Design Your Campaign
Board and Train Programs
Board and Train is a wonderful option if you’re feeling a little overwhelmed with your pet’s behavior challenges. Not only does your dog get a deep dive into training, you get to benefit from coming into the picture with a dog who has already learned the skills to cope with the situations you’re looking for help with! Board and Train is a great option to help your dog gain the behaviors they need, and then have support transitioning those skills to you.
If you’re not sure you want your pet to be away for that long, or if it’s important to you to be involved in the step-by-step development of their behaviors - no worries! Weekday board and train may be a perfect fit: your dog stays here through the week, we complete a handover session, and then they spend the weekend with you practicing their new skills at home - before coming back the following Sunday evening for more learning!
Includes:
3 Handoff Sessions following your stay
Recaps and Resources provided on your personalized webpage to keep you on track between sessions
Lifetime Access to all to Drama Class Online self-led classes
Everything that the client portal Guild Hall has to offer - including nearby classes and events, discounted services, additional troubleshooting and coaching, and more!
Access to our exclusive Level Up day school, training club, and sniffy walk program for 3 months following their stay
A go-home Loot Bag with gear, treats, and more!
Behavior modification campaigns are a minimum of 4 weeks in order to provide the greatest value for your investment. While these are on the longer side of most of my board and train programs, the time allows your dog to decompress, identify and create new associations with their triggers, and lay the groundwork for not only management and avoidance behaviors of those triggers, but truly building the ability to cope with and become comfortable about them. The four week program includes:
Decompression, Settling and Relaxation
Attention and Engagement Skills
Confidence Building Behaviors
Arousal Regulation and Control
Gradual Exposure to Triggers and Mastery of Coping Skills
Protocol for Future Interactions and Building Further Comfort and Confidence
Cooperative Muzzle and/or Head Halter Introduction (as indicated)
De-Escalation and Communication Skills
Polite Greeting Behaviors
Complementary In-Person Charisma Check - Reactivity Coaching Class
Behavior modification differs significantly from typical manners training and even development and puppy and adolescent skills (though these are often best approached as preventative measures to avoid behavior modifcation needs!). Not only does this involve training behaviors, but is reliant upon changing how your dog is feeling, so the emotion driving these undesirable, aggressive, or reactive behaviors is resolved rather than channeled into other (likely equally or more undesirable) behaviors down the line. In many cases, additional board and train stays or private sessions will be recommended beyond the initial program.
The handoff sessions included in the stay will focus on transitioning the skills to you as the handler, as well as coaching you through real life scenarios where you dog is encountering their triggers or working through challenging environments at home. We will troubleshoot together to plan for when surprises happen or you and your dog are unexpectedly placed at or over threshold, and identify ways to better read your dog and proactively interrupt potential incidents. Recommendations for further training or support will also be included to ensure that you are set up to continue building on what your dog has learned.
…$4800
Includes:
4 Weeks of board and train Sunday-Thursday focused on:
Engagement and Attention Skills
Identifying Triggers
Creating Protocol for Management
Coping Skills for Everyday Life
4 Handoff Sessions each Thursday at pick up/drop off
Recaps and Resources provided on your personalized webpage to keep you on track between sessions
Lifetime Access to Drama Class Online self-led classes
Everything that the client portal Guild Hall has to offer - including nearby classes and events, discounted services, additional troubleshooting and coaching, and more!
A go-home Loot Bag with gear, treats, and more!
…$3800
Includes:
3 Handoff Sessions following your stay
Recaps and Resources provided on your personalized webpage to keep you on track between sessions
Lifetime Access to Worldbuilding Online self-led class
Everything that the client portal Guild Hall has to offer - including nearby classes and events, discounted services, additional troubleshooting and coaching, and more!
Access to our exclusive Level Up day school, training club, and sniffy walk program for 3 months following their stay
A go-home Loot Bag with gear, treats, and more!
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Puppies are just figuring out what their world means! Foundations for dogs under 5 months means understanding how to safely and confidently interact in their world. Two weeks is time for your trainer to get to know your puppy and help them through developmental rough patches so they are set up to be a confident and secure adolescent. A two week board and train for puppies includes:
Socialization Field Trips
People Watching
Engagement Foundations
Potty Training
Loose Leash Basics
Handoff sessions with you at home will transition these skills, share observations on potential stumbling blocks headed into the adolescent years, and set you and your little one up for a successful journey together!
$2600
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Three weeks with a puppy is a whole lot of change! During their stay we will be taking advantage of this developmentally sensitive period to guide your puppy into a calm and confident adolescence. In addition to the behaviors in a two week stay which include foundations in:
Socialization Field Trips
People Watching
Engagement Foundations
Potty Training
Loose Leash Basics
They’ll build additional behaviors with their extra time, focusing primarily on:
Polite Greeting Protocols
Appropriate Play Behavior
Bite Inhibition
Handoff sessions, like their two week program, will transition these skills, share observations on potential stumbling blocks headed into the adolescent years, and set you and your little one up for a successful journey together!
$3700
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For many puppies, a four week stay can help get you through some of the rough patches of sleepless nights and unsure behaviors. In addition to:
Socialization Field Trips
People Watching
Engagement Foundations
Potty Training
Loose Leash Basics
Polite Greeting Protocols
Appropriate Play Behavior
Bite Inhibition
A four week stay will also focus on building off of some of the earlier introduced skills to leverage them into:
Good Handling Habits
Patio Practice
Recall Foundations
Handoff sessions will transition these skills, share observations on potential stumbling blocks headed into the adolescent years, and set you and your little one up for a successful journey together!
$4800
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A different approach, this stay blends puppy foundations with adolescent manners to ensure that your pup isn’t regressing when they hit teenage development.
For the first three weeks of their stay, your puppy will focus on behaviors similar to a normal three week stay for puppies in board and train:
Socialization Field Trips
People Watching
Engagement Foundations
Potty Training
Loose Leash Basics
Polite Greeting Protocols
Appropriate Play Behavior
Bite Inhibition
The challenge with puppies is that while early intervention and consistent reinforcement of behaviors absolutely carries over and can make an enormous difference to both behavior and skills of an adult puppy, adolescence is right there in the middle - a stumbling block for your patience and your persistence.
In this multi-part campaign, after your puppy is 7 months old, they will come back for a heavily discounted two week stay for a refresher on everything they learned, and will build on those skills, working on:
Arousal Regulation and Control
Loose Leash Manners
Polite Greeting Behavior
Settling and Relaxation
Rather than the standard 3 sessions 5 handoff sessions can be scheduled both between your puppy’s two stays as well as after their adolescent stay in order to reinforce behaviors, troubleshoot for specific situations, and build on the behaviors they learned.
For Puppies, a 3×2 week package is the most commonly recommended board and train package.
$5600
Level 1 Includes:
3 Weeks of board and train Sunday-Thursday focused on:
Socialization
Handling Skills
Potty Training
Foundational Engagement and Manners
3 Handoff Sessions each Thursday at pick up/drop off
Recaps and Resources provided on your personalized webpage to keep you on track between sessions
Lifetime Access to Worldbuilding Online self-led class
Everything that the client portal Guild Hall has to offer - including nearby classes and events, discounted services, additional troubleshooting and coaching, and more!
A go-home Loot Bag with gear, treats, and more!
…$2900
Level 2 Includes all of Level 1 PLUS:
2 Additional Weeks of board and train Sunday-Thursday at 7 months or older focusing on:
Building on engagement skills for appropriate adolescent manners
Arousal regulation and control
Preventing behavior regression
…$4200
Includes:
3 Handoff Sessions following your stay
Recaps and Resources provided on your personalized webpage to keep you on track between sessions
Lifetime Access to all three Starting Zone Online self-led classes
Everything that the client portal Guild Hall has to offer - including nearby classes and events, discounted services, additional troubleshooting and coaching, and more!
Access to our exclusive Level Up day school, training club, and sniffy walk program for 3 months following their stay
A go-home Loot Bag with gear, treats, and more!
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A jump start into better manners and a well-rounded dog! Perfect for the pup with lots of potential but not many manners yet, and without any behavioral concerns. Two weeks is a good amount of time for me to get to know your dog well, and provide basic foundational skills surrounding:
Attention and Engagement
Arousal Regulation and Control
Loose Leash Manners
Polite Greeting Behavior
Settling and Relaxation
In our three handoff sessions, we will focus on continuing to build those introduced behaviors and tailoring them to the training you’ll continue at home, as well as continuing to introduce skills that can build upon that solid beginning!
$2600
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Not only setting the table but starting the meal! The three week program includes all the behaviors and foundations in a two week board and train - getting to know your dog and their unique preferences, quirks, and needs, and establishing baseline behaviors that will build better behavior in their life at home with you. An additional week includes time to really hone skills in a variety of challenging environments, “proofing” the behavior so it can withstand distractions. Your dog will get lots of practice proofing their skills in:
Attention and Engagement
Arousal Regulation and Control
Loose Leash Manners
Polite Greeting Behavior
Settling and Relaxation
As well as an introduction and foundation in building:
Patio Behaviors
Formal Recall Practice
Handoff sessions will focus on transferring the skills to you and coping with exciting environments and distractions, emphasizing how to adjust difficulty and adapt to your dog’s ability, as well as how to help your dog through when they’ve gotten in over their head!
For Life Skills, 3 weeks is the most commonly recommended board and train package.
$3700
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Building the skills and behavior for a go anywhere, do anything dog takes some extra time and attention! The four week Life Skills board and train package includes not only proofing (challenging and working through distractions) the basic foundations of good behavior in typical environments, but really stretching your dog’s abilities to some atypical ones as well. Continuing to build on the lessons learned in their first few weeks, a four week stay ensures a fluent understanding of:Attention and Engagement
Arousal Regulation and Control
Loose Leash Manners
Polite Greeting Behavior
Settling and Relaxation
Patio Behaviors
Formal Recall Practice
In a variety of environments and distractions. It also expands your dog’s repertoire of behavior to include skills for:
Cooperative Veterinary and Husbandry Foundations
AKC Canine Good Citizen Practice and Evaluation
Preparing your dog not only to finish off their stay with the skills and behaviors to make your lives together easier, but a shiny new title as well. Follow up sessions will include formalizing your CGC (Canine Good Citizen) certificate as well as transitioning your dog’s skills to you as the handler, and troubleshooting any behaviors approaches that need to be adjusted for your lifestyle.
$4800
Includes:
3 Weeks of board and train Sunday-Thursday focused on:
Attention and Engagement
Loose Leash Manners
Polite Greetings
Relaxed Table Manners
3 Handoff Sessions each Thursday at pick up/drop off
Recaps and Resources provided on your personalized webpage to keep you on track between sessions
Lifetime Access to all three Starting Zone Online self-led classes
Everything that the client portal Guild Hall has to offer - including nearby classes and events, discounted services, additional troubleshooting and coaching, and more!
A go-home Loot Bag with gear, treats, and more!
…$2900
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Board and trains can be a difficult commitment - not only is it emotionally challenging to send your pup to camp for weeks, but it’s also difficult as a trainer to be able to be fully transparent about what you can expect at the end of their stay. It is unethical, and irresponsible, to guarantee results from any training service. Dogs are individuals, and like any other individual, respond to unique environments with unique behaviors. Their behavior is influenced not only by their training but also by genetics, emotions, physical sensation, and many other factors that cannot be unilaterally controlled for.
What you can expect from a board and train is that your dog will receive consistent, kind, clear training to improve their skills and be successful in the situations and behaviors you are looking for changes with. You can expect that you will receive feedback on that progression - what skills worked best for them in what scenarios, how they developed those skills, and where they currently still need handler support - throughout and at the end of their stay. You can also expect support from your trainer after their stay in the form of follow ups and feedback to allow you to transition those behaviors to your home environment. I have a general curriculum included in my stays but these skills can of course be tailored to your specific goals.
I specifically offer two different styles of programs, MultiClass Board and Train Hybrid or Campaign Board and Train!
Let me know what you’re looking for and we can have a more personalized discussion about what fits your dog’s needs and your training budget!
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Absolutely! Before arranging a board and train program, I’ll likely direct you to a Session Zero behavior and training consultation. During this virtual session we’ll discuss your training goals to determine the best program for you and to introduce a few behaviors to get you started.
In addition to that virtual meeting, Session Zero includes a complementary meet and greet where we can do just that - have you bring your dog out and and meet me in person and let them get to know me.
Due to the nature of my board and train and to ensure a calm environment for the dogs currently in my care, I cannot offer tours of the space they will be staying in, however you’re encouraged to review my social media for photos and videos of the space - and please ask any questions you have about their stay to ensure you feel entirely comfortable!
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Yes*
I do offer boarding generally to members of Guild Hall - the client portal for past and present clients. While these boarding stays do not include formal training, they do include “enrichment and training” which may include scentwork, tricks, or even basic manners or husbandry behaviors depending on what we do each day.
Additional boarding availability is not typically advertised but may be scheduled dependent on availability.
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The primary requirement is that your dog is up to date on all vaccinations, and will be comfortable (not vocal or distressed) crating during their stay.
There is very little that is “required” for the dog to enjoy during their stay. If they would prefer to be left alone, they can hang out while I do administrative work and if they want to play or snuggle, I’m all about doing that one on one - they do not need to meet anyone else (human or canine) during their stay. If they are social, there are resident dogs and often other boarding dogs who would like to play with them. My family would be happy to spoil them as well if that’s something they would enjoy.
I do not offer board and train programs for seriously human aggressive dogs, but have welcomed dogs with stranger danger and with bite histories. Please reach out if you have questions specific to your individual dog!
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Dogs are crated when they are not directly supervised. This is both to ensure that they have appropriate rest time and for their and other dog’s safety.
During the day, they most likely spend their indoor time in my training office (which is also where I spend most of my indoor time). Out and about, they are transported in crash tested crates in the car (Rufflands) and may spend the day at club training, sporting events, or hiking spots.
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No worries! We are very familiar with the crate and rotate life here. I am selective with all three of my dogs and who they are paired with, and equally careful about introductions between boarders.
My senior pit bull Mouse, enjoys puppies most and is most likely to meet your dog if they are social and unflappable.
My German Shepherd Fig, is happy to play with the rowdier gang but may be too much for a nervous pup. She is however an excellent neutral dog when asked to be and is great for dogs building their confidence or reactivity skills.
My youngest, Riz, is 2.5 lbs and will happily play with social dogs 20x his size - provided they are happy to watch where they put their paws. He isn’t shy about telling them they almost stepped on him!
If your dog prefers to hang with humans solo, that’s exactly what they will get! While dogs are crated nearby, they are always covered and space is given for each dog to be out on their own without other dogs visible.
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Food! They will need meals for the duration of their stay. Up to you if you’d like to separate them by meal (always appreciated) or provide a bag and scoop. If your dog eats refrigerated meals, please be cognizant of fridge/freezer space.
Everything else - crate, crate pad, treats, leash for walking - will be provided for them. I always appreciate a harness or collar provided, and if you’d like to send your dog along with a comfort item (blanket/toy/etc) from home, they are welcome to that in their crate assuming it is not an ingestion risk for your pet.
Much like childen’s summer camp, please do not send along items of sentimental value as everything that enters this house is at risk for being lost, dropped, or chewed up.
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As a dog trainer, I’m able to enjoy a good amount of flexibility in my schedule, so there are some days where the routine doesn’t apply. That said, there’s a general shape of the day you can expect to see with your pup:
I am usually up with the dogs (both my house dogs and boarders) around 7:00am. We will do short bathroom walks along the creek behind my house, and will have breakfast/supplements/medication for the dogs who receive them.
After breakfast they will generally be back in their crates for a bit while I have breakfast myself and prepare for the day. Typically dogs will cycle out during the morning while I address emails, work on course development, or other bookkeeping tasks, and we will go on hikes and training sessions through the afternoon.
In the evening, your board and train dog will receive another training session or two with their dinner, and enjoy some more play or enrichment time before last potty breaks between 10:00 and 11:00pm.
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Especially for longer stays, I’m happy to look for a time where you can visit your dog.
I don’t subscribe to the idea that seeing family during a board and train disrupts training. I’ve seen as much success with both my weekday board and train programs where the dog goes home every weekend as with the more traditional board and train programs where they are with me for several weeks at a time. The difference generally lies more in what set up and training approach works better for the human learner.
However, as much as I know you miss your pet, please be cognizant that I have multiple clients as well as family who expect to see me at some point during the day and that schedules may not be able to feasibly line up, especially for shorter stays. I am always happy to send photos or videos if we can’t make an in person visit work!
If you want to make sure you have time with your pet during their training, I encourage signing up for MultiClass, my weekday board and train programs, that allow for weekends to practice and snuggle together!
Schedule a Session Zero
Behavioral Consultation and Training Session
Training the dog is only half the picture. The other half includes management, prevention, enrichment, and setting your environment up for success. It means setting goals and making a plan from the human end of the leash to know what behaviors we’re training for and why. Whether you’re just in need of a plan, are looking to decide what classes to take or services to make use of, or know you’ll want to move onto more in-person, private coaching: start here.
Session Zero includes:
75-minute virtual consultation discussing the behavior challenges you’re experiencing and coming up with plans, management, and behaviors that will fit your life and your family.
Guild Hall Access and “Roll Initiative” Orientation: Our private client portal with resources, orientation courses and lots of go-to information on setting your training sessions up for success.
Your dog’s own personalized webpage with written follow up plan with instructions and resources on implementation, suggestions for further training, and invitation to our private Facebook community.
A short Mini-Game meet and greet at my home to ask questions, build a relationship with your pup, and get to know one another!
…$195