Thanks so much guys. You're right--I am confused too! XD

I was reading some other threads and have also started, as of yesterday, making him sit before he receives pets. He's a goofball, but yeah, he is very intelligent and I can see that he wants something to do.

Previously when I'd go outside I'd keep repeating a litany of "No!" even though it outwardly seemed to do nothing. I'd really almost given up on working on it; I just didn't know what to do any more. I'll start in on this when I get home from work today.

I grew up with irish setters, golden retrievers and american eskies--pretty mild dogs. I'm one of those people who, unfortunately, picked up the dog without first knowing the breed and the right way to train him. I figured, hey, I've grown up with dogs and helping to train and potty train them! Germans are a whole other ball-part, and I guess it's as much retraining myself as Odin.

Hopefully within a few months I'll be able to come back on here and boast about my progress.