How I Do Board and Train
There's even a behaviour guarantee.
Introduction
Board and train has gotten a lot of negative press from other dog professionals. I don't blame them, because most board and trains use a lot of punishment to suppress unwanted behaviours. In those settings, a dog guardian pays a ton of money for their beloved pup to get choked and/or shocked into compliance.
That dog is not “obedient.” The dog has been traumatized. Having so much physical and emotional trauma means the dog appears calm but is actually shut down.
I understand why dog guardians might want that. They might be incredibly frustrated by their dog and at a point where they want the undesired behaviours to stop.
How My Board and Train Is Different
My business is run out of my home, where a boarder lives with me and my family. The dog becomes a part of my family. Boarding dogs here are never physically punished or verbally intimidated, just like my own dogs.
That doesn't mean a board and train with me is a free for all. Dogs living under my roof dogs are taught clearly what is expected of them. I have incredibly precise management plans to prevent undesirable behaviours from getting reinforced or initiating with any dog living here.
A dog here for board and train is set up to make correct choices for reinforcement, so the behaviour repeats. I manipulate the environment so that making the correct choice is easy. A dog boarding with me has such a minimal chance to make an incorrect choice.
What happens when a dog makes an incorrect choice?
First, that is feedback to me. Not the dog.
“Did I set the dog up for success? What can I do to help that dog succeed? What elements presented to make that dog fail?”
An incorrect choice earns no reinforcement. Some dogs might feel frustrated. What I'm looking to do is to build resilience. That a single failure does not make a dog give up completely.
What I've noticed is the dogs I've boarded here become confident and resilient. They want to try again. Even if they arrived a little unsure, I start by playing games with them to grow their confidence.
The puppy is wearing a harness with a leash attached. That is management. The video below shows the same puppy looking at kibble on the ground, 24 hours later. She is focused on her work, which was to look at the kibble but not steal them until I gave her permission.
I do offer one guarantee:
“Your dog’s excellent behaviour learned living with me will fall apart the moment s/he gets home. Guaranteed.” Guaranteeing behaviour change would be unethical. I am guaranteeing their dog will simply return to being a dog at home.
How I Help The Guardians Afterward
Dogs do not generalize well. That is great reason for my tongue-in-cheek guarantee.
Part of the board and train package I offer includes a private coaching session within a week after the dog goes home. This allows the dog to decompress. The coaching session for the family is on training mechanics, from the cues, the marker, and release words I used with their dog.
This includes reinforcement delivery mechanics. After all, reinforcement can be anything a dog loves and will work for.
Evaluating the environment
Besides coaching the humans, I also assess the home to see where an undesired behaviour had gotten reinforced. For example, a dog coming to me for counter surfing might be because their counter at home is messy. Or there might be a chair a dog can jump onto for countersurfing.
Often, a dog might have had too much freedom, so I would advise buying an exercise pen or other barriers to prevent the dog from getting into the kitchen. I also give tips on enrichment.
I won't force anyone to take my advice but if they continue what they did before their dog came to me, they will get stuff like this:
Conclusion
A board and train might be the vacation a guardian needs from their dog. Dogs can be frustrating because they are sentient living beings simply trying their best. Miscommunication and unrealistic expectations from human guardians can frustrate the dog as well.
I do what I do because all dogs deserve to live with guardians who love and understand them.
I will continue to offer board and train to select clients. Those clients deserve to see how amazing their dogs can be in a finely controlled environment.
What I want to do is help clients create that finely controlled environment in their own homes for successfully becominf a team with their dogs instead of being adversaries.
This is great. I like your guarantee! One nitpick: when people say that dog’s dont generalize well, I often feel like they’re implying that humans DO generalize well. I think we give ourselves too much credit in that department!