There is no difference in the temperment to male/female German Shepherds, it is individualistic to each dog.  The best advice I can give you to the dogs is to look into breeders.  Find out the line to which they come from and they breeder can give you a better idea of the dogs and temperment to which the parents have and more then likely the litter will be the same, that is not a guaruntee but they will guaruntee the hips.  You can look into them training the puppy before you get them as well.  Obedience training I highly recommend but being a bigger breed this is not an animal that can be talked to like a child ( as pet lovers we do) but they need an assertive and Alpha to follow.  Look into this first and know that you want a dog of that size and strength to have as a pet, they can be your best friend but also a nuissance to you if you don't know what you are doing.  I (Gabrielle-Chrissy's roomate)rehabilatate and train GSD's.  Good luck and make sure you pick the right dog for your family.

Sorry it's Gabrielle again and I should of read the posts before posting.  The prong as we call it in our rescue is used as a power steering and helps tremendously in training and corrective measures not for a way of hurting or punishment.  We only use the German prong, Schiller I think, can't remember now, it's a bit late!  This doesn't hurt the dog rather it give you the control, which if you don't have with your GSD you will lose out!  Also the rescue dogs which i whole heartedly support, as I am with a rescue, sometimes they have underlying issues that with children you may never know and with little kids I would not want a dog in a situation that could be harmful to them.  I have a male that I got from a shelter and he is wonderful, I had no history on him except for the fact he was an American Shepherd.  As I said before each is individual to temperment and raising the puppy with the kids is a safer bet IMO.  Teach your kids to respect animals and they should have a great relationship growing together.  Really to anyone out there make sure the breed fits your life there are already too many bad dogs not wanted out there.  I say bad because so many don't  realize it's not the dog but the person took on something they don't know enough about.  Education is everything!

what do you see in Rotts, im looking for a working line. know any good breeders ?