When you call your dog, does he take off in the other direction with your shoes? When you tell him to sit, does he stare at you like, "Why don't YOU sit?" If this is your pet, you need to get him to dog obedience school! Trained instructors will work with your dog, but they will also train YOU to train your dog.
Having a dog that listens is important for his safety and the safety of others! If he's out near the road and an aggressive dog starts toward him, you will want him to come when you call so that he is removed from danger.
If he sees a rabbit and looks ready to chase it across four lanes of traffic, you'll want him to "stay" when you command.
If little great-grandma is coming over to visit, the last thing you want is your dog to jump up on her and knock her over.
You can train your dog to chew on his toys, while leaving your houseplants well alone (as they can be poisonous to your pet!).
There are different types of obedience schools to choose from; some are more like boarding schools where you can send your dog off for six months or so and have them returned perfectly obedient.
The other, and perhaps more common, type involves instructors interacting with both you and your dog, and they teach you how to make your dog obey your commands.
You can sit down with the instructors and go over your training goals, and some instructors even offer private sessions if that is what you are interested in.
If you find a good instructor, any dog is going to come back more obedient than when they went in, no matter how much of a stinker they started out as.
Check your instructor's qualifications and experience before signing up for obedience school.
See if you can find testimonials from others who have enrolled with them.
Any dog can be a good dog; all it takes is time, proper training, and patience! If you are missing one of those from the equation, your efforts will be in vain.
Dogs don't think like we do, and they certainly don't speak our language! Imagine if a parakeet was trying to teach you to build a nest, and it expected you to figure out what its different squawks meant! And if you started using sticks instead of straw to build your nest because that's what made sense you to, you got pecked on the head! Be patient, persevere, and make sure to follow through at home with what you learned at obedience school.
You'll be amazed at what your dog can do!