There is an excellent Shepherd web page-
www.germanshepherds.com - it can be a little over the top, but the behavior pages are very good.
The whole alpha thing is controversial. Sheps do respond to a pack structure, but "alpha" isn't necessarily a good behaviorial model.
I have a rescue shep. Most of them have some issues, if only from being in the rescue, as Shep's are very, very loyal dogs and the changing environment will exacerbate any problems they have.
They will bond very strongly with someone, and in almost all cases, merely having that person express stern displeasure is as effective as a "smack on the ass". Despite their reputation as a tough-ass dog, sheps respond to approval/disapproval very strongly, but you need to have the dog's trust and loyalty first. No offense to Jared, but his approach isn't likely to work with most shepherds, and might lead to a problem dog.
One of the problems with breaking behaviors is that you have to correct the dog while he's doing it. Dogs are intelligent animals, but aside housebreaking, they rarely will respond to punishment doled out after the fact.
Digging is often a sign of boredom or some other issue.