Thanks you-guys! I just had to brag. Joey is such a cool dog.
Tristina, our obedience class isn't just for small breeds. In fact, there is just one other small dog; all the others are quite large. It has worked out great because of the way the trainer handles the class.
I was disappointed the first day that there was no off-leash socialization, but now I think that she may be right. What she has us do at the beginning of every class is a structured socialization where we walk around with dogs on leash to greet everyone several times. The dogs smell each other for a count of 3 (1..2..3) and then you move on. She says that it's important for dogs to learn to break eye contact rather quickly and to learn that they can't play with every dog they see. Handled this way, Joey is quite confident around the big dogs.
To find a class try doing a google search for "dog training Sacramento". You will want to make sure that they use
positive training methods only and maybe ask how they handle socialization.
How old is Dolce?