German Shepherd Titles?

I'm answering from the U.S. perspective, because that is where I am.

If you want to do therapy work, be careful about protection sports like Schutzhund. Some organizations won't accept dogs with any sort of bite training, even for sport. You should also check your homeowner's insurance before starting Schutzhund to make sure it won't affect your policy.

Other than that, generally the BH is done first. http://www.gsdca-wda.org/events.htm

http://www.germanshepherddog.com/

You can also probably get your dog cross registered with AKC and UKC and enter trials for things like obedience, agility, tracking and herding.

http://www.akc.org/

http://www.ukcdogs.com/

Eventually, you may want to consider 4-H for your kids. They have a dog care program that can be very good (depending on group leaders).

You might also enjoy dog scouts. http://www.dogscouts.com/

Enjoy your new dog.

Edit:

Therapy dog programs:

Delta Society http://www.deltasociety.org/

Therapy Dogs, Inc. http://www.therapydogs.com/

Therapy Dogs, International http://www.tdi-dog.org/

Another edit:

You can start training right now. I don't recommend competition until he is about 18 months old because pushing him too hard too young can result in burn out. They also go through ditsy periods during adolescence when they periodically act like they've forgotten everything.

You need to start with a basic puppy obedience class, then keep up with obedience. This will help you pass your Canine Good Citizen (CGC) test - and you should be able to find trainers that train for the CGC. Also, if you are in the US, I think it is the Delta Society that registers therapy dogs, so look into that.

Any good trainer should be able to help you with the tests required and how/when to pass them.

Good luck!

Add: rant about home insurance policies - wouldn't it make more sense to train a "protection" breed dog in something like Schutzhund than to have it untrained? Since, AFAIK, Schutzhund requires a temperament assessment?