Discipline and background

Question
My pup is still in the training process and I do not want to take him to obedience schooling. I wish to train my dog myself. So I have a question; what is the best and most effective way to discipline my almost a year German Shepard puppy? Also I have animals such as goats and sheep, and I was wondering if my German Shepard is an animal type dog or if he is mostly just a human dog. He does not hurt the animals and he is not afraid of them, however I was just wondering if the German Shepard was bred so long to protect humans that he has become less of an animal type dog. The answers would really help. Thank you for your time!  

Answer
Hi Lacey,  First, find a trainer who comes to your home and trains you to train the dog.  That is the best way to go when it comes to training your own dog.  You are coming upon a very difficult time in a dog's life.  He is becoming a teenager (mentally) so he will be more stubborn and rebellous, just like a human teenager.  This stage lasts until about a year and a half of age.  Some dogs it can go to two years of age.  They will revert back to bad habits of digging, chewing etc at this time too.  So now is definitely the time to train him.  As far as discipline, nothing physical as you will ruin him if you ever want him to protect you naturally.  Once a dog realizes a human can hurt them, they are forever ruined for natural protective ability as they will always have fear that when a human confronts them they may be punished.  You want to correct them more verbally and also use more positive reinforcement when you train so that things remain positive as much as possible.  
GSD's are herding dogs.  Depending on how strong his instinct is, he will eventually want to herd your goats & sheep.  The big concern is also how much prey drive he has.  That herding instinct can turn very quickly into prey instinct (especially with sheep as they show a lot of fear) and the dog can hurt them.  I personally have had that happen many times.  It all depends on your dog's lineage and how strong his herding & prey instincts are.  Hope this helps,

Dawn