I just wanted to put something out to agilityk9trainer -

some of us dont have the luxury of obedience clubs near us...so what do we do? All we can do is take the learning we can get and work with it until we are ready to do our own thing. I did my training in conjucture with the equine training and behavior class last semester (they only teach horse behavior at mny school, not companion animal, but alot of the basic theories are the same, though equine training is by far the more dangerous), plus a companion animal class this semester....and helping out with a friends dog....but I cant drive the hour to roanoke to find an obedience club...so I took the other avenue available to me. I feel like I have learned alot, but I know need to learn more (still not done though), which is why I dont intend to just randomly start out on my own...its why I buy books, ask questions and attended classes with my own puppy myself.

please dont make those up us that chose to go with a cert. program sound like fools that got taken advantage of....its obnoxious.