Actually, I never have been owned by a GSD. I'm both nervous and excited about it.

When I was a kid a GSD adopted my little sister - he just showed up at our house one day and they became attached at the hip. She was only 2 or 3 at the time, and he was about 8 years old. He kept escaping his owner and coming to be with Lisa, so his owner finally said we could have him. Lisa named him "Vegetable!"

He protected her constantly. Once we weren't watching her as closely as we should have (I was about 10 at the time) and she went out in the street. Just before a speeding car nearly hit her, Vegetable ran out and pushed her out of the street. No kidding - it really happened!!!

He wouldn't let anybody in the yard at night - including me or my dad! So we'd have to phone home and have Mom put him in the house just so we could come home.

Another question for you, Tracy. When Axel displays cage aggression, how do you go about removing him from the crate and teaching him manners?

Does he do it because being contained in the crate while you can move around freely makes him feel scared?