Your Dog Is Welcome Here
The average American thinks training a dog is an event that happens during a relatively short period of their dog's life (6-8 weeks). They attend group or private classes for a certain number of weeks and once it is over they think, !the dog is trained! and they no longer work with their dog. But people who have the goal of having their dog attend public events, go into stores, restaurants, hikes and attend family vacations or even just want to have company come over, understand the value of attending formal classes for a much longer period of time. In Europe you will routinely see dogs in public, lying calmly under the table inside a restaurant, inside stores etc. We never gained this privilege in the US, because most Americans do not train their dog long enough or to the extent necessary to allow this privilege. The average beginning class gives owners time to master the barest basics necessary to have their dog under control in public. Both the dog and the owner have much better skills than before they started but the dog's skills are not adequate for difficult distractions or maintaining their self-control over a long period of time. Although the owner has the knowledge of what to do to help their dog behave in public, this knowledge is not a part of them yet. They do not react instinctively and must think hard to know what to do when the dog misbehaves. Usually this lapse of time causes the dog to receive an inadvertent reward for naughty behavior. By spending time attending advanced classes and applying this training in public dogs and owners gain the skills, knowledge and confidence to be welcome in public because they display calmness and ease.