Well it seems my boy has just reached adolesence, although I feel it has been starting to take effect for the last month or so. I have a few queries in regards to managing his strange behaviour.
1.) His sneakiness. Having bought my first 'new' sofa I can't seem to be able to keep him off of it. But can't seem to catch him on it either. He has never been allowed on the main sofa so I don't see why he likes this one so much! Sneakiness comes as if i leave him upstairs, as soon as I have gone I hear the light thud and groan of him making himself comfortable in my throw cushions. Come back upstairs and he is on his 'lounge bed' with a butter wouldn't melt look on his little face. I know he has been on it as the sofa is warm, there is black hair on the suede and drool on the cushions. Question is, how do I catch him to show him otherwise? Not being particulary light footed on 100 year old stairs is a problem..

2.) Peeing...on everything/one. I have got him out of the habit of stopping to pee on every bush/lampost/other dogs markings, and having a good old pee-marathon in park is not a problem as it is where he is supposed to go. The issue is peeing on people, without warning.
    A few times we have been strolling about the wood or park, he will greet another dog or owner and casually pee on the persons leg. Yesterday we were walking through our local park when he spotted a man lieing on the grass in the sun, he trotted over, had a fuss, and proceeded to pee/scent mark all over his back. He only seems to pee on men (or this is just coincidence as they kept still long enough). It's not nice and highly embarrassing. Why would he do this? Knowing might make it easier to stop him from committing such crimes. I have to keep him on a lead around men now!?

Any advice on this matters would be great before he turns into a proper pee pest sofa destroyer :)

Vikki

if i were you i would not let him in the lounge when your not in the same room, it would be worth moving his bed somewhere else for a while until he gets the message. if he's being sneaky then there's not a lot else you can do, unless you can somehow make him think you've gone far enough away for him to try and jump on and catch him.
adolesence can course dogs to mark lots of things and he could well grow out of it but it could also become a habit if you don't correct him, so i'm afraid it's a case of stopping him before he tries, not that easy i know.
sorry i'm not much help but hopefully someone else will have more advise.

:-D So sorry Vikki but I thought you were talking about your son!! I thought it was odd when you wouldn't let him sit on the sofa but when it got to peeing on everything .... :-o now I can't stop giggling at the thought.

Can you pretend you've gone downstairs - go down halfway then up again and you might catch him ?

Hi,

Try lining the seat and edges of the sofa with silver foil. This can act as a deterrent to some dogs. Of course, your dog will probably learn to distinguish between a sofa with foil on and one without, but if you are really unable to stop his access to it without your supervision then it may work ( have to add that I had one very bright boy that removed the foil with his teeth, but most hate it!). Has he got a comfy cushion of his own on the floor to lie on? It also helps if the dog has something padded and comfy that he knows he can use and you can reward him for going on there.

With regard to peeing it is a hormonal thing but you need to stop it now before it becomes a habit. I'd have him on a long line and watch him like a hawk.... careful observation will usually tell us when a dog is just about to lift his leg- the moment you see those preparatory moves around any humans a sharp check on the lead and a loud "no" should break the habit, but your timing needs to be spot on, literally just as he is about to do it- not during and not after. You will need to be 100% vigilant for a little while.

Men will probably smell stronger and more interesting to him right now. Dogs cock in response to a smell,particularly hormonal type smells whether dog or human or other mammal, actually it is an almost automatic process- the leg cocks itself as it were, some pups can look confused as they see their leg doing its own thing for the first time. This is why you need to distract your lad as he is making the tiny and momentary signals that he is about to cock- sniffing is a good indicator, as is moving his body around to take aim as it were. Don't be cross with him, he is not being deliberately naughty, he's a slave to his instincts.

I went through this with my own lad- not on people but in shops. Every now and then I'd notice the subtle signs when a dog is about to cock his leg and tell him "no". He doesn't try now.

Ha ha Vikki, I am glad someone else is going through the teenage horror like me.  in the last month or so my 11 month old has pee'sd on my other dogs bed and on me, has eaten my uni course work, has destroyed the garden, escaped out of a hidden hole in the park onto the dual carriageway slip road etc etc.  It is getting to the stage i am having to laugh about it as otherwise I would cry!

My 11mth old boy has overnight become a p***artist!Yesterday I had a friend visit with her 2 pups,a dog and a bitch,and now mine wants to mark his territory,at any given chance.I have a citrus spray cleaner that I'm cleaning up after him with,I don't know if I'm making him worse.Men!!!