OMG please do not follow the advice in the reply.

I've had GSDs for the past 51 years & I have rehabilitated many rescue GSDs & never ever had to resort to physical methods nor did I ever have to "prove"I was the Alpha over any of them.

Like the others have written dogs know that we are not dogs & therefore cannot be part of a dog pack, however they can learn to see us as a source of food, safety & habitation.

It's worth taking time out to bond in the right way with your dog, make his meal times very rewarding for him(BTW GSDs should always be fed two meals a day)don't just plonk a food dish for him & once you have given him the food do not take it away until he has finished otherwise he will learn to resource guard. Better to put half his food in his dish & then add the rest whilst sitting near him, this will teach him that humans are very rewarding.

I have professionally trained GSDs for people & also trained owners with their own dogs for most of my adult life.

& I am a professional dog trainer specializing in GSDs & BCs for most of my adult life(well 45 years !!)& never needed to do what you advise everyone to do. especially with a 4 year old GSD male

Yer right, how many GSDs rehomes have you dealt with ?

I think they can become even more unbalanced , when we try to convince them we are dogs!!!!

As a lifetime owner and fosterer of rescue dogs I think Mini, C&D and Jackbox have given you some excellent advise

Wouldnt you be top stud and highest in the pecking order?

Well thanks for misinterpreting just about everything I was trying to say.

To Redrum, at the end of the day both you and Rocky are individuals so take advice from those who have training experience and those who just do what seems to fit and adapt it to what suits you! There's probably not much you can do to prepare except for trying to maintain a calm, secure environment for Rocky to settle into. All the best!

Surely the kind of experince gained working with the blank slate so to speak of a puppy is very different from the experience gained or needed working with rescue dogs?

You know nothing about me nor who or what I have trained with, the fact that I turned down a cash offer from the Met for one of my dogs(fully trained)at a time when they only ever had gifted dogs

If the professionals teach you to crate a puppy for hours on end I would put myself above them.

This dog is an adult GSD(have you ever homed an adult GSD ?)not a puppy

You may have had GSDs in the past, but were they these "service"dogs that you boast of ???? If they were puppies, then what you know about training adult GSDs certainly will not have come from the Service Dog people, as the puppies go back at around a year of age.

oh, you`re good!

Rich C, I do understand what you are saying
I think it dosent matter what you call it just so long as you are kind, fair and consistant
Personaly I wouldnt use Alpha because people missuse that to basically mean physicly overpower and bully your dog
Yes it has been seen that the Alpha wolves are the parents of the other wolves and they provide the food and 'train' the cubs to get them ready for the big wide world

In a way I guess I am that

Taking a new older dog into your house - I agree with lots of what has been said here
Dont worry about the dog pining - thats the past, nothing you can do about it
Decide what rules you want to have in your house, reward any good behaviour you like in your dog, and dont croud him - let him come to you and bond with you

Good on you taking him in, and great you are already looking at training classes
You are getting a loving smart sensitive breed that will prob pretty easy bond with you - be kind and fair and you will have a great dog