Alright so after much searching I have a list of breeders. Since she is looking for a pet, not a working dog, some might be too intense for her. Some I'm still not sure are great breeders. So if anyone has time or has heard of any of these breeders I'd appreciate your insight. GSD breeders are complicated, what with all the German titles and health testing I've never heard of lol.
As far as what my friend told me, the dog will be a pet and will be kept primarily outside (which I know will be an issue with some if not all of the breeders...dad feels strongly that dog are not house pets). They have a fenced in yard and she says they have or will have a temperature controlled dog house (I don't know the details). They said they have one room he can come into in the house. My friend is in college but the dog will be living with two children, they are either both middle school aged or one middle, one high school. Breeders should be in the New England area because they want to be able to visit before buying a pup. They want to do a homemade low carb diet and limited vaccinations. They just want a nice confident, stable but protective GSD. She said they don't like breeders picking the puppy for them, they need to feel a connection with a puppy themselves, but obviously good breeders tend to pick the puppies so I'm going to try and explain why that is and hopefully they'll understand.
So here is the list, it's long I know but I don't want to limit them beyond weeding out the BYBs, they need to pick what they want. You don't have to go through all of them but if you've heard of any let me know what you know.
1. Vom Rheinland
http://www.vomrheinland.com/page1.html
2. Ryanhaus (probably my top pick for them based on website)
http://www.vonryansgermanshepherds.com/
3. Lyloak
http://www.lyloak.com/
4. Brownhill
http://www.brownhillshepherds.com/
5. Timber Ridge
http://www.timberridgefarm.net/
6. Vom Wildweg
http://www.vomwildweg.com/index.htm
7. Von Grafenstein
http://www.vongrafenstein.net/
8. Monroe Haus
http://www.monroehaus.com/index.html
9. Von der Druckerei
http://www.vonderdruckereigermanshepherds.com/Home_Page.html
10. Vom Shepherd Gate
http://www.shepherdgate.net/index.html
11. Alkarah
http://alkarah.com/