A vitally important aspect of proper dog training is the establishment of the "no" command. To do this, your dog must understand what "no" means.
The easiest way I have found to teach a dog the "no" command is to keep wolf pack mentality in mind. You MUST be the alpha dog in your pack or all respect is lost. Without your dog's respect, you will not be able to train him/her anything at all. With this in mind, let's start with the basics.
Your dog does something you consider to be naughty such as getting up on their rear legs to do a little counter surfing. Now what human wouldn't just love their dog to perform this "trick"? I dare say that NONE of us would appreciate it and all of us would shout out a quick NO! But will your dog understand you?
Firstly, you must speak in a firm, authoritive tone. A quick response is crucial. Say "No!" while your dog is still in the act.
A tip… for this particular behaviour, I also like to do a quick sweep of the rear legs causing the dog to lose balance and come down. This will help them think twice about making themselves "vulnerable" to you the next time they are tempted.
Should they do it again, repeat the NO! command (and maybe the sweep) and then quickly (with no further talking) place your dog on their back and GENTLY place your cupped hand on their throat. This is NOT to apply pressure but instead to make a wordless threat and declaration of empowerment over your canine.
Once the dog has stopped resisting you and looks away from you, you will know that by dog language, they are crying uncle… declaring you the winner… your now alpha dog (for the moment).
The next time you say NO!, your dog may take you more seriously. If you do not get an immediate response from your dog, they need to learn that they can expect an immediate response from you in the belly up manuever.
I've never had a dog who didn't learn to obey my NO! command within 2-3 applications of this tactic.
Disclaimer - do NOT practice this training technique on a dog who has aggressive tendancies. For such a dog, you will need to consult a professional dog trainer. A dog's natural instincts are to see this as a challenge. Indeed it is a challenge. Don't challenge if you might not win.
