Have any of you had any expereince with spray collars as a training aid NOT shock collars.
It has been suggested that one may be useful in changing my gsd behaviour when he goes charging off to see another dog ignoring me and doing the boisterous bounce bark thing that I am trying to control on or off the lead. Things are improving slowly ,we are going to training classes, his behaviour there is brilliant and practising regulaly at home. If other dogs bounce at him barking  or tell him off no matter what their size is he retreats for a couple of seconds then will go off again if given the chance. He has never attempted to bitenor has he retaliated if as happen yesterday another dog came at him when i was holding him. But rush off to mug others when you are as big as him is at the least bad maners at the most scary and potentially could be a real problem
Opinions, experiences please?

I am sure others will be better able to advise  you but I have used the citronella collars and the spray commander (also citronella) with success.
If we get a noisy barker in rescue we use the aboistops they are usually always a success some it doesnt work on.
Also try using a gundog whistle to train  and  recall your dog back.

Have only tried one once , on a very vocal newfie , after 10 mins he had emptied it , the citronella didnt seem to bother him one bit  , but i am sure they are worth a go .

The spray is meant to act as a little surprise so you can get your dog's attention back.
I have used one very effectively for recall.
The only problem here is you have a dog who goes up to other dogs - if you spray him then he might think the nasty smell and hiss comes from the other dog, if he is scared of it that could make him aggressive.
Have you tried doing the recall training with a log line against the distraction of other dogs, then doing it at a great distance from the other dogs without the line and gradually increasing the distraction in a controlled way?

I have used the remote control one for a dog I had that used to do a runner and chase things (including plastic bags on windy days). It was very successful, I used to shout NO when hitting the remote control and she would immediately take notice and come back. It was more a case of interrupting her chasing thoughts and that gave me a chance to gain control over her.

I have used it successfully when my dog chased bicycles after the long line training for many months just didn't work.  In some ways I find it fairer to a dog to give clear messages and the spray is one as trying to teach a dog by a method where he doesn't get the message for months and months. 

Thanks for your replies, I am trying the long line traing and also working at a longer distance I was intending to use the collar to back up my NO command and get his attention. I am sure he runs off with earplugs in his ears !
The point about agression if he was scared was mentioned by my apdt trainer she was worried about it changing his behaviour to fear agression ( so far he does not atempt to bite and doesnt scare easily with day to day noiss and fireworks etc )  I think this is valid. Indoors he chases the cats if they move too fast and water spray if I can get there in time does work he just doesnt stops and looks at me and comes back. I will watch his behaviour carefully and may start off with him indoors (hope that doesnt sound too risky for the cats but nose full of claws hasnt put him off so far)
The difficulty is that whilst this is NOT acceptable and bad dog  manners  at the least if he wasnt so big and loud the same behaviour would be seen as playing which is what he will do with a known dog who doesnt mind boisterous play. I just cant risk him hurting a dog or upsetting an owner.  At least the problem is only with dogs with people little and big he is so gentle both in out the house and he plays carefully with our pomXchi (always supervised just in case of a mistake with those large paws)
I will keep at it.

I have used one as my boy ignored all commands when he was getting too playful with other dogs and i could see the other owners worry on their faces.

He is not aggressive nor has he been with other dogs, he just wanted to play.

I started to use one with a trainer with me, the spray worked wonders, i then added my voice and over 2 weeks i managed to move onto just the sound and my voice and now i use just my voice. He is very good and often ignores other dogs rather than having to greet everyone.

Its worked wonders in such a short space of time and used correctly can have great outcomes.

We go out without it now and i don't have any issues in getting him to come back. I allow him to play but when i say enough and recall him he comes.
He's mellowed so much that i'm kicking myself for not trying one sooner.

I used one for my Chihuahua to stop him barking all the time. It had no effect on him at all, he barked the thing empty in minutes and then carried on barking

I suppose if your dogs is sound or spray sensitive then it will work. Pet Corrector works with all ours so i knew this would have an effect.
I used the remote controlled one, so i chose when it would spray.

Thanks yes i have got the remote control one the intent is to spray and reinforce NO then call him back before he gets  to other dogs etc.
As for chihuahua 's still working on stopping her barking with a firm NO. Mind a squirt of water works well with her but little devil more often than not hears me coming and stops immediately or disappears behind the furniture if we are at home !

PS just looked at your boyds pics suejaw he's lovely

PS just looked at your boys pics suejaw he's lovely

> The point about agression if he was scared was mentioned by my apdt trainer she was worried about it changing his behaviour to fear agression ( so far he does not atempt to bite and doesnt scare easily with day to day noiss and fireworks etc )  I think this is valid.

That is exactly why I wouldn't use a spray collar. You have a large, bouncy, happy dog that just needs to learn some self-control (that is the biggest battle, IMO, when they are 'teenagers'), I would not want to risk using a spray collar and end up with a large, dog that is nolonger happy around other dogs - then you'll have trouble.

A spray collar needs good timing - so does positive/reward-based training. You need to get his attention before he get excited, I use a 'wait' command (my dog knows this to mean 'stop what you're doing, get a treat & wait for the next command calmly') some people use a 'watch me' command. Whatever you use it is a word your dog should associate with focus on you, then once you have his attention you can tell/lure him into the behaviour you want, using tasty treats to reinforce evrey right move he does (if he's not into food, use a toy as a lure & reward).

>Indoors he chases the cats if they move too fast and water spray if I can get there in time does work he just doesnt stops and looks at me and comes back.

I used a water-spray to stop my last dog chasing the cat or barking in the house, the problem I found was he would only listen to me if I had the spray bottle. My current dog has chased the cat (in play) but I refused to use anything other than me to stop it. It's been a long road, but now at 18 months he's really managing to control himself around the cat, when he just can't control himself on the odd occasion and he chases her a simple 'ah-ah' from me is enough - no water needed :) It's meant a lot of work and making him sit calmly whenever he is pestering the cat/chasing her, to start with he would get a treat for sitting calmly, when I knew that he knew what he was expected of him, I phased out the treats and if he chased her he would get sent to the kitchen for a few minutes.

I think you have all made good helpful points to help me. I am going to have a good think about how to progress taking all these points to mull over. Meanwhile continuing with both positive reward based training (food and toys) I am using the watch me command and we get there in some circumstances ie when the distractions are low, or we are in the hall at training then I have a very happy well behaved dog. Its moving to the freer less controlled environments that are the tricky ones and descions like should he  ever be free in woods and fields should I walk away from other dogs and stop him trying to play atm until more sure of his responce to me, if he is free it is a 50/50 chance if he will listen to me first or run to play first. My OH sees things differently and thinks he will grow out of it and encourages him playing with dogs, fortunately most of the walking andtraining is done by me now my poorly foot is better or my lovely dog walker who he obeys better than me when he is out usually walking with 3 or 4 dogs Max) He is great then. hurrmf !
You are right he is an adolescent and they are are work in a different way to pups just like children ( and i teach with that age group too and have 2 teenagers)omg  I have adolescents 24/7. No wonder I am going mad ! 
but thank you all for your input. Hopefully I will soon have some good stuff to report.