Hey all,

We've decided we want another dog, and have a 2 year old female german shephard.  She's a goofball, and a bit on the timid side.  We want to get her a companion, as we're at work, kids at school all day.  The top requirement for the new addition would be very little to NO SHEDDING.  Holy mother of God does the GSD shed....  No way I can deal with another one in the house.

We're thinking of a medium to smaller size dog...  Any thought's or suggestions?

Thanks!

A rescue dog.  Go see if you can find a fit.

(we love our boxer)

Keep it of German origin and consider a miniature Dachshund. Easy to bathe, and no noticeable shedding (and great intruder alarms ).
I've had both GSD's and mini Dachshund's at the same time and they got along very well.

Let's talk low/no shedding.

Three branches to go down here.
 
#1 Hairless dogs
pretty self explanatory.  Note many of the hairless breeds have tooth problems, and sometimes come out with a lot of hair, and I personally find them as ugly as sin but some folks like them.

#2 short hair.  
If a dog is going to shed 100 hairs, then having those hairs be 1/2 inch long vs 2 inches long = less 'impact'.  It's not always that simple though.  Many dogs have dual coats, so paying attention to the outer coat hair length is irrelevant if most of the shedding is from the undercoat.  Second reason not so simple, some short haired dogs loose hairs much more often, so which is worse? 100 hairs that are 2 inches long or 500 hairs that are 1/2 inch long?  Pugs are a great example of a short coated dog that tends to shed a ton.

#3 curly coat and wiry coat.  
These dogs have strong outer coats where the hair stays strongly attached.  Coats were developed intentionally this way to protect the dog (from cold water for poodles and kin, when going into dens for many terrier breeds, when going through heavy brush and thorny brambles wirehaired bird dogs like German Wirehaired Pointer)  Caveat here is these dogs need to have their coats groomed. You can learn to do this yourself but most people take them to a groomer twice a year.  

Which of those choices are you leaning toward?  

Also, what do YOU mean by 'medium and smaller?'  How big before a dog is no longer medium?  How small is too small?

Australian Shepard, compared to a GSD they don't shed . We have a GSD, Aussie, mini Aussie. Once you hit critical mass you think everything is supposed to be covered in dog hair.

Do keep in mind that getting a second dog with the same energy level will make them better playmates for each other. Our GSD and Aussie wear each other out.