He also would always pick the runt of the litter. Perhaps that dog is the least aggressive, I don't really know why, but he did have some really, really great dogs.
The first German shepherd here was a "give me" -- the runt of the litter that could not be sold. She was small, devoted, trusted no one outside the family other than, remarkably, one person: my best childhood friend returning home from the Navy. She took to him immediately when she saw him, as if he was a member of the family.
I've shared in the lives of three shepherds. All were protective, never bit anyone but may have caused a few to think they were going to wet their pants.
Then I switched to border collies. I can't say enough about them for they are, as many on this thread have already avowed, the most intelligent dogs. I did not train my first one to herd cattle; instead, she trained me on where I should be when she works: wherever I want a herd of cattle to be, whether it be in a fence corner or a holding pen, I go there, send her for them and she doesn't stop until she has them there.
One characteristic I'd never before seen in a dog is exhibited by this one: when this 45 lb. devotee to hard work goes up against an 800 lb. steer that refuses to move for her, she moves off to one side, runs toward the steer's head, leaps into the air to sail past the steer's nose and snaps at it as she goes by. I've yet to see a steer that did not move when the snapping canine missile whizzed by his nose. My beloved border is growing old, arthritis causes her some pain and stiffness. As if on cue from some Higher Power, Christmas was very special this year: the breeder who sold her to me contacted me two weeks before Christmas to say "I have a special puppy that I want to entrust to the care of a special person. He has a hernia, I can not sell him, will you take him if I give him to you?" Now as I type this, two border collies lie at my feet, dreaming dreams of herds of cattle to work. God, I love'm.
Only once in my life have I been bitten by a dog: a beagle on a chain, the length of which I misjudged. He leaped up and clamped down on my forearm. Its owner had to pry the dog from my arm. No, I didn't sue, instead I went for a tetanus booster, soaked the arm for a few days and all survived.