Obedience class - what to expect?

Honestly I would not expect too much.  Usually the entry level classes are more about teaching the owner to teach the dog.  Not much gets accomplished during classes b/c it's often WAY over-stimulation for the dogs and they cannot focus, even ones that "know perfectly!" their sit, down, whatever.  However, it sounds like Rascal already has a good foundation, and just being in a chaotic environment with other dogs is good practice.  I took basic without Kenya and started her in CGC.  She was VERY bored and even bored most of the time during our Advanced, but she has good manners and is not distracted by other dogs at all.  Coke on the other hand did improve as we went through CGC, but he failed the CGC and is very distracted by other dogs, so the classes are valuable for him even if he "fails" or learns slowly. 

have you asked them what methods they use? there are still some yank n spank trainers out there that it's best to avoid for your dogs sake. Anyway, as Liesje said, dogs really don't learn much in beginner group classes, it's too much for most of them. What usually happens is the dogs act like nutcases in class, the owner may be given tips to work on at home, and if the owner works at home the dog will get better at home but will continue to act like a nutcase in class. Group classes are great for teaching dogs to work around distractions and to learn to ignore other dogs but they need to learn the basics first at home before that tactic works. .

Given the fact that you haven't been in years and you're ... in a way ... mentoring others, I think this is a great beginning.  Rascal may have some things 'down' ... however, the TOUGH stuff is 'heel' etc.  So it will give him a chance not to be totally devastated that he doesn't know crap, but that he DOES know how to *please* you.  So he gets some positive strokes because of what he DOES know, but for him the rest test will be learning to deal well with others, and string together commands for heeling, etc.

 It might be really valuable for the 3 of you to do it 'round robin' -- literally let your boyfriend 'sit out' the first part ... THEN hand him Rascal's leash and you sit out a topic.  Then, offer to take the 3rd set for your boyfriend's Mom.  It's a good thing to see other people handle your dog, it's a good thing for THEM to discover it's not just that "he always does what YOU say" but rather that .. no, he doesn't.  BUT that you also might know a couple of things about handling that they don't.

calliecritturs

 It might be really valuable for the 3 of you to do it 'round robin' -- literally let your boyfriend 'sit out' the first part ... THEN hand him Rascal's leash and you sit out a topic.  Then, offer to take the 3rd set for your boyfriend's Mom.  It's a good thing to see other people handle your dog, it's a good thing for THEM to discover it's not just that "he always does what YOU say" but rather that .. no, he doesn't.  BUT that you also might know a couple of things about handling that they don't.

That's what we're going to do!!! I'm really excited about that aspect of it. BF's mom is still afraid of Rascal (and honestly I don't blame her) and BF has never really trained a dog before, though he's getting really good at giving Rascal commands he already knows. It'll be hard for me to sit on the sidelines, since I'm kind of a control freak sometimes, but I think it will be really good for all of us.

I've worked with this trainer before - she came to our house and worked with us privately several months ago to help us combat Rascal's aggression problems. She's not perfect (she didn't pick up on Rascal's pain issues, even when it was clear to me that he was afraid for *some* reason, even though I couldn't figure out why - she thought he was being "bossy" or some equivalent) but in general she does a very good job. Very positive, very straightforward, and good with "special needs." Plus she already knows us and Rascal and helped BF's family connect with a rescue to get their new dog. That's the only reason I'm willing to pay her steep class fees!

Thanks for the advice, I'll keep everyone posted on how it goes!