You can use negative reinforcement in devious ways, so that the dog thinks that it's his fault, not yours, that he has suffered an unpleasant experience. Booby traps are useful to discourage stealing - set up a heap of cans that will fall down and clatter if he tries to thieve food from the kitchen work surface, for example. You can also use methods that don't actually hurt the dog, but shock it into behaving well. Non-confrontational methods are safer, especially with larger and more dominant dogs, and they helps to maintain trust between you and your dog. If you stare at a dominant dog and grab it by the neck to remove it from a disputed area of territory, it's more likely to bite you than if you simply put up a barrier to prevent it from going into your territory.
Baby gates are very useful for preventing dogs from going upstairs.
You can try a water pistol to get a dog to move if it won't obey. Just ignoring a dog can be a useful non-confrontational method of negative reinforcement. You can, for example, go away and close the door on him if he is being a pain, and only go back when he's good and quiet. Socialisation Pups and young dogs need to be socialised, to learn how to interact with humans and other dogs. This means that you need to control the interactions, so that they learn the right sort of behaviour.