New to GSD, where do I start? - Page 1

We recently lost our 3 year old Labrador Retriever to EIC. She dropped dead while playing in the yard with our 3 year old son. She was from respected labrador lines and we never dreamed we would lose her that way. It's just not in our hearts to purchase another lab  so after researching and interacting with my grandmothers GSD, we feel this is the right breed for us.

We have researched and best like the look of older GSD without the sloping toplines. How do we find the best bloodlines for this today? The dog would be trained in obedience as our past dogs have passed their cgc at 6 months old.
Thanks

 First you decide what you want the puppy/dog for ?  You already stated that. 
Then color, age, sex.

 In GSD there are American and German.  In the German lines, there is show
 and Working lines.   Not all show dogs have alot of topline (referred to as sloping back)


 If your not wanting to do any breeding or serious showing, then get one locally.

 Make sure you have the time, patience and a large yard or acreage.  They need
 alot of exercise.  Make sure you visit several breeders before you decide.  And go
 look more than once if possible.  Ask alot of questions, people breed for different
 reasons.  You really need to see both parents and how pups are raised.

 GSD have problems just like other breeds.  Check for hip ratings, dm clear
 Where are u located ?


 This is a good start,  GOOD LUCK


 DONNA LAMPSON
 DACH HAUS SHEPHERDS 

Consider what lines you want--show or working and research them.  Maybe these sites will help:

http://gracekeh.hubpages.com/hub/Working-German-Shepherds-as-Pets-and-Companions

http://www.german-shepherd-us.com/german-shepherd-facts.html

http://www.germanshepherdworld.net/lines.htm

http://www.thegermanshepherd.org/breed-history-of-the-german-shepherd/america-vs-europe-in-breeding.html

I am located in South Carolina.

Thank you so much for the information, I had already read several of those links but it is nice to have them close at hand without tons of searching.

We know we want a short coat, is that what is called a stock coat? The only color we would not want would be a solid black, but that is due to the death of our lab.

When looking at websites is their any easy way to learn to decode the prefixes and sufixes on dog names?

What would the following mean?

V1, SG17  *******************    SchH3, KKL1, HD a1, ED a1

Also if a dog is DM clear where would it be located on a breeder's website?

Thank you !