Finally had a trainer take an ever-so-brief look over of my pup.
I take what's said with a grain of salt, after all, the guy is a Pit Bull man. But he does have some champ wieght pullers, and has a couple of good tracking dogs.
Confirming my "knucklehead" suspicions-he says its a stubborn beast. Very sweet natured though, which may prove a tough combo for a novice like myself to train. I put on a "command voice" (learned in the Army) today with the puppy man, after his typical wild behaviors on leash and refusal to respond to me in any way. He began to cry and laid down showing me his belly-this with NO physical compulsion. I was just trying to get his attention. The trainer said this personality can be worked with, but I'll have to adjust traditional methods to this puppy's idiosyncracies. He suggested ignoring him if he shows his belly again while training.
Does anyone know of a good article or website for me, dealing with training a "stubborn" pup? This dog is bred to death working lines, and is 21 weeks old - I think he should be past fearful stages and certainly I haven't given him cause to be afraid.

Ah, flopping on the ground and screaming - the ultimate tool to control your master! Puppy-man is smart enough to figure out that he might get his way by acting pathetic and pitching a hissy. I bet he was right back to being obnoxious in a few seconds - as in quick to recover? Your best bet with a stubborn dog is not letting them win and not giving any sympathy for foolish antics.
They will try and exploit any little glimmer of success at getting their own way. You might have to drop the parade square voice and just insist that sometimes he has to comply - outlast him.
Keeps falling down like a fading lily? - keep picking up and plunking him on his feet until he quits falling down and stands on his feet - then praise like heck and move on. A lot of stubborn dogs that try the sympathy pitch are pretty tough and resilient at their core - steel cored marshmallows. I have quite a few stubborn dogs - so you have my sympathy with Puppy-man.....

Find out what motivates him and drive it home. At his age think more along the lines of "how can I get his interest" rather than "how can I stop his un-wanted behavior." Positive motivation. Am I making any sense? Otherwise, I would just ignore this silly behavior because anything else may just be reinforcing it.

Thanks guys (gals), we will drive on, stay positive, ignore foolishness, and stay in touch with this trainer. Hopefully by the time Flinks comes around i will not embarrass myself or the dog with this stuff!