I have a 1 year old (intact male) Malinois who was very obedient up until about a week ago. He knows all the basic obedience commands 100% reliably, on and off leash. (He has 2 legs towards his CD title, so he really does know the commands.)

As of about a week ago, he has been acting like he has no idea what I want from him if I give him even the most basic commands. Example: I'll say "sit" and he'll down, or stand.

He NEVER did this before. He knew all the commands beautifully. The other weird thing about this is that if I give a correction for non-compliance (when he just blankly stares at me and does nothing) he totally shuts down and just lays there staring at me.

I am just wondering if this is possibly the adolesence stage that I've read about on here, or if anyone else has had this happen to them.

My boyfriend wants to give corretions for this, but I feel like maybe that is the wrong idea....

Help would be greatly appreciated!

I use a two by four

Seriously, puppy is in the teenage phase and pushing the limits, correction is in order here

Get him hungry and make him work harder!

Put him away - crate, room, 2x4 shed . Then bring him out and ask him to do something. If he doesn't do it, or does something else, stand there until he does, then reward. Work him at small intervals, he is maturing and starting to push. If he totally f's off, then put him away, wait an hour and try again. what you hope to accomplish with the exercise is that you expext the dog to work when he comes out, if he doesn't, well then no skin off your back, he's just going to be put away again. Try this for a week, at the end, all of my dogs stopped the stupidity. I think because it was better to be with me and listening than to be put away and being stupid.

At his age, he may just be pushing the boundaries - don't get frustrated. Beat him at his own game! (not with the 2x4)

A metaphorical 2x4.

Google "developmental stages of a dog" or some such. He's a late adolescent. The kind that thinks your curfew rule is "stupid" and presumes he should be able to borrow your car "whenever he wants."

I like Niomi's approach. You are basically re-establishing pack order in a very non-confrontational way. Dennis's is just a little more "direct" shall we say, but would work as well.

Patience. Persistence. He'll be back within the program before you know it, and you'll be shaking your head saying "what the hell was that?".

this is where you have to know your dog, I got one that all you need is harsh language, the other needs E collar. Be sure to reward the pup as soon as you get the desired results

Yep, testing those boundries....& I'm sure there will be more of it before he is done maturing. Just stand firm. "IT TO SHALL PASS' as the saying goes.

Being too harsh & having him shut down is not the answer either. You want him to be happy to work, not hate it.

Oops,,Dennis was posting at the same time.

on safety obedience issues like gate bolting or blowing off a recall I come down hard. Me personally I would rather see a sloppy jump, sit or retrieve with enthusiasm than a coerced exercise.

How much fun do you have with this dog? Moreover, how much fun does this dog have with you?

"totally shuts down and just lays there and stares at me".

I'm not a big believer in a dog being stubborn / flipping me the bird / totally ignoring me and all the other reasons people give for dogs shutting down like this.
Somewhere along the line you've created a lot of conflict and confusion with this dog.

Bob's probably correct. Hi Bob!

My first rule of dog training when you encounter a problem:

Stop and take two steps back in your training and think of what YOU are doing wrong, not what the dog is doing wrong.

If you're saying sit and the dog is offering some other behaviors (like a down), I'm willing to bet that your training is lacking in the really boring and challenging middle stages. Generalizing behaviors to different situations/environments and introduction of distractions to those behaviors.

You might think your dog knows what you're asking, but if he isn't doing it, is still in drive, then shuts down in frustration, then he probably doesn't. Something isn't clicking.

Solid obedience training requires that you spend MOST of your time training in the distraction/generalization phases. This is where confusion starts to happen, as well as some creative problem solving on the dogs part, and non-compliance. The non-compliance most often is a result of the dog's frustration or boredom, not obstinacy.

However, when I'm 100% sure that the training is crystal clear to the dog the distraction phase is generally where I'm using some corrections.

Damn hard to say without seeing the dog, but from what you're describing I'm guessing it isn't a distraction that's keeping the dog from performing the requested behavior, it's confusion.

If the dog is trying other avenues that he knows lead to reward, he's still trying. . .so that's not the middle finger. That's, "let me see if THIS works". Then he's shutting down because he's not succeeding.

I'd remove whatever distractions you've got going on, move back to familiar training grounds, break down the exercise you're working on and work on the foundation MORE. Then move forward again.

Introducing corrections on top of confusion is the first and largest mistake we make in dog training, in my opinion.