How do I get started in Northeastern PA?

[Stephanie Brown]

Hi my name is Stephanie and our pup is Rigby. He's an F2B Doodle.

Does anyone know of a place to start training in NEPA for Therapy work?  We just got our pup this weekend, but want to know the right direction to take.  I have a call in to our local dog obedience school and they do the AKC Canine Good Citizen testing.  I plan on taking him to obedience classes as soon as I can.  But what things should I be working on at each stage before obedience classes? For example at 8 weeks I can teach the sit command probably, and stay eventually.  What are other commands?   I want to make sure my whole family is using the right terminology.  We want him to learn to play fetch, so what would we say when we want him to bring it back?  Come?  I haven't had formal training with what commands to use.  Simple one word cues?  What are they?  What age to teach certain commands?  Any help would be appreciated! Thank you!!!

[BG and Gavin]

I remember the woman that ran the class so well.  She was their Jack Russell Terrier specialist.  After the program Fraser with the cute little dog Eddie became popular, the shelter was flooded with JRTs as people found out that those cute little guys were very energetic and needed strong leadership and training.  She got educated on what she needed to do and took the Jacks home with her and worked with them to get them to an adoptable state.  She still had three as her own pets.  I also secretly loved her because after the first night she whisper in my ear about Gavin "Oh, you've got a good one."  :)