Police dogs, guide dogs for the blind.

They are herding dogs, rescue dogs, guide dogs, police and military work.

As the name implies, they are " Shepherds ". They take control of Sheep in the same way that a Collie does. They are also used as Companion Dogs, Guide Dogs, Guard Dogs and Police Dogs. The German Shepherd is extremely versatile in its uses.

There's a reason why they call them "shepherds".

" As part of the Herding group, the German Shepherd is a working dog developed originally for herding sheep. Because of their strength, intelligence and abilities in obedience training they are often employed in police and military roles, in forces around the world." "German Shepherds are a very popular selection for use as working dogs. They are especially well known for their police work, being used for tracking criminals, patrolling troubled areas, and detection and holding of suspects. Additionally thousands of German Shepherds have been used by the military. Usually trained for scout duty, they are used to warn soldiers to the presence of enemies or of booby traps or other hazards. German Shepherds have been trained by military groups to parachute from aircraft. The German Shepherd Dog is one of the most widely-used breeds in a wide variety of scent-work roles. These include search and rescue, cadaver searching, narcotics detection, explosives detection, accelerant detection, and mine detection dog, amongst others. They are suited for these lines of work because of their keen sense of smell and their ability to work regardless of distractions. At one time the German Shepherd Dog was used almost exclusively as a guide dog for the visually impaired. In recent years, Labrador and Golden Retrievers have been more widely used for this work, although there are still German Shepherds being trained. A versatile breed, they excel in this field due to their strong sense of duty, their mental abilities, their fearlessness, and their attachment to their owner." Source and further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Shepherd#Use_as_working_dogs