run away dog

Question
My dog is about 3 years old.  We got her from the shelter and she was neutered about a year ago.  I took her to a dog training class at Petco about 6 months ago but I don't feel like the trainer gave me the best information on certain aspects.  One of the biggest problems I have with her is teaching her to stay by my side.  I would like to be able to take her on a hike and not worry about her running off.  Taking her on walks is difficult because she pulls on the leash.  And if she sees a cat she goes crazy and I can't calm her down.  I see how my neighbors let their dogs outside and they know not to leave the front yard.  How can I get my dog to this level?

Answer
Pet stores in my opion do a piss poor job of training. The local store $99 course doesn't teach much excpet to loosly walk, sit and down "settle".  A professional obedience course will teach 20-30 commands, and an expert class gets to 40-50 commands and high precision. We offer a DVD & book we wrote that teaches the basics on an 8 week course plus behavior, common problem corrections and more Our in person class uses agility items to find phobias and build confidence and a group class teaches socialization skills. We use our own dogs if the class is a one of to provide social skills.

Basic courses should include instruction on collars, training collars, reward/no reward, positive reinforcement (Pavlov and Skinner operant behavior training) heeling [correct starting position, correct starting foot, correct ending position, proper lead handling and use, name-command-action sequence, walking at normal, slow and fast pace. Proper stop (slow, not abrupt) keeping pace (dog relative position to handler) sit, sit-stay, down, down-stay, take it, leave it, over, through, stay wait, come, sit, finish, 3 minute sit stay, 3 min down stay, recall, running recall, hidden recall, hidden stay return, hidden stay come sit, stand, threshold crossing, object shyness issues, people or animal interaction issues, also sequences of random commands vs rote repetition. How to find the hot button (best response stimuli--food, treat, affection, clicker, etc.) understanding that the dog is always learning, NILIF  (nothing in life is free) leadership training of the owner, and why the opposite of reward is no reward, not punishment just to name a few.  Anything less is a rip off.

Regards,
Henry Ruhwiedel
Westwind Kennels LLC
www.dogkennel.org