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It's the name of the breed. German Shepherd Dog, Australian Cattle Dog, Dogue de Bordeaux, it's actually quite common for the full name of the breed to contain the word dog around the world.
ACD is what some people still call Heelers, Queensland Heelers, Blue or Red Heelers. The breed changed it's name several years ago to reflect in part origin and autonomy, they're an Australian breed, not a subject of the British Isles, etc.
The man who developed the German Shepherd Dog, Max Von Stephanitz, gave the breed that name. They were his lifelong work and passion. To his credit he created one of most widely used working breeds ever created.
This breed is a herding breed, but they can, when well bred and trained do almost anything else, referred commonly as a Jack-Of-All-Trades breed. They herd, they guard, they make good guide and service dogs, when well bred and socialized they make good pets and companions. They excel at herding, two of mine trained in herding, three of mine have been service dogs, one of our pups is a therapy dog (ok she's almost 9 now) but we only had the one litter.
One of mine currently helps move the chickens. One will sit between them and anything that comes if she's out there.
One would eat them... sigh, can't win em all.
Who bred them and what for makes a huge difference in outcome in this breed, poor breeding choices leads to disaster and mediocrity, poor type and unstable temperaments. I used to do shepherd rescue. Unfortunately in TN I don't do that any more, the majority are pet bred and that poorly and so far I haven't seen any worth taking the risk.
There's a short class on breed names and the German Shepherd Dog in general LOL thanks for asking. Bet yer sorry.