Does anyone else have this problem with their German Shepherd?

I walk 2 german shepherds every day together. They don't pull or strain or choke - but it DID take me a lot of obedience lessons to get the puppy to learn not to pull. They only strain at their leads, collars or harnesses when they believe they're leading the pack during the hunt (yes, that's how dogs see their daily walk). The easiest way to teach your dog to walk beside you is to turn 180 degrees the moment he pulls even a tiny bit. If you turn around and go the other way, your dog is forced to follow you. When he catches up to the level of your knee, praise him a LOT (take treats with you on your walk. This works!). When he pulls away again, turn around again. Eventually your dog will learn that walking nicely beside you gets him plenty of praise and hopefully a treat. He'll do it quickly enough when he figures it out.

I think it might be excitement like you said. I also have my German shepherd he gets excited so I got him a Halti, which leads them with there noses not the neck. If your one is anything like mine they have quite strong necks and this halti is simply a harness around his face so you stay in control and do not get lead, lol.

indywahm,the problem is you are not taking your german shepherd for a walk, he is taking you for a walk! He is in control,as long as he is forcing the collar! You should be the one in control, where he doesn't pull any at all! You should be the "leader of the pack"! I know it's hard to instill obedience and discipline in an animal that you care and love so much, but it is a necessary part of life! And he is not going to love you any less for this! As a matter of fact all he wants to do is serve you, and he will unendingly!! You just need to communicate what is expected of him, and I know he is more than willing to do that!! Believe me I know how it is, I went through this myself, and my pets loved me more than I could ever imagine!!

We have a 5 year old german shepherd and she is very well trained. However, she was trained prior to us getting her at 3 1/2 years old, so we were not trained with her. She has always pulled me when I take her out. We just started some training with a friend and she has gotten so much better at staying with me when we walk. We also got a training "choke" collar that works really well. The gentle leader did not work for us, it only chafed her under her eye. So I would recommend obedience training, or a refresher course.

Mine doesn't do this, but whenever we ask him if he wants to go for a walk, he hides from the leash. When we put the harness and leash on, he acts like hes dragging an anchor, lol, I feel so bad for him. We've obviously have never beaten him or mistreated him, so its odd that he would act that way.