I purchased a GSD at 12 weeks. She is now about 11 months old. I am using a pinch collar on her and want to wean her off of that. I am some what leary of using the choke collar since she has so much drive. She is unreal in this area. Would I be better off using a harness? Her only problem comes in when meeting other people and other dogs. Other than that, she is great and listens very well. We live in the mountains so meeting others is a problem.

Are you talking about doing OB or just walking?

Harnesses encourage pulling, that is what they were made for.

With high drive dogs, a prong can sometimes put them into "overdrive" when you give a correction. Using a choke does not do this. So I guess my question is, is that what you are afraid of when it come to using a choke?

For me, I don't let my dogs meet other STRANGE people or dogs. I do have friends whose dogs I know, and I know they have control over them, these are the dogs my dogs meet. I prefer to train my dogs to ignore/be neutral to new people and dogs. Socializing your dog to new situations, for me, means bringing them places and letting them experience loud noises and different sounds, smells and the hustle and bustle. I often work my dogs doing short OB sessions around downtown, the parks (people parks) and in any buildings they are permitted. They are not there to meet people, they are there to learn to ignore everything around them and focus on me.

I live 20 minutes out of town and I am surrounded by bush. Great for walking and running the dogs, not much for socialization. I have to make an effort every week to bring my dogs into town and work them. I also am part of an all-sport dog club and I am apprenticing as a trainer, so I bring my dogs with me.