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I LOVE German Shepherds! My family had two of them while I was growing up. They are so smart, but it's amazing that the puppy is already going outside. That's unbelievable! To tell you the truth, German Shepherds are more agressive towards strange people generally speaking as apposed to Pit Bulls. It's a common misconseption, Pit's are big clowns! I hate to refer you to this web sight because it would break your heart, but it was the thread that I posted a couple of days ago on why Pit Bulls "snap." Prepare to cry if you read it. Our German Shepherds were so loyal and sweet. One of them had hip displacia and only lived until 4. That was really hard, he was such an amazing dog. The other one is 12 now. He has such a big heart, we went hiking this last summer and made the mistake of taking him on a 2 mile hike with us. He ran the entire time, and showed no signs of being in pain. The next day he was so sore he couldn't even lift his leg on a tree :( But the thing I admire the most about him is that he would still force himself to get up and follow my Mom everywhere. She had to tie him up because he would continue to follow her even though he was in pain and could hardly move! I don't think he realizes that he is old!
I am getting a blue-nose pit bull puppy this next month to keep my dog company. I am going to train him in Search and Rescue also.
So, why are you afraid of Chows? I don't think I have ever met any of them.

My daughter is training the puppy in that regard, too - aggressiveness towards children, in particular. Her neighbor kids come over all the time, and they are delighted with the new puppy. She'll put in the basic training; then when it gets the right age, she plans to have it go through professional training.

My mother had a shepherd given to her when my oldest 3 kids were babies/toddlers. The reason the person got rid of it is because it would bite kids and chase cattle. My kids would wallow all over that dog. The youngest even teethed on its ears! LOL That dog NEVER ever so much as GROWLED at them. I can't imagine now why I trusted that dog so much, especially since it was one of those "sneak attack" dogs. It'd waylay people coming up the driveway and take a hunk out of their legs! Strange to think of that. No lawsuits back in those days over stuff like that. People just had an automatic acceptance that if you went on somebody's property, you could get bit.

The new puppy you are going to get sounds really neat. You'll have to send keep us updated on that. Should be fun.

I don't know why I am so afraid of Chows. I've given it a lot of thought. The only thing I can come up with is the one in my pre-school childhood who used to always try to get at me through the fence when I'd walk by. I guess it must have traumatized me.