[Jac]

Angie, do you train him every day? Are you consistent with your training?
I ask these questions because my dogs behaved the same way...and I have a pack of them! But I knew that it isn't the dog's fault...it was mine. I didn't follow through. I did some sparse training, and when I was really serious, I'd insist on them behaving...but in between, they ruled the house. They were confused.

We had to take our dogs to a week-long training session and at the end, they were PERFECT...but the trainer then had to train US! And, still, when we relaxed our guard, thinking that they knew the commands and proper behavior, they would gang up on us again and act up. They were not mean...just persistent.

Dogs will do what dogs will do. They are not acting out of spite or a need to get even. You just need to gain control and keep it...and you can only do that by consistent training.

We also use a prong collar for training and it is a wonder tool! But learn how to use it properly and to fit it properly. http://www.leerburg.com/fit-prong.htm

Our dogs love the collar...it means they are about to do things fun! So, don't let the look of them scare you away...you dog needs control and you need to be the pack leader.

Good luck!

 

[Jac]

Oh, gosh, Angie, Otto is so young...this can be corrected.
Try to tether him to you. He can't do anything without you there to correct him or praise him. Also, if you can't keep a close eye on him for any reason, crate him.
Puppies will explore and they will grab for anything they want...the best things you can teach him at this point is "sit" and "leave it" and "drop it" all of these commands will help you get control of his counter surfing.
Also, I hate to say this, but the tug of war and wrestling may be contributing to his problem. These are games where either he wins or you win and he won't learn that you are the pack leader...it can also lead to aggression.
It is so hard to know what to do and when...believe me, I know. I don't have perfectly behaved dogs and much of their good behavior has come from the aging process.
Keep doing what you can to train him...there are some really good resources online for that too. Here is one of my favorites: http://www.veterinarypartner.com/