Hi All,

I have a whippet puppy who is now nearly 15 weeks old and it seems that overnight he has had a personality transplant. I have always been impressed with how quickly he has picked things up, after only having him a couple of days he had learnt to sit and lie down, struggled with stay at that stage but seemed to pick that up as well a few days later. I have also been working hard on recall and about 95% of the time using a long training line he would come back for a treat.

Everyday we have a short training session in the morning and afternoon when I go back through, sit, down, stay and I take him on two 20 miniute walks to work on recall and to heel when he is on the short leash and other than the occassional pull he walks quite nicely.

But today, he just wont do anything, he wont sit without snapping at the treat in my hand, he will not lie down or stay for love nor money and his heel and recall today were shocking he seems to be doing every thing he can to ignore me...I am acting no differently then before so could this be him trying to take back control from me and pushing the boundaries? I have never had a dog before so I am not too sure if I should just ease up on the training maybe he is bored with it? Could it be that we are allowing him to become pack leader and therefore he wont take instructions anymore?
Any advice much appreciated.

nope, honestly nothing to do with pack leader or letting a pup become an 'alpha'.

just like us, dogs sometimes have 'off' days and need a little break.

I'm sure you know already but training (espesh for youngsters) should be done in short periods (i tend to do a few sessions of 5-10mins a day for my adult dogs) as concentration and motivation often dwindle if it goes on too long (just as it does for us!)

Puppies are, as you said, incredibly quick and sponge-like for soaking up new information. But if he's having an off day, don't worry about it - have fun with him and leave the training for a bit later, or the following day. It can be really frustrating when it's a 'no go' day but keep training positive and if it's not working, leave it for a bit.

I filmed a vid for a comp the other day - filmed it on one day and it was me that messed up, my girlie did a fantastic job. Filmed it again the next day (to rectify my rubbishness), and this time it was she who was too tired and not really in the mood. So we did a less impressive version and I called it quits as she clearly just wanted to mooch around and snooze

I honestly wouldn't worry, have another go tomorrow. At 15wks it sounds like he's doing brilliantly already.

I agree. Anything could change his motivations from one day to the next, and his focus could just be a little off. When this happens, just lower your criteria and work on things that are a little easier to get him back in the rhythm. Don't expect too much, even if he is supposed to 'know' it already.

Nothing to do with pack structure, leadership or hierarchies. All those views are old and out of date, and have no evidence behind them, except what people like to think about dogs.

Yes that's puppy training for you - you take one step forward and three steps backwards at times. Just stick with it and all will click into place eventually.

Take the pressure off a little bit. He is only young and all that trainng is putting to much pressure on him. try training in 2/3 minute spurts, end on a good note and then leave it for a while. He should be lot more receptive if you break the training up.

Thank you for all the advice, I will certainly stop putting so much pressure on him to perform and on me to have the perfect dog! Short training sessions in future.