Part I: Training-the Basics

Why You Need to Train
I'm sure there are dogs as smart as the German shepherd. I just haven't found them yet. It's been said that if you can't get your German shepherd trained, then the problem lies with you and not the dog. In general I tend to agree. Albeit sometimes I do give myself a break and write off my inability to correct a problem or teach a positive response to just not finding the right approach. But for the most part, I figure that I'm just not doing training the way the dog needs me to do it.

I'm not a Schutzhund follower, although my hat's off to those shepherd (and now other breeds including the Rotweiller and Doberman Pinscher) owners who literally live for the next trial. In fact I'm nowhere near that level. I'm happy if my dog(s) heel, sit, and come when I call them–without taking time out to smell every bush along the way back to where I am! Sometimes it's amazing that a dog that can hear a feather fall doesn't even flick its ears when I'm yelling, "Here, boy. Here, boy" at the top of my lungs.

I do believe that the first thing a German shepherd owner needs to do is to start off on a comprehensive obedience course. If the dog's still a puppy, then the experts usually recommend waiting until the dog is six months old before starting the formal course. A lot of shepherd owners find themselves adopting from a local shelter or breed rescue. Most rescues require obedience training (for a lot of reasons), although some do not. Whether they do or don't, you should consider a good obedience course mandatory from your perspective. Why?

Because during the first six to eight weeks in a new home, your new best friend is going to go through a lot of adjustments. And high on his or her list of things to figure out is "Who's working for whom?" Don't get me wrong, this is not a malicious plan on the part of your new housemate. Rather it's part of the normal "pack" attitude where in the newest pack member tries to figure out who the alpha dog is. And it had better be you. And the way you get to that exalted position is to train your dog because training, amongst other worthwhile things, also puts you in a position comparable to the alpha dog in the pack. And believe me, you want to be the "alpha dog".

A friend of mine got a full grown male shepherd from a local rescue. The dog spent the usual time figuring out the pack, and here's what he came up with: male friend is "numero uno", I am number two (beta dog), wife is number three, and kids are below wife. My friend could command this dog and the dog would listen. But not so with his wife. Finally the dog decided that he should sleep on the bed with the alpha male, and wife could go sleep somewhere else. Trust me: this isn't good. The dog was sent back to the rescue where he now lives with a single male owner and is doing quite well.
Up close and personal, I had Prince (full grown male shepherd) before my first marriage. Prince knew the hierarchy: me, then Prince (and sometimes I'm sure- Prince then me). When my first wife moved in, no one saw the coming feud. Prince was okay with the occasional date, but didn't take kindly to someone other than me telling him what to do. I didn't know it at the time, but I had just entered the "twilight zone". Or maybe it was the start of "cold war" tactics. Either way, I was going to lose. Period.

Before I get into the specifics, you have to know a little bit about Prince. He was literally a "junkyard dog", kept by the guy who rented my company space in a small, fenced in area behind an adjoining building. I'd go over and pick the ticks off Prince, give him some treats and then pry myself away very unhappy. I was doing a lot of traveling then and there didn't seem to be a way of adopting Prince.

One Sunday evening, I stopped off at the office. Instead of being in his kennel, Prince was lying in the grass next to the interstate's exit ramp. That was it. I loaded Prince up into my two seat sports car and took him home. I figured that I'd work it all out the next day.   I was living in a cape cod on about a quarter of an acre. Once I confessed to the landlord that I had taken his dog and intended to keep him, I knew that I'd need a fence right away. My neighbors were all retired and like a lot of retired folk, they spent day after day working on their lawns. I knew that they'd balk at a fence in an area that didn't have any until I explained that I didn't want Price wandering over and watering their plants. So the fence went up and I cut out some screening on my screened-in porch so that Prince could stay on the porch when I was at work, and still have access to the yard. Prince had other plans, and I was on my way to our first training session…except I was the one being trained.

The following Friday, I came home and let Prince in through the back door. I sat down at the dining room table and glanced out the sliding glass door that led to the screened in porch. Normally, my view was slightly out of focus because of the screens. Tonight it wasn't.  Prince wasn't very happy about the arrangement, so while I was at work he spent the day tearing the screens out of the porch. When I walked out, there weren't any screens in the porch. I was stunned. Prince and I had a one-to-one talk about what he'd done and that weekend I spent re-screening the porch. I didn't get it yet, but I was going to.

The following Monday when I came home, poof no screens. It finally dawned on me: Prince wanted to be able to come inside. I was planning on putting a dog door in one day sooner or later and this seemed like a really good time. So I did. Then I re-screened the porch…again. And guess what. No more damage to the porch. Prince simply wanted house-access, and once he got it everything was fine. I'm sure he was proud of how well he had trained me.
No doubt, Prince was one of my smarter shepherds, and now he was being subordinated by new wife. I should have figured there were going to be "issues", but I was naïve.

One day my wife came home to find the garbage can overturned and trash strewn around the house. Prince had never touched the trash--never. She reprimanded Prince and figured that was that. The next day, more trash and more time taken to move it around the house. Again she reprimanded Prince this time a bit more forcefully. This continued on with little escalation for a few days. She would come home first, find the mess, reprimand Prince, and then clean up. Then I would come home and everything would be quiet. Except Prince knew that She didn't get it. After all he was higher up on the totem pole than She was and yet She still persisted in trying to reprimand him.

The weekend was quiet, but Monday when She got home, it really hit the fan. Prince had gone into the closet, removed one each of two pairs of her shoes, and calmly shredded them. But he didn't touch the trash! Needless to say, both of us were in the proverbial "dog house" for that stunt. Prince, obviously for what he'd done, and me for laughing at it. And until Prince died (relatively young and suddenly from Parvo), there was at best a strained peace between my wife and the dog. Things might well have been different if we had started an obedience course where my wife took part in working Prince.

The moral of the story is that unless you (husband or wife) like sleeping alone (and I don't mean occasionally), the dog must understand that commands from either the husband or wife are meant to be obeyed. Period. And if the kids are old enough to get involved in the training that might not be a bad idea either. The whole family should be involved in the dog's training and it should be done quickly because within 6-8 weeks, the dog will have determined "who's working for whom".

Reason Two: Do You Like Your Homeowner's Insurance?
As just about everyone knows, homeowner's insurance rates have skyrocketed. Worse, companies are looking for excuses not to write the policy in the first place, and large breed dogs are on the top of their lists. I've always scratched my head when companies decide not to cover people who own what I call "the dog du jour". That's the breed that has gotten so much bad press that everyone knows these dogs are BAD.   It used to be German shepherds, then Dobermanns, then Rotties, and now its pit bulls. But occasionally you still find an insurance carrier that won't write a policy if you own a shepherd. Dog bites are not funny in any way, shape or form. But figure that if your dog bites someone and a claim is filed (and trust me a claim will be filed: lawsuits are better than winning the lottery in America), you can kiss your insurance coverage goodbye.

I got King through a rescue, and King spent the first couple of months here figuring out who the alpha dog was. I was busy and violated the "get into an obedience course" rule badly. So after the initiation period was over, I discovered that I was working for King. Okay, you say, what's that mean? Well it means that when I was bringing a stranger into the house and told King that it was "all right" (Later I found out that most of my commands were defective), King let the person into the yard, maybe even up the steps and on to the deck before he decided to take action. He didn't attack, just kind of "nipped".

King also wasn't a fan of the UPS truck either. And all of my commands ("It's okay!!!") did absolutely nothing to stop King's tirade. Interestingly, King's concept as to what was going on differed from mine. He thought that when he raised hell with the UPS truck and it left, that he was responsible for making it go away. Of course me telling him "It's okay" just spurred him on. I was using the wrong commands at the wrong time. Obviously I needed the training as much, if not more, than King did. But I was a little dense, and didn't quite get the message until King met the telephone company.

King viewed the house and property as his, and knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was responsible for protecting it. And believe me, I was lucky a couple of times. The straw that got King and his owner into training fast and furious was the telephone man.  I have a long driveway and the telephone company's cables run down one side of it. So it's no unusual to find a linesman out there working on a junction box. I saw one of their guys doing exactly that one day, and with King safe in the fenced in back yard, I walked down to talk to the guy. I knew that I had everything under control because hey, King was in the yard.  And about the time I got twenty feet from the linesman, I discovered King's ability to push the fence fabric up and worm his way under the fence. I remember looking over my shoulder and thinking, "Oh s---!!" King was on a charge down the front lawn. Being younger and faster then than I am now, I immediately did the wrong thing. Instead of running to the linesman and getting in front of him, I tried to intercept King. King faked left, drew me off like a pro running back, and went straight for the linesman.Now our phone company tells their field people never to turn their backs on a dog. About the time King was ten feet from the linesman, he decided that turning tail had a great deal of merit. And amidst a sea of errors (most of them mine), this was the one thing that saved this guy from joining the cast of the Sopranos. King "hit" the linesman just below the belt and promptly ventilated the guy's pants opening up a full-width window of fabric. Then King backed off and I finally got control. The linesman was a dog lover, and while I was spewing forth apology after apology, he commented that he didn't live far away and would just go home and get another pair of pants. I insisted, of course, that he let me know what the replacement cost was for the pants. And when he did call weeks later, I rushed him payment in full, thankful that King and I had gotten off so cheaply.

King and I hired a good trainer, a chap named Shane Bloodsworth who still trains in the Baltimore area. Shane came out once a week, told me what I was supposed to do and how to do it, then left. It was up to me to put Shane's lessons to work for 30-45 minutes each and every day. And believe me anytime that I thought about skipping a day, the sight of the telco linesman flashed through my mind and off we went to train.

Most trainers believe (not that I disagree) that you can't simply train your dog to do one specific command, such as the recall. Obedience is "built" upon a foundation of commands starting with the heel command. So before you can get your dog to come when called one hundred percent of the time, you have to start at "ground zero". That is, you have to train the dog on lead before you can train him/her off lead. That's what we did with King. In a short while, I had a reasonable level of control, but I'd still work him periodically just to reinforce what King (and I) had learned from Shane. And not surprisingly, the rest of King's life was relatively quiet. And my insurance carrier was happy.

No Matter How Well You Know Your Dog, Sometimes They Surprise You
Remember a dog's a dog. No matter how much training your dog gets, there might well be a time when she or he doesn't respond to your command. I love to hike with my dog(s). I enjoy being out in the woods miles from civilization. And I like to let the dog explore on his/her own. So I don't like to have the dog on a lead when we're hiking. And I know better than to walk the dog off lead. But I have in the past done exactly that. A number of excellent trainers have stated in their books that their dogs are never off their property off-lead. Why? Because you just don't know what a dog's going to do one hundred percent of the time. Guess this is something I'm going to have to work on too.

I know. You're sitting there thinking that you've had your dog for five years and you know exactly what the dog's going to do. I thought so too with Shalimar. I'd had her for either thirteen or fourteen years when disaster nearly struck.
The previous week we had been to a German shepherd rescue picnic at a local park. Shali had attracted the attention of an eleven or twelve year old girl. She literally hung around (and on) Shali the entire afternoon, and Shali was just fine. I had Shali on a lead and was close at hand, but Shali seemed content with the love and affection she was getting. Shali even let the girl hang on her, something she wasn't use to and we generally avoided. But that Sunday, Shali was exceptionally patient, almost as if she knew that this girl had fallen in love with her.
The following weekend we were at an adoption day, and this woman with her toddler in hand came over to us. She asked if Shali was all right with kids. I had no sooner said that she was when Shali snapped at the toddler. Fortunately I had Shali on a short lead and the mother had a good grip on the toddler's arm. I was shocked. This was a dog I had had for well over a decade. She had never snapped at anyone, much less a child. Nonetheless Shali had done exactly that. Maybe the toddler had bad breath. Maybe Shali didn't like the face-to-face "meeting". I don't know what started that. But I do know that Shali and I would have been in deep trouble had she connected with the child. I guess I need to remember this incident when I think about unsnapping my dog's lead.

I've had dogs that I'm not one hundred percent certain of when it comes to kids. Whenever we'd be out walking and a child approached (or for that matter anyone else), I usually gently bring the dog closer to me. Alternatively I'd move forward, closing the distance between the dog and myself. Some municipalities allow dog walking on a nine foot lead, however I've found that direct control on the dog's collar (or via a shortened lead) is a more secure way of controlling the dog when s/he's meeting someone new. Care needs to be taken not to make any abrupt moves or otherwise put the dog on "alert" by jerking the lead or acting as if there's a problem. Once I was satisfied that I could react quickly, I'd kneel down so that if the dog made a move I didn't like, I could get my hand in the between the dog and the child.

I was out at Marine World USA when they brought one of their tigers out for a walk. This guy was an adult male and weighed in around six hundred pounds. I think tigers are absolutely beautiful animals and when the trainer got the tiger on to a park bench, I went over to pet him. I was busy petting his head when the trainer noticed me. He turned to me and calmly said, "He doesn't like to be petted on the head." They could hear my arm snap back two states away.
Where I am going with this is that instead of allowing a stranger to pet the dog on the head (which is most definitely a sign of dog-over-dog dominance, which the dog might not appreciate coming from a stranger), it might make more sense to let the stranger pet the dog on his or her back. That way, you're controlling the dog's head. And if someone's going to pet the dog's head, instead of coming down from above (just like they were going to hit the dog), pet from under the muzzle instead.

Years ago, my sister who was then a toddler did exactly that to a neighbor's shepherd, Ping. Ping had a reputation of not putting up with such nonsense. So when my sister, Susan, slapped Ping, he whirled and in a second had her tiny arm in his mouth. Those of us who saw it figured that Ping had probably at least broken the arm or worse, but he hadn't. In fact there wasn't a mark on Susan's arm. That's how controlled Ping's reaction was. He knew that Susan didn't pose a serious threat to him. He also knew that he didn't like getting slapped. And Ping knew that he wasn't supposed to hurt her. So he stopped her without leaving as much as a scratch on her arm. But that was Ping and you can't count on another dog reacting the same way.

Young children can be very unnerving to a dog. Kids' hands fly all over the place and sometimes their touch could be a little less hard. I've seen children literally wind up and slap a dog on the side of the head. They might get away with that if it's their dog. But try that with a strange dog, and there's most likely going to be trouble.
I see it as my job to keep my dog from being hurt as well as to make certain that the child isn't bitten. Therefore whenever one of my dogs is approached by a child, I am there, involved, and extremely watchful. After all, that's my job.

Find a good trainer in your area. You need someone whose training philosophy doesn't fly in the face of yours. For example, if the prospective trainer uses electronic collars (aka "shock collars") as the basis for the training and you don't agree with that approach, then this is obviously not the trainer you want to sign on with. On the other hand if you're not taken aback by the use of an e-collar, and trust me there are times and places where it can be very effective, then a trainer who supplements his/her methods with an e-collar might be worthy of consideration.
I don't buy dog training books because I think that's a great way to lose your mind. Each trainer has his or her specific approach and often times they clash head-on. That said, I have no reservations recommending Joel M. McMains' Dog Logic: Companion Obedience. McMains does a good job of teaching the reader how to train his/her dog using what McMains calls "rapport-based training". Check out Amazon.com for a copy at a reasonable price.

I hope by now you've seen the wisdom of training your newest best friend. Shepherds are fantastically intelligent dogs, and training yours will bond your dog closer to you and your family, not to mention make him or her happy because the dog now knows its role in the pack. The investment of time, energy and love on your part will be rewarded countless times over the course of your dog's life.

Part II: Training Aids/ Special Collars
Leashes and Leads

Everyone has their favorite, but for training you need a good six foot lead. Leather or otherwise, I'm not sure it matters. I've used both. I keep a leather lead in the house for training purposes and a woven nylon lead in the SUV.

Flexi
The Flexi lead is a rope and woven nylon lead where the rope is contained in a spring-loaded reel. When the dog pulls, the rope is fed out of the reel until the owner either brakes or the line runs out to its maximum length. The Flexi comes in several lengths up to a maximum of about twenty-five feet. When the dog comes back to you, the line is rewound into the reel courtesy of the spring-loaded mechanism.

The Flexi is great for dog walks since it lets your dog "roam" a reasonable distance from you without you losing control. Interestingly with two Flexis, you can control two dogs with relative ease. The Flexi has a lockable thumb brake located near the grip which allows the owner to limit the amount of line extended. Your best bet is to pick up a Flexi on the internet where pricing is pretty competitive.

Gentle Leader
One day I was sitting in my vet's waiting room and this woman came in with this dog. Well at least I think it was a dog. The animal was huge, more sized like a small pony. And here was this woman, fairly thin, no more than 5'4" in height getting her dog to do exactly what she wanted him to do. I was impressed and we started to talk.
It turns out that the "muzzle like" device on the dog's head was a Gentle Leader. Unlike conventional collars which you control the dog from the neck, the Gentle Leader allows the owner to control the dog from the head. And it works.

When you stop and think about it, the Gentle Leader philosophy should work. After all, where the head goes, the dog goes. People who have tried the Gentle Leader (and there are other similar brands including the Halti) only have praise for it. The collar literally takes control away from the dog and puts it back into the owner's hands. Another nice thing about the Gentle Leader is that by using it, the dog can be walked by a reasonably-aged child, something that might not be possible using conventional collars and leads.
We’re using the Gentle Leader on Graeson right now. Grae strains at the leash whenever he's out for a walk. Weighing in at nearly ninety pounds with well developed neck muscles, there's no way the average person is going to be able to control this dog even with a choke collar. So we fitted him with a Gentle Leader and he's doing much better. Now we take him for a walk rather than vice versa. The only issue is that Grae doesn't like the Gentle Leader and it's taken some time to get him to the point where he's not stopping every couple of feet and trying to rub the Gentle Leader off of his muzzle.
Again, I'd start out using the standard approach: choke chain and lead. And if that didn't work, I'd opt for the Gentle Leader or similar collar. But don't be surprised if half the people who see your dog in a Gentle Leader think it's a muzzle.

Electronic Collars
I guess there's no time like the present to address the issue of electronic collars. These collars have seen widespread use as training aids, particularly over the past few years. The kit consists of a collar with a radio receiver coupled to an electronic shock generator that is worn by the dog. The trainer has a radio transmitter that works over varying ranges depending on how much you spend. When the dog fails to do a behavior correctly, the trainer hits a button on the transmitter. The radio signal sent by the transmitter is picked up by the receiver on the dog's collar and the dog receives a mild shock. The better units allow the user to regulate the degree of shock at the transmitter (usually 1-20) and are waterproof.
I know. You're thinking how heartless one would have to be to use such a device. But as I said before, there are times and situations where an e-collar can literally save the day. The trick is knowing if you're in one of those situations.
My first use of the e-collar was a long time ago. I had just gotten Shali and Shali developed a royal case of "separation anxiety". Everything that I tried didn't work. Each day after I'd leave for work, Shali would begin her job-changing the house around. For example, Shali didn't like wall-to-wall carpeting, so she decided converting the wall-to-wall over to area rugs had merit. And that's what she did.
Every day when I came home there was more damage. And Shali had company in the form of my senior GSD male, King. Meanwhile I was cornering the market on double sided carpet tape because there was no sense in replacing the carpeting until Shali and I got through this. Most people went to WalMart and bought a roll of tape. I'd buy ten rolls.
Shali decided that the couch would be better as a loveseat, so she removed the left arm of the couch. Finally I had enough. I ordered an e-collar and rigged up a closed circuit television camera in a place in the dining room where it could see most of the action. I ran the tv cable down into the basement to a monitor that I could watch.
The next day, I made a big deal about going to work. And when the dogs were suitably distracted, I ran down into the basement and got comfortable, e-collar transmitter in hand. Hours went by and nothing happened. Then I heard the dog door open and Shali walked into the house. I reached for the transmitter.
Shali walked in front of the camera, a piece of carpeting in her mouth that she had torn out the day before and taken outside. My finger quivered over the transmit button, but I never pressed it. After all if I shocked her, what was I training her to do or not to do?
This little game went on and off for a couple of weeks. Shali never touched the carpet any day that I was in the basement and I never used the e-collar on her. Each day that I wasn't ensconced in the basement, there was damage. She must have known that I was there, transmitter in hand, waiting for her to attack the carpeting again. So she didn't.
One Saturday morning I thought I was dreaming. But I wasn't. While I was still asleep, Shali was busy ripping up the carpeting. I remember walking down the steps to where I could see her. She looked great! You could see the ripples of muscles in her legs and back as she ripped the wall-to-wall from the floor. And what was King doing? Oh he was lying there watching her do it. I needed professional help. I also need to talk to a good trainer so I called Shane.
"When can you come out? I need help now. Please you've got to help me. She's driving me nuts." After I stopped crying, Shane told me what to do. He said the next time Shali tears up anything, get a piece of what she's torn up (too big for her to swallow). He told me to put it into her mouth and then wrap an Ace bandage around her muzzle and leave it that way for an hour. And he told me that he knew me and that I'd better not wimp out. He also told me not to leave her alone for that hour…not that I would have anyway. He told me that I'd probably have to do this three times. But that after the third time, Shali wouldn't touch anything in the house.
The next time Shali spent the day working on the carpeting, that's what I did. She was frantic. "Get this piece of carpeting out of my mouth!!!" I held fast. And Shane was right. Shali pulled the game off twice more, and each time I put a piece of carpeting in her mouth and kept it there for an hour. Shali never touched the house again. The e-collar went into a box and into the basement.
Years later I was again faced with a training situation that literally screamed for an e-collar solution. My significant other, Jennifer, has a five year old all black male GSD (Graeson) who has to be a direct descendant from Lewis and Clark. This dog loves to roam. And that's what got him into trouble with his first owners. Every time he got loose, he was gone. They finally gave up bailing him out of the shelter and told animal control to keep him. Jennifer picked him up a scant two days before his second birthday, the day they were going to euthanize him.
You'd have thought he'd be grateful and would stay put. But no, Graeson lives to explore. Jenn lives on a farm of a couple of hundred acres, but that doesn't mean that her dogs can roam freely. During deer season, hunters have been known to shoot dogs chasing whitetail deer, and of course local traffic remains an issue. So we had to stop Graeson's exploration. When you have access to that much property, then you don't want to be forced to walk your dog on a leash. Nonetheless, Graeson's recall was totally hit or miss. If he wanted to come back to Jenn, he would. If he wanted to run off and explore, he would. We decided to try an e-collar.
A friend of Jenn's had had excellent success with his e-collar, so we read up on how to train with one, then borrowed his. The e-collar in question had a range of about one hundred feet. We bought new batteries for it and got it positioned on Graeson successfully.
Well it didn't take Grae long to figure out how far a hundred feet is. He'd kind of mosey out until he was out of range. When we saw that he was ready to break loose, we'd hit the transmitter button. But by then Grae was truly out of range and gone. This got to be a game with the dog. He'd sneak out until he was pretty certain that we couldn't "reach out and touch him", then sprint off to explore the farm. Who said dogs aren't smart?
Frustrated (me, not Graeson), I went out and bought an e-collar with a 3/4 mile range. There are a lot of e-collars on the market, but we opted for one that has rechargeable batteries, a good 3/4 mile range, and variable correction (or stimulation) levels. Different trainers have their own preferences, a lot of times because they're buying that brand at a discount and then reselling the collar to their clients. We've used the DT brand collar because it has these features and is waterproof (the collar part). Cabelas has the collar for around $200, which is about as good as it gets price-wise.
The first time we used it, Grae wandered out his usual hundred feet, turned around and stared me in the eye, gave me that look of his, and headed off. I did the usual recall, but Grae didn't even bother turning around. Then I hit the button on the transmitter. I saw Grae's reaction to the correction. He calmly turned around and walked back to the yard.
Suffice to say we stopped Grae's wanderlust. That is as long as he has the collar on. Shepherds, being pretty intelligent, know that the collar is a training aid. No collar, well then it's back to business as usual–sometimes. That is, for the most part, Grae does a good recall even with the collar off. But routine re-training is necessary.
Other GSD owners have had similar success with the e-collar. I don't believe using one should supplant regular, hands-on obedience training. But when you walk into a situation where normal training isn't working and you're at the end of your proverbial leash, there's something out there that might be of use.
Our local GSD rescue had placed a four or five year old male shepherd with an area family. This dog was fine until you acknowledged him. Then Griff was coming your way and you saw your life pass in front of your eyes. His adopted family spent hundreds if not thousands of dollars on training and behavior modification. Prozac didn't have the desired effect and neither did anything else they tried. These wonderful people had even run Griff up to the University of Pennsylvania's Animal Behavior department in an effort to get Griff under control. Finally Griff's "mom" got in touch with Jennifer and they decided to try the e-collar.
They decided to bring Griff over to my house for training. I remember (and probably will for a long time) walking outside. Jenn had Griff on a Flexi lead. I walked down the steps from the deck, took a few steps in Griff's directions and said, "Hi Griff". Griff gave me a serious growl and took off in my direction. I remember saying a short prayer that Jenn would lock up the Flexi soon. Had I said anything to anger her? Not told her that I thought she was pretty often enough? Anything else? I'd like to say that I stood my ground, knowing from years of being around dogs not to turn my back on a charging dog. The truth was that I was literally rooted to the spot in fear. She hit the Flexi's brake, stopping Griff in his tracks. I was cool. I turned around, walked inside and left Griff's training to others.
Anyway, Griff's family embarked on a serious training course, which ultimately led to a substantial reduction in Griff's aggression. Now don't get me wrong. This was not an "overnight success". A lot of work went into training Griff with the e-collar. And I'm pretty sure they're still working him routinely. But the aggression has all but stopped and they can take Griff out in the public without being afraid of what might happen.
I like the e-collar for very specific problems rather than general training. I like it when the dog is saying, "Hey I don't care what you want. I'm going to do what I want to do." Chasing cars, not responding to a recall, and in some cases of aggression I think the e-collar approach has got potential.
Not all dogs respond the same way to the "correction". Another of Jenn's dogs, Sarek, can be discriminatingly dog aggressive. Unfortunately although Sarek got along well with Jenn's two females, he didn't with Graeson. A couple of late night visits to the local animal emergency room and you're really "invested" in getting the problem resolved.
So we opted for an e-collar approach after trying Prozac (gave Sarek an upset stomach), Ritalin (We thought he might have ADD, so at our vet's suggestion we ran a short course of Ritalin but it didn't work.), and Buspirone (he's still on it although I'm not sure if it works or not.) Jenn and I figured that maybe instead of giving the mood elevator drugs to Sarek, we ought to just take them ourselves. Sarek and Grae could work out their relationship while we were on Prozac–"fat, dumb and happy".
The first time Sarek postured at Graeson, Jenn gave Sarek the correction. It didn't take us long to figure out that Sarek simply "didn't get it". Instead of associating the correction with his behavior, Sarek figured that the shock had something to do with where he was. So if he got corrected on the carport, Hey Man, I just won't walk on the carport. After a few days, Sarek was obviously skipping a whole bunch of places in and around Jenn's house. This obviously wasn't going to be the panacea we had hoped for–at least not for Sarek's issues.
Some e-collar trainers like to regulate the degree of stimulation depending on the circumstances. Others use full strength corrections all the time. In our use of the collar, we always used the minimum correction necessary to get the dog's attention.
And don't forget dogs become collar smart. "I'll come when you call me as long as I'm wearing this stupid collar. But when I'm not, I'm out of here!" We see that occasionally from Graeson. As a result when he doesn't have the e-collar on, he's walked on a lead.
If you're even thinking about this approach, visit DobbsDogs.com. This site will give you a good grounding (no pun intended) on e-collars. Download the articles, read them carefully and use the information as a basis for your own training. And if you're not sure about what you're doing, find a trainer to assist you. The application of the correction timing-wise is absolutely critical and you can't afford to mess it up.
E-collars are not a panacea and shouldn't be used indiscriminately. Use them on a dog that's too young to grasp the concept, or too often and you're going to have a worse situation than you had to begin with. No amount of correction was going to resolve the Sarek/Graeson issue because Sarek simply "couldn't get it". He had no idea why he was being corrected. It was almost as if the e-collar correction scrambled his brain waves. It didn't take us long to realize that using an e-collar on a dog like this was only going to make matters worse.
There are a couple of good web sites on e-collar training. These include: www.Dobbsdogs.com and www. Loucastle.com. Please remember that e-collar training is far more than strapping the collar on your dog and then pressing the transmitter button every time your dog does something wrong.
Oh yeah, what about Sarek?

Citronella Collar
Jenn ran into this woman who had tried a Citronella collar. The Citronella collar works the same way as the e-collar except instead of a shock, the dog gets a whiff of Citronella. In the book of dogs, it is said that dogs don't like the smell of Citronella (just kidding). But they don't. So we spent another $160 on Spray Commander, which comes with batteries, an aerosol can of Citronella, the collar, transmitter, training book, et al.

I read the manual, made sure I knew which button did what, then put the collar on Sarek. Off we went to visit Graeson and Jenn's cats (Sarek doesn't like cats either). Each time I saw Sarek growl or posture, poof, a whiff of the dreaded Citronella. Sarek didn't like the smell--guess he read the book too. Interestingly the short spray interrupted Sarek's "behavior" and allowed my words ("Sarek, down!) to sink in. We continue to train Sarek with the Citronella collar and we're seeing some (albeit limited) progress. At least there's hope out there. And Sarek's house smells nice. If not, there's always drugs. But I'm not sure if it makes more sense for Sarek's owner to take them rather than give them to the dog!
If you're sitting there thinking, "This guy throws money around like it's nothing" you're somewhat right–at least in this case. Sarek came into the local rescue with a compound fracture of his left rear leg. All said and done, eighteen months and six surgeries by an orthopedic specialist later, Sarek had run up bills totaling over $8000. Everything's relative. Obviously we opted to invest a few more dollars, recognizing Sarek's medical history and the investment by the rescue.
I guess if I knew then what I know now, I'd opt for the Citronella collar first. Then if that didn't work, I'd move to the e-collar. Sarek, whose aggression is aimed specifically at other dogs seems to be doing well with the Citronella collar. Griff, whose aggression was aimed at people I'm not sure would have responded as well to the Citronella collar as he did to the e-collar. And the Citronella collar has a limited range (about 300 ft or so). Therefore it wouldn't have worked on Graeson's wanderlust. Like I said, each obedience issue is different and you have to take a careful look at what you're dealing with before stepping off in one direction or another.

Training Books
As I said before, there are a multitude of dog training books out there. Information is also available on specific web sites, i.e. e-collar training web sites. However there are two books that Jenn and I pass back and forth between us. These are: Dog Logic: Companion Obedience by Joel M. McMains and Dog Training Made Easy by Michael Tucker. As with any book that I'm interested in, I usually check out the local library. Then if I've read the book and agree with the author's approach, I'll buy it.
A Few Last Words About Training
Training is not something that you do and then don't ever revisit. The police departments, search and rescue teams, guide dogs, and every other organization that trains dogs for specific purposes knows that re-training on a periodic basis is necessary. Fortunately for the individual dog owner, re-training takes place on a day-to-day basis when you take your dog for a walk (heel, sit, stay, down). If you find that you're not reinforcing the basic training lessons in your regular routine, make a point to brush-up on your dog's training on a periodic basis. A half hour every two weeks will do wonders to keep you and your dog in top-notch shape.
When you stand back and think about it, training is really kind of "neat" (for lack of a better word). When you've reached the training plateau that you want for you and your best friend, you'll have accomplished several things. First you will have enhanced the bond between you and your dog. Second you will have clarified the "pack order" so that your dog understands his/her role in your family. Third you will have established rules for your dog to follow, thereby making him/her feel more secure. And finally, as Joel McMains said in his book, you will have successfully communicated with another species.

*About the author

Richard Bajackson is not a veterinarian. However over the forty years he's been owned by German shepherds, Rick has run across enough dog-related issues to fill a large notebook. Unfortunately most of these "lessons" (for lack of a better term) are often learned the hard way in the proverbial school of "hard knocks".  When he discovered the JustShepherds web site, he knew had found the perfect vehicle to share his extensive experience with other German shepherd owners. Expect to see more from him over the ensuing months.

Links Added By The Website Owner:

Selecting Training Equipment

The Problem With Head Halters

Training With The Prong Collar