A: Your dog may be doing this for a variety of reasons - is he teething? Is he bored? Is he doing this when he is left alone or when you are there? If he is bored, then only you can change his behaviour and make it different for him. Play games with him to stimulate his imagination, such as hiding his toys and encouraging him to fetch/find them. Don't make the hide too difficult to start with. Always give lots of praise when he finds the article for you. If he is teething then there are various products on the market that can help. Personally I love the Kong - a hollow cylindrical toy made of very hard rubber. Fill the Kong to the brim with moistened food and rub around inside with highly scented treat such as pate (not too much as this is salty) peanut butter, liver paste or cream cheese. Give this to your dog when you leave him and he will be so busy trying to extract the food that he will forget about the furniture. If he is doing this chewing in front of you, then you can chastise him, but don't think he knows he has done wrong when you come in and find your sofa shredded. He only knows that when you return you are cross, he doesn't understand that chewing the sofa is wrong. A dog should not be given free access to the whole of the house until he has fully outgrown the chewing stage, so you have to restrict his area to one room, or a crate if you are not leaving him for too long. Hope this helps.
Diana

A: When you put your dog into a down position it is a submissive gesture. He is submitting to your wishes and obeying your command - he sees you as his pack boss and does as he is asked. BUT when he goes down in front of other dogs he is also showing them that he is being submissive, and dominate dogs don't like to do that. It is really a matter of time and patience. Ask your instructor to place you at the end of the row so your dog only has to cope with dealing with one dog at a time as opposed to being in the middle of the row with lots of other dogs around him.
Richard

A: Go back to basics. Rub some cheese over the palm of your hand and fingers then with your fist clenched encourage your dog to "lick" your hand. Any nibbling must be admonished with a little growl "Ah Ah" followed by your command - "gently" or "nicely" or a similar word. After a couple of the sessions, progress onto having an item of food in your palm, cheese, biscuit etc. and repeat the process. Always give food from under the chin with your fingers closed - never with the forefinger and thumb from above as this will encourage the snatch. Remember to wash your hands after these exercises!!
Liam

A: You should never let your dog off the lead unless you are certain that you can get her back when you call her. Go back to basic recall exercises and use lots of encouragement, with the aid of tit-bits if necessary, but most importantly your voice. You could use an extending lead, such as a Flexi or make up a running line to a maximum of 20' - one of our instructors can show you how to use this correctly so your dog's legs don't get tangled up. Time patience and praise will win out. Good luck !
Paul