Hi there!
Phases? Yes, absolutely! For the first year with my dog I felt that every few weeks was a totally different phase. First was the O-so-cute-baby stage. Then came baby learns some training but still has many accidents in the house, quite a lot of vommiting too
and then the horrible phase about 8 months on when everything she learnt seemed to be forgotten and she was a cool teenager. This was also combined with starting a lot of fights with other dogs and being really unpredictable with my kids. It was at this stage that we thought it was all really not worth it...and could we give her back....around 1 year she was pretty well behaved but the problems she had, she had really bad ( i.e chasing cars etc) and it seemed that she didn´t like us very much....very cool and not so happy with us....THEN came the next phase, about 1 and a half, when my cute dog returned full of love and wriggles combined with her remembering all the training we´d done plus more! The whole family thinks she´s a hero now, and she is the darling of us all. She listens, she concentrates, she trys really hard, and she senses what is expected of her....wonderful...but also unbelievable when she was younger.
So, yes...phases come just like little kids, and then puberty hits, and then out the other end comes the swan! And just like with kids, the phases will come, but the length that they stay and the extremness of the problems is down to the parent.
You need to understand that this is a young animal, see what the problem is, work out a plan of attack and STICK-TO-IT! The duration of the phase is up to you
But don´t be upset when one phase is replaced by the next one
Do lots of research, read lots, talk to other owners, and keep working on it. What you have described sounds really normal and also like you´re trying the right things.
How old is your dog? sounds like a little puppy?
Nobody said it would be easy, but we all think it´s worth it!
good luck and keep marching,
Annie