized it, the dog began lunging at the Black guy. The handler got control of him but it surprised us.