How to teach a Golden to NOT do certain things

Question
Hi Marwan,

I have a one year old Golden Retriever. We have had him since he was 2 months old. He is a very affectionate, wonderful, and for the most part behaved puppy. He house trained in just a couple weeks time and knows "sit" and "down" commands fairly well. However, there are several disobedient things he does that he simply will not stop. This includes:

1. Bothering us while we are eating, even snatching food if left unattended or not carefully watched
2. Jumping up on us
3. Digging into the laundry basket and pulling things out to chew on
4. If clothes are on the couch, he grabs those to chew on
5. Resisting when being brought to his crate
6. Chewing on the carpet

For each one of these issues, no matter how many times we reprimand him or sternly tell him to stop, he will go right back to doing it. I can even take a sock away from that he has pulled from the laundry basket, yell at him for it, put it back, and literally a minute later he'll come running back to me with the same sock in his mouth. He thinks it's a game.

When we try to bring him to his crate, his resistance is inconsistent, but common. He even has become quite skilled at wiggling out of his collar (We keep his leash attached at all times even inside the house because of his behavior. When we lead him to the crate, he pulls back on the leash and then wiggles out).

I would eventually like to teach him tricks, but first I'd like get him to behave at all times. Please help!

Answer
Hey Paul,
It caught my attention when you said that he thinks it's a game, that may be when he was younger when he does that kind of stuff someone used to laugh. Dogs understand when people laugh that that makes them happy, and that may be a reason why he still does that. You need to show the dog that you are not happy, even a smile may encourage him to do it again, and I know it sometimes is very hard not to smile when your dog does something like that, but we have to do our best.
If your dog bothers you while you are eating, you have to teach him that you are dominant over him, do that be feeding him after you eat, not letting him sit on the couch... When he snatches food try to prevent him from eating it by taking it away from him, if that is possible, and don't laugh. Some guests feed the dog because he is cute, but you have to make sure nobody does that because once may give him the wrong idea. Also you have to clap and then firmly say "No!" when he does that. That should do it.
When your dog jumps on you, again don't pet him or laugh, that will encourage him. To stop him from jumping at you you have to cross your arms in a defensive way and look up at the ceiling. Dogs hate that and will not jump on you if you do that. It may take the dog a couple of times untill he completly stops that, if it doesnt work, than you have to do that for a longer period of time. You can pet him or call him to you 5 minutes after you arrive and he doesn't jump up at you. Again you should tell guests not to pet him if he jumps on him, because that will ruin the work you did to train him.
Puppies always will look for anything to chew on to make their teeth sharper, they will eventually grow out of it. If you don't want to wait untill he grows out of it, then you can get him chew toys from any pet shop. If he has a piece of clothing that he is chewing, snatch it away from him, clap your hands, and then firmly say "No!"
If a dog does not want to go back to his crate then, unfortunatly, nothing will train him not to do that. My dog does the same thing but there is nothing I can do to stop it. You can think of creative ways to get him to go into his crate like food, toys... However, after a couple of times he will learn your trick and you will have to htink of something new. I am sure if you get a professional trainer he will be able to train him, I personally don't think it is that annoying to get a trainer just for that.
Again, dogs chew on the carpet to sharpen their teeth, do the same thing with the carpet as I told you to do with the clothing and he should stop.
Please send me back if you have any questions. Good Luck...