I was lucky, my first dog was already a year old when I got her. She was house-trained, knew sit and stay, and was a very very intelligent dog. I knew absolutely nothing about raising a dog, and Peaches taught me everything she thought I should know about raising a dog. She was a fantastic teacher, and a quick learner. However, having said that if I had known then what I know now, I still would have taken her to obedience classes, mainly because I now know that they would have taught me so much more about dogs and dog behavior than I ever knew before.