a mate of mine had one for about 10 years big strong ginger dog, half cross,he was a fecker with other dogs ,excellent guard ,mind of his own,he took deer single handed ,developed a taste for lamb though and would sneek off the first chance he got ,he had to have a lot of holidays away with friends,i dont think theyre as popular now because its hard finding decent german shepherds ,they all seem to suffer badly with hip problems,and slope backs.