He/She is so sweet and gentle.

If this describes your German Shepherd puppy, you got screwed. The really good German Shepherds are never like that. The problem seems to be that pet people want breeders to breed dogs who are duds. They just want the shape, and the dog to have pretty colors. No matter what comes out of their mouth, that is what they want. They will blather on about this, that, the other, but when in the end, it is all about them, and not the good of the breed. Pet people make up 99.9% of all dog sales, so sadly, they influence the ruination of the breeds more than any breeder possibly could.