A board and train is a program where your dog stays with trainers in a facility (or home setting) for an extended period of time while focusing on developing functional obedience and mitigating unwanted behavioral issues.
This type of program is designed to socialize your dog with the world, giving them unique experiences that are often encountered in the real world. The main difference is we are here guiding your dog through these potentially troublesome situations.
Besides all of the fun field trips your dogs can experience while with us, the biggest factor that puts us a cut above the rest is our focus on educating you, as well as your dog on how to effectively communicate with each other. It’s a lot of instruction on what to do, but also more on why you’re doing it.
Having a background in education, and teaching in the city of Buffalo for many years has taught me how to make these incredibly complex problems we face with our dogs become more clear and concise. We want you to be able to solve any problem that may arise with your dog, but also know the why behind what you’re doing, especially once your dog is back home.
Your dog will be in good hands with my team of trainers and myself working day in and day out to provide them with not only the best care, but excellent training. Each member of my team has been personally trained by me and are invested in continuously increasing their knowledge and skill sets.
WHAT A BOARD & TRAIN IS NOT
Now that we have a clear answer to “What is a board and train?” We need to define what a board and train is not.
Simply put, a board and train is NOT a one stop, fix all miracle- now the work is done, and the dog is perfect.
That’s far from the case. We can accomplish a lot in three weeks and even more in four. However, there’s no such thing as “fixing” your dog…it’s not broken. What we have done is given your dog a new set of rules and expectations to continue back home with you. It is up to you to reinforce it at home, otherwise they will go back to how they acted before the program.
It’s very important that we temper our expectations on what can be achieved in these programs.
A FEW THOUGHTS…
If your dog is four years old, and they have been performing the same unwanted behavior for four years, three weeks of training is not going to magically make that behavior not exist anymore…you will however have to tools and the know-how to make sure it does go away in the very near future.
If your dog is fearful of people, that’s ok, we can help them through dealing with that. However we cannot make them no longer fearful of people. Working with them, they will slowly gain confidence during their stay with us, and once home you’ll know how to guide them through any particularly challenging event.
If your dog has bitten people for one of many reasons, we can show your dog alternative methods of dealing with whatever situation caused the bite, and show you how to mitigate those behaviors using functional obedience so your dog is not put in a situation where it may feel the need to bite. BUT we will never promise that your dog will not attempt to bite if it’s put in a very compromising situation.
To make it as short and clear as possible- we are correcting the dogs current behavior and state of mind and then giving you all of the tools, education, and support you will need to continue making sure you and your dog are living together and experiencing the best relationship moving forward.