By law, humans go to school from kindergarten to high school.  School not only teaches us to read, write and solve math problems, it also teaches us how to interact with others and provides new experiences to enrich our lives. If we know that education is important for people to succeed in this world, why wouldn’t school be important for “man’s best friend”?

Behavior problems are one of the top reasons that dog’s end up in an animal shelter or rescue.  Often these problems could be reduced with just a few dog training classes.  We bring dogs into our world and expect that they will just “know” how to behave.  Then on the occasion that they don’t “behave” we label them “bad”, “aggressive” or “out of control”.

If we want dogs to live successfully in our world as family members, we need to give them the tools to succeed!  This starts with early puppy socialization and training, then continues with additional classes like basic obedience or good manners type classes.  To further improve your bond and your dog’s knowledge, you can also get involved with other training like agility, nose work, freestyle or tricks- to name a few.

It is never too late to begin to teach your dog!  Not only is a trained dog easier to live with, the training process can also increase your bond.