continuing classes

Question
I am on my 6 out of 7 weeks of puppy training at a nearby training facility, and was probably going to wait a while before taking beginning home obedience... should I just continue to reinforce the commands I learned? Should I just go online and search up some sites that show teaching obedience at home?

Answer
I'm a big believer in doing lots of training for pups (how old is your puppy?) It's when their brains are most receptive, and when they are most open to socialization opportunities. Also, when a pup moves into adolescence and greater independence that's the time most people find they may need more experience than they have themselves, and classes are most useful. I'm also a big believer in positive training for puppies (and all dogs, really) and a great resource is www.clickertraining.com but if you are going to train at home, be certain that you don't JUST train at home. Train in parks, in or near stores, around other dogs. Otherwise you will end up with a dog who listens really well when there's nothing more interesting to pay attention to. And who may be worried by strangers or strange places. As a dog matures, his ability to accept novel situations becomes less and less, so it's really important to safely expose a pup to lots of new things, so when he's an adult they won't be a big deal. Sandy Case MEd CPDT www.positivelycanine.com