Why Boarding and Training Might NOT Be For You 

With professional dog training, there is an option called “Board and Train” that dog owners can pursue to address their dog’s obedience and behavioral issues. This training route involves the owner leaving their dog with a trainer for several weeks to be trained at the trainer’s facility or home. After those several weeks, the dog is returned to the owner fully trained, and the owner normally gets some instructions on maintaining the training that the dog learned during their stay.

The best thing about board and train is that the work falls on the trainer. If you have a hectic lifestyle and cannot fit in classes or in-home training into your schedule, the board and train offers a great convenience. But does that convenience come at a cost? And is it more than just a financial cost?

Dog training helps build a strong bond between dog and owner!

This article is not to say that board and train cannot be effective, but rather that there are other training options available that might be more suitable for you and your dog. Since becoming a professional dog trainer here in Baltimore, I have seen all the different approaches people take to help their dog find success and behavioral balance.

To me, the most effective training, the one that leaves long-lasting results is in-home training. This type of training is not about the trainer working with the dog solo, and then just handing the finished result back to the owner. In-home training keeps owners involved in their dog’s behavioral progress. It teaches the dog, but it teaches the owner how to handle and communicate with their own dog. Through this, the owner doesn’t need follow-up instructions once the dog is trained…the owner already knows what he/she must do in order to maintain the training consistency, and ensure the dog’s lifetime success!

In-home training is more work for the owner, and it still can be pricey. But board and train, while it does eliminate the work for the owner, it is still the more expensive route to take. Also, I have had many in-home clients attempt the board and train in the past with their dog. The general consensus is that while the dog will come back trained, the chances of the dog remaining trained are slim. And then there goes thousands of dollars down the drain! This is simply because that while the dog was trained by the trainer, the dog was not trained by the owner, and the owner, even with follow-up guidelines, has difficulty maintaining the training. The dog only recognizes the trainer as the leader, as the person to follow. Even to me as a professional dog trainer, I find this completely useless if the dog cannot follow their owner’s leadership!

I offer in-home training for a reason – because I not only work with dogs, but I work with owners and teach them what they want and need to know to instill obedience and happiness in their dog’s life. Owners get to be part of their dog’s success and happily watch them flourish. Through this, the owner learns more about their dog and becoming an overall confident leader. I always work to solve current problems, but I also show owners the skills to be a reward-based and effective leader, and these skills can be carried on to other cases and future fur babies that they may adopt in their lives.

Board and train is not a bad option, but before signing up and handing over that enormous check to the trainer that is going to take your dog to their training kennel or farm, consider other possibilities that might bring more rewards to the table: lifetime results, new skills for you and your dog, and the general happiness of being responsible and part of your dog’s success!

If you are looking into training for your dog, give me a call at 800-649-7297 and we’ll get you and your dog on the path to behavioral balance!