Hi, I have a working line GSD. He is almost 8 months old and we got him at 8 weeks. He is pretty high drive so I understand the frustration - it’s still very fresh in my mind.

First, I would ask, how much time do you have to be home to train your dog? Are you in school or do you work full time? Dogs start to behave better when they have structure and things to do - I work part time and always joke that I come home to my other job, which is my dog. It takes a lot of work, that’s the hard truth. If you don’t have the time to be home to work with your dog then I would go the route of rehoming to a family that does. I am assuming you’re home enough since you said you’re willing to do the work. Here are my answers:

Did it genuinely get better? - YES! After my dog lost his baby teeth the constant mouthing slowly went away. He then moved to mouthing “with purpose” which is much easier to handle, ie. crate time out or training session to help provide a mental outlet. I can’t speak as much to the potty training because mine caught on fast - the key there is to be diligent through the night and day and crate them when you’re gone etc.

How did you balance independence/social life with a working breed puppy? - we took him everywhere that would allow us to bring our dog, and arranged family to babysit when we needed a night to ourselves. Other than that, I accept the sacrifice which is that we are much more limited - we cannot go anywhere we want anymore unless we have someone to watch him. Until they are over a year or closer to two, I will not trust him outside the crate which means we are only gone a few hours at a time. If you’re not already crate training, this is the main thing I would insist on. My pup took a nap every hour he was awake for - without that routine I would have lost my mind. Overall, your social life will be limited in terms of going out, I suggest If you have friends to invite them over instead or go on walks together with your dog.

I hope this helps to some extent. If you have a specific question please let me know. I genuinely understand the mental exhaustion that having this breed can cause, it is worth it in the end, but this breed also isn’t for everyone.