My dogs are all rescues, arrived here as adults. They already knew some of the basics. Nevertheless, I took all 3 of them to Basic Manners classes (aka basic obedience). It helped with us bonding, and with them realizing that I am the alpha.

Just one more plus for classes, in addition to the socialization for younger dogs!

In class, we were taught much as FlatcoatLuver explained, starting with a reqard per command, than building commands. We progressed to using petting and word rewards. As she mentioned, if you go into Agility, you are not permitted to reward during a run, you have to wait to the end.

[Sugar only went through Basic Manners; she has major fear of other dogs due to an attack. She did improve with the class, which is all I wanted, I did not pressure her with more classes. Marlin went through 3 other classes, and Lacey advanced through 5 other classes.]