To pursue her dream job, Weller enrolled in a six-week intensive program at the San Francisco Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, where she earned a certificate in training and counseling. She now teaches puppy and adolescent dog classes at the Sunnyvale pet supply store For Other Living Things.

Along with the other dogs in the class, Amy Bauer's 4-month-old wirehaired pointed griffon, Jack, has learned basic commands, as well as how to socialize with other dogs and humans and how to get along at home alone without separation anxiety.

"We trained our dog who died a year ago but were too busy to stick with it," says Bauer, who lives in Sunnyvale. "I will try to keep up with it this time."

According to the Humane Society of Santa Clara Valley website, there are no regulatory agencies for dog trainers and no licensing required of companies or individuals that offer dog training. But dog trainers who wish to be certified can take an exam given by the Association of Pet Dog Trainers—whose mission is to enhance the human-dog relationship by educating trainers, other animal professionals and the public about dog-friendly training.

To be admitted to the examination, which was first given in September 2001, candidates must have at least 300 hours of dog training experience within the last five years.

Weller, who teaches classes through a Bay Area organization called Sirius, will take the exam this month.

"I want to help people keep their dogs from winding up in a shelter by teaching puppies before they have issues," says Weller, who runs a dog training business called Pawsitively Fabulous. "It is important to socialize a puppy between six weeks and five months of age. At that time people need to expose them to as many things as they can, such as all their friends, children and other dogs."

Weller urges people to take a puppy into a classroom setting between 12 and 18 weeks of age, while the puppy still has weak jaws and puppy teeth and can more readily learn bite-inhibition, or "soft mouth." While puppies play together in class they learn how hard they can bite other puppies without inflicting harm.

"Some dogs will get startled and bite while adults. If as a puppy they learned how to bite softly, as a warning, they won't draw blood," Weller says.

In January, Nikole Sledd started a business called Creature Teachers, providing behavioral training and socialization for dogs and cats. Her mission is to prevent animals from being abandoned, placed in new homes or euthanized due to behavioral problems.

Like Weller, Sledd teaches classes in Sunnyvale using techniques such as positive reinforcement and reward-based, force-free training.

While tools popular in the past have included choke and pinch collars, the techniques currently popular with animal trainers are less focused on physical punishment. Giving a dog a treat when it behaves properly is one method frequently used to reward good behavior. Punishment might involve ignoring the animal when it jumps on someone or giving it a "time out," as one would with a child.

Weller and Sledd suggest focusing on rewarding a dog for good behavior rather than punishing it for bad behavior. For example, a dog should be given a treat when asked to come or sit, Weller says.

"The effects of positive reinforcement last longer than the effects of punishment," Weller says, adding that there are many ways to use positive reinforcement in training—chew toys and food being two popular rewards.

"Instinct tells a dog that food is survival. The owner yanking on the leash is instinctively dangerous for the dog because the dog has two choices: It can fight back or it can become submissive and perhaps shut down," Weller says.

Once Sledd had to help a dog overcome fears it had acquired with a different trainer. After being hit on the head repeatedly with a leash, the dog became fearful of humans, backing away from them, she says.

Weller also recommends that owners be sensitive to their dog's natural instincts and provide toys to prevent pet boredom. To satisfy a dog's instinct for hunting and to keep an animal busy, Weller suggests filling a hollow rubber toy called a Kong with food, such as peanut butter or biscuits. To increase the challenge, the owner might fill the Kong with things the dog needs to work harder to get out, such as dry food mixed with soft or gooey products like canned food, cream cheese, spray cheese or mashed potatoes.

"One reason there are so many behavior problems with dogs is that they have no mental challenges or jobs to do anymore because their food is given to them for free," Weller says. "Working to unstuff the Kong gives your dog a job."

According to Sledd, some bad behaviors arise because an owner unintentionally rewards an animal. She says some common mistakes people make include petting a dog if it barks. People often do so because they think they are soothing the dog, but in reality the dog thinks it is being rewarded for barking.

Similarly, people will feed a cat that meows because they think it is hungry, but that only reinforces the meowing, Sledd says. Instead, Sledd teaches people to feed a cat on a regular schedule and not reward bad behavior with food or attention.

"Seventy percent of the time I have to train the owner about what are good versus bad behaviors and how to interact with their animal," says Sledd, who leads group classes through pet stores and handles behavioral problems on an individual basis. "The rest of the time is training the animal."

Both Sledd and Weller work with individual dogs with behavioral problems, which may involve dominance, aggression, phobias of loud noises, fear of humans, predatory tendencies and housebreaking issues. Depending on the severity of the problem, sessions can last several weeks or months.

Before behavioral training, Sledd visits the home to meet the owner and animal, get a sense of the family life, set goals and make plans before taking action.

Clients must complete a lengthy questionnaire, stating the number of times per day the dog is walked, what it eats and how often it gets veterinarian checkups.

"People often don't think these things are associated with behavior problems," Sledd says. "But an extra 15-minute walk can make a huge difference for a rowdy dog."

For more information about Pawsitively Fabulous, call 408.861.0496. For more information about Creature Teachers, visit www.creatureteachers.com or call 408.674.8414.