My lurcher, he's coming up for one, decided today when I took him for his evening walk to not come back any more. He just ran about like a lunatic, completely out of control and wouldn't come back when I called. He came back in the end but it's made me suddenly nervous, what if there had been children/cyclists/joggers and not an empty park? Meant to be going on dog club walk on the week end but I feel anxious now, imagining him running amok.

PS I've always made sure to call him back for treats and games and not just to go back on the lead, so I don't think it's been caused by him thinking coming back is end of fun time.

Oh dear, it sounds like he has hit the 'Kevin' phase ;-) Teenage dogs (as in mind not real age :-) ) hit a stage in their development where they will push mum/dad to the limit, and be downright naughty. Just keep treating him as you did when he was a pup, giving him treats when good, ignoring when bad (so long as he isn't doing any harm) and he will come out of it in a few weeks (or months if he is really naughty :-) ) It is a phase, honest. We've all been there at some stage. :-)

ditto

This is common in dogs at this sort of age. I would be inclined to immediately stop letting him off the lead, and retrain him with a long line in all the exciting/naughty places he goes, make sure he will come back to you in all places and even when distracted by exciting stuff before ever letting him off again. I didn't do that quickly enough with my dog and his behaviour escalated. I have now succeeded in retraining him for myself (he is now 4, and has been great for the past year or so) so he will unfailingly come back to me, he is also pretty consistent with OH, but other people who walk him (my adult/teenage kids and a lady who has looked after him for me) can not get any consistency with him, so he can't go off lead at all when they walk him, which is a shame for him. When anyone new walks him he immediately tries it on.

Try walking away, not speaking to him, or making a huge scence by screeching in your silliest voice waving your arms about.
If they think you are going a different way they will normally try to follow you :-)
If you keep calling them when they are off the lead they are reassured by you being there because they can hear your voice - you being quiet makes them want to keep an eye on you :-)
Finally, if you make yourself seem more interesting than whatever they are doing they soon come running back to see what all the fuss is about - just be prepared to look a bit of a 'nana :-)

Yep I went through the same, Kez hit 9 months and bang he forgot everything, how to lead walk, recall, commands, he become a naughty teenager LOL, my OH used to come home and find me crying on the floor with furstration. But with a lot of patience and extra training we turned it around and got through the Do I Have To Stage !!!!

> He just ran about like a lunatic, completely out of control and wouldn't come back when I called. He came back in the end but it's made me suddenly nervous

the worst phase of dog growth!!! i do hate the teenage stage :(

i wish you the best of luck, straight back to basics :(

I had to laugh at the 'Kevin' description, my older lad went through this and really picked his moments--on gundog training days he became particularly inventive and it was hard to say who came across as the bigger idiot, but I'll put my hand up! I have to say I felt quite proud yesterday watching him at 18 months old now stand closely by, without being asked--very dignified--as our younger (12 mo old) went diving about like a loon with all the other dogs--AND he's even got his recall back! Hang in there, he'll make you all very proud :-)

Thanks for the support guys! Yesterday evening he was being a joy again, walking to heel, coming when called etc. He's still a nightmare when he sees dogs he can't play with, he starts to scream and lunge about like a fool, people then tend to think either he's insane or that I'm doing something awful to him and I get very dark looks. 

Oh boy the 'kevin' stage, that was a real testing time for me and my boy. Every thing fell on deaf ears, had to resort to putting him back on a lead and no off lead work at all for a few weeks to reassert myself and to put him back in his place.
Think the whole time lasted for a few months, i thought it would never end, but i continued with training in and out of the house and we worked through it and came out the other end. This is one period which is a reas testing time for dog owners, especially strong minded ones..