Adopting a puppy can be a lesson in matching a pure or mixed breed to fit your lifestyle. But the real education begins after you bring that fast growing puppy home.

Don't attempt training solo or strictly within the confines of your home. Get help — professional help — and plenty of positive outlets to hone your puppy's socialization skills, especially if, like me, you've been dog-less for more than a decade. Then I adopted 11-week-old Jazz, a spirited Pembroke Welsh Corgi.

Within a week of his arrival, we were in the car gleefully heading for our first puppy school class in Oceanside, California.

Jazz tugged on the leash as he sprinted to the outdoor, enclosed arena full of dogs of all sizes and appearance: a shy Dachshund, a trio of happy-go-lucky Labradors, a gentlemanly Schnauzer and a few who-knows-what-breed tailwaggers.

Jazz charged up to a 4-month old Maltese and immediately tackled her, bestowing kisses. The Maltese wasn't amused.

Uh-uh, Jazz. Stop it! Came the command from instructor Liz Palika, a veteran professional dog trainer and author of The New Age Dog (Renaissance Media Publishing).

We'd been in class less than a minute and already been noticed - for bad behavior. During Palika's introductory talk, Jazz sat in front of me and happily began barking at other dogs, other people and the sky.

Arden, you need to quiet Jazz down. Now.

Jazz and I quickly learned that puppy school is all about making mistakes and mending them, that no puppy — and no owner — are perfect.

'You may think you're a veteran at raising dogs, but each new puppy presents its own set of challenges.'

A treat helps puppy school lessons go down easily. Choose a school that emphasizes positive training, using treats and praise to reinforce good behavior.

A Good Start
"Puppy classes are designed to get you and your new puppy off to a good start," Palika told our class at Kindred Spirits Dog Training. "Even if you have had dogs in the past, each new puppy needs to be socialized, and puppy classes provide a great setting."

Alice Moon-Fanelli, Ph.D., clinical assistant professor of animal behavior at Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine, agreed. "You may think you're a veteran at raising dogs, but each new puppy presents its own personality, set of challenges and issues for you to handle," she said. "In my practice, I usually get the dogs once they've developed behavior problems, and often they belong to people who did not take them to puppy schools when they were young."

The primary purpose of puppy school is to train the people and socialize the puppies, said Nicholas Dodman, BVMS, MRCVS, professor of behavioral pharmacology and director of the Behavior Clinic at Tufts. "If you don't go, you can't be trained and the puppy does not learn," said Dr. Dodman, author of If Only They Can Speak: Stories About Pets and Their People (W.W. Norton & Co.).

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Plan on doing fun, brief homework with your puppy. Practice reinforcing him to "Sit" on command each time you put down his food bowl. Have him "Stay" until you say "OK" each time you walk through a door, so he learns to follow and not bulldoze over you. And practice the all-important command: "Come."

Call His Name
In class, Palika advocated the use of a clothesline about 20 feet in length for training the command. One end attaches to the puppy's collar. As you hold the other end, let the pup meander away from you. Then in an excited tone, call his name: "Jazz, come!" as you reel the puppy toward you and an awaiting treat.

"Learning to 'Come' can be a true lifesaver to a puppy," Palika said. "You should never scold your puppy for something after it comes to you because you want to reinforce that your command to come always results in something positive, like a food treat or praise. This is especially critical if your puppy gets away from you and is heading toward the street and you can call it back to you."

To graduate at some puppy schools, dogs must perform basic commands, such as come, sit, stay and down, and accept being handled on the head, feet and mouth.

In puppy class, you also learn the fine art of diversion. Got a puppy who regards your sofa as a giant chew toy? Give him more appropriate items like ice cubes or chew toys to satisfy his need to teeth.

"Above all, be consistent so your puppy knows what you expect from him," said Dr. Moon-Fanelli. "Puppies like structure and owners who give them clear, consistent messages."

Six weeks flew by, and suddenly it was graduation day. To earn a diploma, we had our puppies sit, stay, lie down, accept being handled on the head, feet and mouth, not mouth or bite hands, and walk nicely on a leash.

Jazz was perfect — and perfectly happy as his name was called. He smoothly sat on cue as Palika handed me his diploma.

Mere moments into our mutual bliss, Palika approached us.

"So, ready to enroll Jazz in basic obedience class? A new class begins next week," she said. Looks as if Jazz and I will be lifelong learners.

Puppy school provides opportunities tor socialization with people and other dogs. The experience helps reduce the chance of behavior problems later on.

Arden Moore of Oceanside, California, is a regular contributor to Your Dog and pet columnist for Prevention magazine. She is the author of Real Food for Dogs (Storey Books).