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Most GSDs are reserved with strangers and dislike being petted by strangers. Would you want your dog be chummy with your friends and neighbors?
Of course, there are always some individual dogs that do not behave 'typically' for the breed.
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Cody and Akbar are in the first "category", they are not the type of shepherd who loves strangers petting them unless they've seen that person before. They are aloof and prefer to not be oooo'd and aww'd over like a lab. I will say this though, Cody is a major couch potato, he's prefer to not do much exercise and enjoys lounging around the house with some outside time, probably because of his arthritis but he's always been a laid back dog. Isa is similar though her first 2 years she was crazy. Akbar on the other hand, if I do not walk him for at least an hour to 1h 30m, he will drive me INSANE. So much so I'm picking up a treadmill on Saturday becuse he has so much energy, that walk plus 1-2 hours of ball time is just not enough. Of course taking into account that he's a puppy. At night he settles down though.
Now Isa on the other hand, she loves
everybody. Apparently she didn't get the memo that shepherds are suppose to be aloof, lol. Now she doesn't act like a lab who wags their tails constantly but she does go up to people and leans against them to pet her. But, once I'm out of sight forget it, she wants me and only me and will search for me. She's had to protect me once, a man was following us a little to closely for a while and when he was almost to me she stood between me and the guy and starred at him. That guy soon ran the other way and she went back to her happy self.
When I was in highschool I got Isa and man it was so hard to raise her. I can't believe I was able to do it though. If I was in college there would have been no way for me to take care of a puppy. For instance, I had to wake up every 1-2 hours the first month when I got Akbar. (I have no job) I was so tired by the 3rd week, I was crying in frustration because I wanted sleep and I couldn't sleep during the day because of him. Taking care of a puppy is a LOT of work but in the end it does pay off.
I can sleep a full 8+ hours now with Akbar, he's 8 months, sometimes I've gone 10 hours......