Each week, Ben Westhoff shares the ups and downs of owning Pippi, the dalmatian mix he and his wife Anna adopted as a puppy in late 2009, and the first dog Ben’s ever had.

Until recently, Pippi wasn’t much for following commands. Sure, whenever there was a steak sizzling on the stove, she would sit, unprompted, and do her best to look cute and well-behaved. But as for “stay,” “fetch,” “drop,” “come,” “go to bed,” etc.? No dice.

Recently we enrolled Pippi (and ourselves) in basic training sessions at St. Hubert’s Animal Welfare Center in Madison, N.J., and so far it’s been a wild time. Our teacher, Gale, is a real pro, and she won Anna and me over by telling us that Pippi was the cutest thing she’d ever seen. (I’m sure she says that to everyone, but whatever.)

After a pet-free initial meeting, the first class with all of the humans and animals together was chaos. The eight other enrolled dogs made it difficult for Pippi to concentrate, although the two bags of treats we were instructed to bring helped.

Indeed, St. Hubert’s employs a “positive reward-based” training philosophy, which means that instead of scolding or slapping her when she does something bad (perish the thought), the idea is to reward her when she does good, be it with treats, encouragement, or anything else she likes. If she does something right at home, for example, we might take her on a walk.