Our final goal at Fala Woods is to work on having your dog be an enjoyable member of the family, as well as a service / working partner. One part of reaching the final goal is having a dog that has a very good obedience foundation. The second part is having a dog that is very well mannered. These two things go hand in hand. Having a dog that is obedience trained but who does not have an understanding of how to use the obedience in everyday life will not give you a completely enjoyable family dog or working partner. We would like to give you some examples of little things that mean a lot.

1. How should your dog respond to a car ride?
2. If you are taking your dog for a walk, and out of nowhere another dog comes running up and barking at your dog, how should your dog respond?
3. How should your dog react approaching any kind of doorway, be it a car or a building of some kind?
4. Let's say you are walking down the street with your dog and someone comes up to talk to you.
5. How should your dog react?
   If your dog is uncomfortable in an environment and does not have enough trust in you to relax, how can that dog be expected to work in that environment?

Now let's move on to the house and think of some things, such as:

1. How the dog should respond when the family is sitting down to eat dinner.
2. How the dog should react when a visitor comes to the front door.
3. If your dog is not comfortable enough to remain in the company of new visitors, how can you expect him or her to protect you?

These things seem like minor things, but they are very, very important. There are many more examples where obedience will play a big role in everyday living, and we hope Fala Woods Canine Training and Developmental Center can help. So, Fala Woods' final goal is having the dog be an enjoyable member of the family, and having the family wake up every day looking forward to having their dog be there.