Around six months the recall stops working and the puppy who sat on cue starts staring at you. This is normal, temporary, and manageable.
What changes
Hormones rise, the brain rewires, and the outside world gets far more interesting than you. Fear periods come and go. None of it is defiance.
Hold the line
Go back to a leash indoors if needed, pay well for the basics, and stop asking for things you cannot enforce. A cue the dog ignores gets weaker each time.
Exercise and rest
More physical exercise does not fix an adolescent. Sniffing walks, training games, and enforced rest do. Growth plates are still open, so skip long runs and jumping.
