in my limited experience: clicker training can be useful... maybe give it a shot. if you don't know what clicker training is, it's something like this: when he does something you want him to do, clicker with treat. start out by giving him a treat EVERY time you use the clicker. so, if you have him sit, *click* + treat. every time. Pavlov his puppy ass into thinking *click* = treat. after a few weeks of this, you can taper off to every other *click* is a treat and you can randomize from there. soon enough, the sight of the clicker itself will be enough for you to get his attention. well, that's assuming the dog likes treats/food... some dogs are VERY food driven, so ymmv. if the pup is not food driven, try something else he likes. maybe a toy, or something else. hand gestures are definitely helpful (gatsby generally doesn't need to be told anything, just get his attention and a hand gesture is enough) VERY careful use of the word "bad" or "bad dog"... you want to save that for occasions when you REALLY want him to stop whatever he's doing... otherwise, you dilute it and he'll just think it's just something you say to be a dick. combine it with a forceful, assertive (or even aggressive/menacing) tone and you should get the desired effect. maybe threaten him with a loaded gun... yeah, that'll do the trick. that all said, i've never had to train a puppy. we adopted Gatsby when he was roughly 1~1.5 yrs old so he was already house broken, knew a few commands, had all his shots, neutered, blah blah blah. didn't have to hit him or put a loaded shotgun to his adorable puppy face or anything.