Before you book your best friend into dog training camp, let's take a look at your options for getting a professional dog trainer involved in your dog's education. You could do any of the following  

• Follow a book
• Attend local training classes
• Book 1-1 lessons with a trainer
• Have a trainer come to your home
• Join an online training course
• Send your dog away for training
• Any combination of the above

Of all those options, the only one I would rule out completely is sending your dog away for training. Unless you want to compete your dog in a specific sport (such as retriever training) and lack the facilities locally to keep making progress, sending a dog away is usually a bad idea.

It doesn't teach you how to train or manage your dog, it doesn't teach your dog how to cope in their normal environment and it opens your dog up to potential harm. There are still plenty of old school dog trainers out there that have no compunction about using harsh physical punishments on the dogs in their care. 

Training your dog from a book

Following a training program from a book is definitely an option. It's a limited one though as publishers allow only 60,000 to 70,000 words in a non-fiction book and it is almost impossible to put a complete training program, and cover the myriad of things that might go wrong, into such a small space. That's one of the reasons why I abandoned my sequel to The Happy Puppy Handbook, and decided to publish my own dog obedience training program as an online course at Dogsnet.com 

Attending local classes or hiring a local trainer

Joining a good puppy school for weekly classes can work well. It does depend on the availability of modern reward based training classes in your area.

Professional dog training is unfortunately unregulated in most parts of the world, so you do need do your own research. However, many countries have some useful bodies that insist their trainers meet reasonable standards. In the USA make sure your trainer is certified with the Certification Council For Professional Dog Trainers. In the UK look for the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT) or Institute Of Modern Dog Trainers (IMDT). These are not guarantees but they help. 

Scrutinize your local trainer's website and check that they are not using outdated methods related to dominance and pack leadership. And most important of all, go and watch a class before you join. Make sure the dogs are happy and willing, there should be no pushing and pulling, no shouting, and plenty of calm interaction between each dog and their handler.

Joining an online training course

Most online training courses tend to focus either on problem solving, or on structure learning programs. So you need to pick the right course for you and your dog.

My own Dogsnet training courses are focused on the latter - they teach you to train your puppy (or refresh your older dog) in structured steps, with the help of a support forum.

Look for a course where you can get feedback on your progress, either in a forum or via Facebook. A forum will suit you better if you'd rather remain anonymous

Combination training

For many pet parents a combination of different training approaches works well. Online training courses are great for those first few weeks, establishing the foundations of obedience with you and your dog in a quiet home environment. 

You'll need to add in some professional help later when you have progressed as far as you can on your own.