I really don't see a butt-head stage so much, but I read a lot about it.
That being said, I disagree about the treats not being weaned away. We should not be walking through life with a carpenter bag on holding our treats like a seaworld trainer. That's insane.
Even in human psychology, people work better if they are not treated every single time, if they rewards are intermittent.
For dogs we take them through puppy and maybe a basic six week course but then treats should be phased out. Give a treat every second or third time, or for the best sit and the quickest come.
I also do not think you should take a break. Maybe a week, but if you have a bad training day, your dog has a bad day. lf you have two bad training days than go backwards, and retrain. Stay patient, stay consistent, and he will move through this.
If you have him off lead and he does not come, than go get him, bring him to where he needs to be. Always follow through on commands. Always. Do not give a command that you cannot enforce and do not allow the game of chase to become a reward for not coming. Never, ever punish a dog after he has come to you.
If you cannot enforce it immediately do not give the command. Figure another method of getting the dog to do what you need him to do. For example, if he is going into the road. Call his name, Rufus! then start digging in your pocket like you have a treat. or start running in the opposite direction. Saying COME, might bring him to you, but if it doesn't he has effectively learned that that is an optional command. The moment a dog starts failing to follow known commands, EVERYTHING is on leash. We back up, we do sits and downs, and we give a command and then if it is not complied with, we help the dog get into position. Do not repeat commands. That is nagging and also teaches the dog that he doesn't have to listen until you have the I-AM-GOING-TO-MURDER-YOU tone going.
Start training with something fun, end training with something he does good so you can praise him. Only do things three times and then move on. Keep him thinking, keep it fun. But do not keep stuffing him with treats.
Dogs shouldn't work for treats. Dogs eat and sleep under your roof, they should do what you tell them to. They go for walks, when there is something in the dinner preparation that is good for dogs, they may get lucky. But we should not train them that they should expect a cookie every time the sit when we tell them to.
We use treats to load the praise words so that we can mark correct behavior with praise -- not treats. Treats give us a jump start. They load the clicker so to speak. Praise is the best reward. It is free, it can be played like a piano -- loud, soft, excited, minimal, etc. You cannot run out of it, and if you work it right dogs go crazy for praise.