behavior problems

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This is a pic of my Layla

niccido17, try clicker training!  Watch the videos at www.clickertrainusa.com.  You can find a clicker trainer at www.clickertraining.com.  GSD's are brilliant - you just haven't known how to train her properly.  At her age, she should be playing, a lot, but she should also have some obedience skills.  How old was she when she went to class?  I bet you waited too long.  If you catch GSD's early, they are super fast learners.  There's still time, though - hurry, before she reaches 1.5 yr.

She's 9 months old and she's still hyper and unfocused?  Amazing...  j/k.  Wait it out, break any training into short 5 minute bursts and make getting her to focus on you one of your biggest goals.  Definately follow Spiritdogs clicker training advice.  I know clicker training helps a lot with getting the dogs to pay attention to you.  Never expect instant results.  Once she starts watching you for the five minute bursts, work her up to ten or fifteen minute training sessions.  You probably won't get there until twelve or fifteen months, just don't rush it, or she'll get bored.  On top of all this, remember that she is a puppy, and it will take a while before she settles down and starts listening. 

My setter was 2 before her attention span went beyond 5 minutes!  Keep on training her and make it fun fun fun!  Revel in any thing that she "gets".
 
She's an adolescent right now and this is when most people end up surrendering dogs to shelters!  Give her time and patience and enjoy her enthusiasm!.
 
Trudy is now 2 1/2 and is getting to be quite a studious young lady.  My husband and I both miss all of her silly adolescent antics (although, we wouldn't have the energy to go through some of them again []).
 
Just don't give up, enjoy her and take it step by step.  You won't be sorry.

And here we have the reason why I always adopt adult dogs! []
 
My boys are both well into adulthood but we still go on two walks every day, one in the morning for 40 minutes, one in the evening for a half an hour. On weekends, we often spend several hours either hiking or going to the dog park (or sometimes hiking to the dog park!). Conrad (5) tires after about an hour in cool weather, but it takes Marlowe (2) well over an hour to even start panting.
 
Sometimes for the morning walk, I give Marlowe--the younger and less easily tired of the two--his backpack to wear, with a couple small water bottles in it for a little extra weight. I don't do it all the time, but sometimes for a little extra bang for our buck.
 
Stick with the obedience classes! There's nothing wrong with repeating a class (it's not like failing in school lol!) until your dog is ready to move forward. At this age, classes are more about learning the drill and you learning things about how to train your dog than actually molding an obedience champion.

YES, as houndlove said, don't give up on the obedience classes...and try agility as well.  Just be careful about jumping your dog at this young age.  Bones are still growning and plates are not closed yet.  Lots of people make the mistake of giving up because the dog is too distracted to behave in class.  DON'T GIVE UP!  Make a note of even 5 minutes of good behavior.  If your dog starts getting squirmy after this time, break away from the class and do something fun.  Both my birdy girls are still going to classes twice a week (agility and obedience). 
 
9 months can be when the trouble begins []!  Puppies are just so cute and they follow you all over the place, then they turn into gangly, not so cute, rebelious teens at about this time and usually stay this way until they turn 2 years old.  Just hang in there.  Buy a long leash and run your dog in the park. They will run 1 mile for every block you walk.  Toss that ball or frisby until your you dog is tired.  Classes and walks make your dog THINK.  All this makes for a tired puppy=good and learning puppy.

I have four dogs, a doberman, a boxer, a dashchund, and a mutt that is likely austrailan shepherd/ border collie mix.  Three of the four are very high energy, and I was struggling to manage their energy needs.  I compete in triathalons, so I have started taking the dogs with me as I train.  Two dogs run with me every morning before I go to work.  We usually go 8-9 miles while the other dog runs on a treadmill for about an hour.  In the evenings, again two dogs now bike with me for 12-15 miles, while the other runs on the treadmill.  I use a contraption called the springer on my bike to lessen the pull of the dogs.  Obviously you would have to work your puppy up to long distances on both walk/run or bike rides.  I have learned that a training session after a long run works really well, as the dog is tired and a little more willing to focus.  Just keep in mind that with patience your pup will come around, just don't give up.

My Payton is almost 7 and his play drive has shown no sign of slackening off.  I have to be the one to read him and determine when we are crossing the line from exercise and constructive activity to him perhaps pushing too hard or too far and perhaps causing an injury...He has showed signs of definite hip problems since we adopted him at 4, so I have actually watched him trying to catch the ball or frisbee until he was literally coming back on three legs instead of four.  Some dogs have an extremely high play drive.  We taught Payton to play soccer with one of those indestructable balls...this way he controls the intensity of how fast he goes out and returns, and we have minimized the overdoing....but he is still good for a couple hours of play per day-even at 7.