Amy, I hope Nebo is feeling better real soon.

My only addition to this conversation is to use positive reinforcement with this strong willed dominant little boy. He is showing you right now that he is dominant and as he matures it will get worse if you don't get it under control now.

The best way to do this is to teach him that you are the giver of all great things in his life. How can he not love you to pieces if you are the one who controls the good things in his life. Basically in order to get him to understand when he does something bad, he needs to know when he does something good.

Use the nothing in life is free approach. Make him work for everything he gets. Put his toys up where they are not readily available to him. Make him do a sit before he gets one. When he is done pick it back up so he realizes that if he wants it he is going to have to earn it. The same with his going out (provided he has accomplished house training). Make his sit before he goes out. Make sure you go out first. Never let him go out before you. This reinforces he is after you in the pack order. Again you need to do this with food. Use this one more thoroughly since eating is something he has to do (make sure his health issue is ok first). Only feed him AFTER you have eaten. Then offer him some of his kibble for doing a sit. Offer more for doing a down. When you feel he has done it satisfactorily give him the bowl. I work obedience before Dusty's meals for 10 minutes using his kibble and then what's left he gets. Right now you are working basics (sit, down, come) for his rewards. As he learns he will be required to offer more behaviors for his needs.

Try to stay away from the negative approaches to training. Alpha rolls (putting the dog on it's back and forcing him to look at you) is only effective in naturally submissive dogs. Doing it with a dominant dog can back fire on you by making the dog fear you. How would you like someone to hold you down on the ground and force you to look at them. I know I wouldn't like the person. I also don't like picking a dog up by the scruff of the neck and forcing it to look at you. A firm, authoritative NO is sufficient if the dog is building trust in you by realizing you are the giver of all great things in his life! I do a firm NO and give a look that my dogs realize means I am NOT happy. If the behavior continues, I put them in a down that is mandatory without reward or praise. This is only effective though if the dog understands down with rewards as being a great thing.

In short, you need to gain the dogs trust as an alpha who gives good things when pup earns them and doesn't when he is bad. Having a dog who will listen to you joyfully means having a dog that is not fearful of you. Accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative!!! Don't be afraid to reward with treats at this point. He is only 2 1/2 months and food is a big thing in his life. When you start formal obedience classes you can learn to fade the food reward for desired behaviors but you are not there yet.