Bonnie,
Where Cody goes to Day care, they offer obedience classes and agility classes and you must take the beginning obedience and advanced obedience to participate in Agility classes , unless you can show that your dog has taken classes somewhere else and that he is ready for agility.So you are right, with your statement about that, at least where I live. Milo would not even be at the right age where he could start the agility classes(at my place I am referring to)
Cody's day care offers an "open night" where you can bring your dog and just practice your own commands there - the whole idea is that you will be doing it with other dogs around. They have an instructor on hand, but it is not an "official class" and is not structured and you are working on your own, unless you want some help.
And you are also right Emilie, in that a dog doing commands such as sit/lay and stay at home are totally different than when you are surrounded by other people and their dogs. I know at our last class, we practiced the 2 minute down/stay and sit/stay and then the instructor would come around and clap her hands and pet our dogs and they had to stay in that position - not always an easy feat for everyone because of the distractions.
I think the sooner you get Milo started the better and you will feel better that you have taken the jump in a positive direction for both you and him.
