Rachel,
because I tend to work primarily with show dogs, I forget how difficult it can be to work with "family pets" that are not trained. Even our Moxie will sit/stay when told to do so. Well, most of the time . But your point is a good one: if you can make it work with dogs that don't have much training or, more importantly, much attention or play/food drive (or too much) then you can handle any situation that comes up in the future.

Jim