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The difference between teaching 'off' and 'never do it again' command, like 'no'

He mouths item, I say "Off", he complies, I click, he gets treat... Today he's been mouthing a rolling file caddy behind my desk that I want him to stay "off" of. He responds to the command but has come back to mouth it probably 8 times.

The "Off" command is designed to be used at your discretion to get the pup away from an object you do not want it to get interested in "at that moment." Many of the items you use the "Off" command for are objects that at other times you might give permission for the pup to have. For instance, the pup may be about to chomp on a piece of rawhide right before dinner, so you say "Off" to the rawhide. Yet, at a different time, when the pup is left crated with some rawhide to keep him busy, there is nothing wrong with mouthing the rawhide.

In the case of the file caddy you mentioned, it is likely that you never want the pup to chew or scratch or fool with it. There are many other objects in the environment that you will never want to have to call the pup "Off," such as the legs of your good mahogany furniture and the screen in your storm door. In these situations, where you never want the pup to bite, chew, or make contact with something, the "Off" command can become a "Whoops! Too late!" command.

And as you perceptively pointed out, there is a strange irony in rewarding the pup for ceasing to do something that you never want it to do again. If you received $10 every time you stopped speeding in your car, the only way to get more cash would be to speed again!

Because "Off," at least in the way I would use it, has a sense of being temporary or contextual--which implies that the object may sometime be OK and at other times not--I would not use "Off" to teach a dog to stay away from something he should never have touched in the first place. (It's a little like teaching a "Stop peeing on the rug" command.)

What I would suggest with objects that are going to always be off limit is to use "No!" or a similar general "Don't touch" type command without an immediate treat or reinforcer. Also, DO use the technique of substituting an acceptable object or behavior immediately, as was suggested. Even better, positively train an incompatible behavior in place of the forbidden behavior. (About to bite the couch? Provide a yummy chew toy or treat because you cannot chew the couch while chewing the treat!) So rather than drawing the dog's attention to the lesson, "Do not bite the couch!" you are drawing its attention to "It's great to chew this rawhide!"

More importantly, I would use management techniques to prevent the behavior in the first place, or at least to strongly discourage repeating it. For example, blocking off a valued item or keeping it out of the pup's reach. If you can prevent a growing pup from ever getting involved with certain items, when it gets older it will usually have no interest in them. (You have prevented what is called "rehearsal," where the pup gets to try chewing or grabbing the chair or file caddy and finding it a pleasant experience.) Other methods range from constant supervision when in certain areas to using bitter sprays to discourage mouth contact.

The main point is that there are contextual commands, and then there are absolute rules that are never to be broken. We usually do not manage absolutes with commands. Most commands are contextual: Sit, Off, Leave It, Come, etc. We don't expect a dog to always be Sitting. It is not wrong to walk or lie down at other times. But you will notice we have very few absolute commands--"Don't attack!" "Stop shredding the cushion!" "Do not fight with our other dog!" Such commands are "too little, too late," and cover behaviors that the dog should never have been allowed to exhibit in the first place.

To use "Off" repeatedly to keep a pup off a particular object that you never want it to be near is like never teaching the dog bite inhibition and then teaching a command like "Stop biting that person's wrist!"

Just another viewpoint for you to consider.