Puppy Love

It's so hard to stay mad
at Emo Charlie =(

We've been having some issues with the dog we adopted from my cousin who moved to Australia.  Charlie is a two and a half year old 'puggle' (part pug, part beagle) with a bit of an attitude.  He's been through obedience classes before and understands basic commands (i.e. sit, stay, come, drop) and even some unusual ones like high-five, get into bed, go upstairs, and where's ninang (which is Filipino for godmother, which would be me in this case).  


The problem now is that he doesn't seem to want to follow instructions all the time anymore.  The biggest issues are not dropping his ball while we're playing fetch, not wanting to come inside when we're done, and climbing on the couch when no one is around.  Then there's the problem my mom has; Charlie frequently runs away (anywhere from over to the neighbour's yard to the elementary school a block away) whenever she takes him into the backyard if he's not on his leash.

I'm sure it doesn't help that there are so many of us around giving commands in different ways.  Much like a toddler testing it's boundaries, it's almost like he's taking advantage of the confusion to do whatever he wants.  Anyone have any tips?  We sure could use some at this point =)