You did everything. 6 weeks of puppy class, a certificate, a dog who could sit, wait and come back across a hall. Now they are 10 months old and none of it seems to be in there.
You did not waste your money, and you did not do it wrong. Puppy class finished before the stage that tests it began.
Why the skills fall apart at 8 to 14 months
Responsiveness to the caregiver's cues drops around the onset of adolescence and returns later in the stage. Most owners meet that between 8 and 14 months old, and it reads exactly like everything being forgotten.
It is apparent regression rather than loss. The learning is still there, sitting underneath a dog whose attention has been reallocated.
The second reason is where the class happened. Dogs do not automatically generalise a skill from one room to every place. A sit learned in a hall with 6 puppies was learned in that hall.
The third reason is what class covered. Puppy class is largely about socialisation and first cues at low distraction. Adolescence brings problems class had no reason to prepare you for.
What puppy class could not have taught you
Recall against a real distraction, in a field, with another dog moving.
Loose leash walking on a dog who is now strong enough to move you.
Settling in a house where nothing new is happening, which is a skill and not a mood.
Being left alone for longer than the puppy could manage at 4 months old.
Greeting people without launching at them, from a dog whose front feet now reach a chest.
The adolescent priorities, in order
Pick 2, not 6. Behaviour change is built from management plus reinforcement together. Half of every one of these is arranging the day so the wrong thing cannot be practised.
Settle. Relaxation is trained as a behaviour in its own right, in short repeatable sets below your dog's threshold. Start with 60 second sets on a mat, paid for lying still.
Recall, on a long line, in the places you actually walk. Not in the hall where it already works.
Loose leash, in 5 minute pieces on a quiet street, rather than for the whole walk.
Alone time, rebuilt gradually. Gradual, sub-threshold departure practice is the core of separation-related work, and adolescence is when it often needs redoing.
Impulse control around food, doors and greetings, practised at home before it is needed at the door.
Handling and grooming, in 30 second sets, before the first appointment where it matters.
Take the class skills outside, one place at a time
Practise the cue in your yard before you ever ask for it in the park. Same word, same reward, new place.
Then a quiet street, then a quiet park, then a busy one. Each new place makes the cue harder and needs paying better.
Pay more generously outdoors than at home for the same behaviour, at least while the cue is still travelling.
If your dog cannot respond, you are too close to whatever is interesting. Add distance rather than repeating the word louder.
Keep sessions to 3 minutes, and end while your dog is still getting it right.
Reward-based training is associated with higher reported responsiveness and fewer reported problem behaviours, and it is what the veterinary behaviour guidance recommends. Adolescence is exactly where owners get talked out of that.
You will be offered a firmer approach by somebody this year. A review of aversive methods found them associated with worse welfare outcomes and no training advantage. Dogs trained with aversive methods showed more stress-related behaviour than dogs trained with rewards.
Should you book another class?
An adolescent or teen class, rather than a repeat of puppy class, is usually the right shape.
Ask what happens when a dog in the class barks or cannot cope. The answer tells you everything about the methods.
Ask whether the class works outdoors or in real locations, because that is the part your dog is missing.
One-to-one sessions often suit an adolescent dog better than a room full of them. There is no shame in that choice.
Safety note
A class is not the right first stop for every adolescent problem. Start with your veterinarian if your dog has growled, snapped, lunged or bitten. The same applies if they are frightened rather than excited, or if the change was sudden. Sudden behaviour change warrants a veterinary examination, and pain frequently presents as a change in behaviour rather than as obvious lameness. Ask for a referral to a veterinary behaviourist or a qualified behaviour professional who uses reward-based methods. Do not put a struggling dog into a group class to see how it goes.
What to expect
Owners commonly describe the worst of it easing through the second year, with the responsiveness that dipped coming back. It comes back into whatever you practised while it was gone, which is the argument for practising something.
If you do not know which 2 priorities are yours, that is exactly what the Assessment is for. It is free, takes about 3 minutes, and gives you an ordered Plan rather than a list of everything.
Today's version, in one line: pick 2 priorities off the list above, and do 60 seconds of mat settle tonight.