Specializing in bridging the gap between dogs and humans

During your dog’s  program, your dog will spend the majority of his time in with the trainer at  their home setting. We’ve found this is the best way for dogs to get round-the-clock care, and individual attention.

  When you sign up for your Board and Train, we write a custom program for your dog that utilizes every day they are with us. We do not send dogs home early.  We want to proof them in as many environments as possible to make sure the training results last.

If your dog is discovered to have more issues than previously known or is struggling, we will call to discuss options with you. Once you have realistic expectations of what to expect, you can decide to keep your dog here for longer time. If you are torn between a longer and shorter program we strongly encourage you to make this decision before sending your dog to us.

Good dog training is like making a layer cake. Imagine you’ve already baked a 3 layer cake, and then you decide you want a 7 layer cake. Can you do it? Yup. Will it look as good as if you had started knowing you were making a 7 layer cake from the beginning? No. A dog here for 3 weeks who adds 4 more weeks in the middle of his program will only get 4 weeks learning the more advanced commands instead of the full 7. It’s much harder for us as trainers, and so we do not offer the same discounts on additional time if you add to your program once your dog is with us.

Board and Train means your dog will be staying with us for the entire duration of the training, which ranges from 3 to 8 weeks. When your dog stays with us, it allows us to see their true behavior once they become more comfortable. It usually takes a few days for a dog to adapt to a new environment, and from there we can build a trusting relationship with them. Your dog will be learning 24/7, as even on their downtime we are teaching them to be calm inside their kennels or on their placemats. They quickly learn to respect their home and not treat it as a playground. The quicker they learn house rules, the quicker they get to play! Dogs learn from basic commands on-leash, to off-leash commands at an expert level. We love going on training field trips, which means our boarding students get to enjoy trips every week to the pet stores, department stores, parks, and even to our favorite coffee shops! Being in different environments helps dogs explore different opportunities to learn manners outdoors with real life experiences.

Once your dog graduates from our Academy, we will then teach you the how to communicate with your dog so you can easily maintain the training at home and continue effortlessly with your every day lives! Private sessions are great if you are willing to put the time into learning how to train your dog on your own. Sessions are held twice per week, and the duration of each class is roughly one hour. With our guidance, you will learn how to teach your dog basic on leash commands. Once your dog has learned commands on leash, you can keep coming back to advance your dog little by little, depending on you and your dog’s training pace. It is typically a longer process, and if you don’t do your training homework on the days we don’t meet, your dog will not be able to learn as quickly, therefore not seeing effective results. Any program works if you put the time into it, and we thrive on seeing you succeed with your pup!

When you send your dog to board and train, there are some limitations to be aware of. Most programs are extremely beneficial and your dog will learn many important new skills, including new commands, impulse control, and other good behaviors. But dogs are not great at generalizing and your dog may not realize at first that the behaviors she learned at boarding school still apply inside your home.

You also want to be sure that you are building a lasting relationship with your dog. A large part of this relationship depends on the communication between you and your dog, and is perfected through training. 

To help your dog keep up the training skills acquired at board and train and prevent your dog from falling back into old unwanted behaviors, use the following steps:

• Pay Attention During the Take Home Lessons – At a reputable board and train, your dog trainer will also share with you all the skills you need to know when you get your dog back. This includes what new skills your dog learned and their commands, how to use any new tools such as e-collars, and strategies to encourage your dog’s good behavior in a new environment.
• Stay Consistent with Reinforcing Behavior – It can be exciting to have your dog back after a week or more at board and train. But if you immediately let her go back to her old ways without correction, she will interpret boarding school as . temporary break from her normal routine of jumping on furniture, being hyperactive, and ignoring your commands. Continue to reinforce the behaviors you want and correct the behaviors you don’t from the moment your dog gets home.
• Continue Training – Now that your dog has basic obedience, keep up on those skills and teach new ones with regular training sessions. This helps reinforce that your dog’s new good manners apply everywhere and strengthens that bond between the two of you that makes training really impactful.
• Maintain Structure – At most dog boarding schools, your dog will have a lot of structure throughout her day in terms of when she walks, eats, trains, and plays. This routine is valuable for dogs so set up your own routine of training and physical activity at home and continue to follow through to create a similar structure to what your dog experienced at board and train.

Finally, do not panic if your dog seems to return to earlier behaviors shortly after she comes back home or even seems to get worse. Your dog is learning how her new skills apply in her familiar environment, which can be challenging when she may not have been asked to model those behaviors before. Continue to follow the guidelines that your board and train facility provided and reach out for help if you need additional advice. Dog training is something that relies on both you and your pup, and it will be a learning experience for both of you. Dog owners who can stay patient and consistent while also following the advice of their trainer will help their dog have the smoothest possible transition from board and train back into being a full-time member of your family.

 Two weeks is just barely enough time for the dog to adjust to the new routine and start understanding  commands. Still, even at this point, they are just becoming ready to practice their learned skill set in various environments.  We can definitely work on 2 key behaviors on that time frame if you are planning a short vacation and would like some improvement on your dog’s behavior. We can  show you some improvement during that time ,  provide training notes, and videos for you to continue the progress at home. Most commonly requested behaviors for a 2 week board and train program are: Leash walking, door dashing, Or recalls. 

 Many times when puppies start their training program at 10 weeks of age, they still will need a set or two of vaccinations. We take your puppy’s health and well being very seriously; if your puppy needs any shots during their stay with us, we will take them to our local vet, and help make the vet visit a positive and well tailored experienced.

We work with a great vet in our neighborhood, who understands the importance of gentle handling to help with imprinting and relationship building..

 Yes! While your dog is in training you will have required reading material;  literature about canine body language; notes on how to manage your dog, how to to interact with your puppy at home, how to play with your dog in a way that promotes good behaviors.

When everyone invests their time in learning the how-to’s of basic dog training, everyone wins. Board and train is not only a learning opportunity for your dog, but also for you!  

 Board and Train programs are very thorough training programs tailored to each individual dog and family. Many  prospective clients believe that, by paying the registration fee, and waiting until graduation day the dog is going to fully listen when back at home, when in reality the primary handler at home, as well as the family members, need to learn the new way of ‘dancing’ with their dog.. how to play games…  how to keep your dog engaged… how to reach to unexpected curved balls the universe will through at them while out in the real world!

 Dog training is more about training the human than training the dog, having the dog response to commands  is only 30% of the equation; it is important to keep in mind that once the dog comes back home the owner will be responsible for managing, practicing and making sure the dog is set up for success.

Training videos, and weekly updates will make training seem very easy, however it is highly important to really internalized the reasons behind each training game, the frequency in which they should be perform, and the consequences or results of not following through with the homework assignments provided. 

When a dog goes through our training program, we place a lot of emphasis on making sure the dog understands each behavior the trainer teaches them. Training a dog is like teaching a child how to ride a bicycle, or teaching  an adult how to drive a manual tramission vehicle; the skillset  will stay with them for their lifetime, but it will only get better IF the behaviors are  practiced. In other words, if you practice what you dog already knows in the way the dog trainer shows you, the dog will respond correctly and appropriately  each time; equally, if once the dog returns  home daily training practice starts ‘ falling by the wayside’ usually after the third week back, the dog will start ignoring commands, and misbehaving. Don’t worry the dog didn’t forget their training, BUT the human forgot to do their training homework. 

Most canine behavioral problem are a result of incorrectly interacting with our dogs at home in a way that unknowingly to the new pet owner, promotes bad behaviors from our canine partners (petting the dog when the dog jumps, keeping the dog in a constant aroused mental state, rough housing which promotes biting, barking and chasing behaviors). Our trainers will provide a list of games, and activities on how to interact with your puppy in a way that more acceptable behaviors are promoted, and practiced in a fun way. 

Training doesn’t have to be firm to have the dog respond to our commands, but we do have to be consistent in our way of handling and interacting with out dogs. We encourage better at home management over unfair corrections. The main focus of our Board and Train programs  is  how to teach each family member the correct way to interact with their new dog, after all the owner will be the new mentor once the dog returns home. 

In our training programs, we encourage full participation, and weekly practice visits with your dog during their training time with us. We also love to meet for follow up sessions until everyone reaches their training goals. Once you are part of the training family, most of our graduate students become long time friends, we stay in communication with each other, throughout the years, and you will always have an experienced professional  to reach out for any emergencies at anytime.