That is my doggie in the icon! It's my favorite picture of her.

Even if the dog comes house-trained and knowing some commands, I still recommend an obedience class, because a good one will train you as well as the dog. Plus, it was a lot of fun! I took my dog to a fairly inexpensive one at a community center. As I recall, it was one night a week for six weeks. My dog got an official "Canine Good Citizen" certificate, even though she never really got over her being rather irritable with other dogs. The trainer called her "Sheltie with an attitude." She likes cats better than her own kind.