I had shepherds my whole life growing up and they were all wonderful.
They require training, but so does any dog. We had both male and females, they are loyal, protective, friendly, and intelligent.
They do have some predisposition to problems with their hips in later life though.
I would recommend shepherds to any responsible and sensible family, and would have one again any day. (You can also get in touch with the K9 department of the police and they will often have dogs that have not passed all the tests to become police dogs. But are temprement tested and halfway trained)
Have also had labs and they are gorgeous dogs. I am still a GS girl all the way though