Board and Train Services: My Two Cents

Board and Train Services: My Two Cents
By Christen Cupler: Owner and trainer at Smarty Paws K9 University LLC

In my last blog I talked about the truth of dog training and you, the owner’s responsibility in the training process. This time I am going to touch on board and train services and my thoughts on them.
I get the question all the time, “Do you offer board and train” Most of the time I just say no but occasionally I get a new puppy owner and I give it a whirl and offer it.
Board and train IS NOT a cheap service at all. From a trainer standpoint, the trainer is taking on FULL responsibility, care and training of your dog 24/7. With the average private training hour running between $50-$100 an hour at least, multiple that by the amount of days your dog will be in the trainer’s care. Even at the lowest average being $50 an hour. 24 hours in a day and say a 10-day board and train, that comes to a staggering $12,000.
Obviously, no one charges that, but most board and trains are a large chunk of money, typically $1500-4000ish give or take. I stay on the lower end because I am completely against charging a fortune for something I genuinely enjoy doing and something I know can benefit a puppy and their family. BUT even at my prices, people shy away due to the price.
Now you may be wondering why I do not offer it for older dogs, and I stick to puppies. This stems back to the simple fact that puppies are sponges and if given the right start early on they are far easier for owners to handle later. Now when people are wanting board and trains, the dogs are adolescents and typically out of control. Now the owners are willing to invest the money because they are at their wits end with their dog’s behaviors. I could make a fortune
Plain and simply stated, I don’t have the set up to house a board and train dogs and I surely do not want the house I work to keep tip top, destroyed by someone else’s out of control dog. That is my own personal decision, puppies I am more than willing to mold them into wonderful family members, but I do not want someone else’s issue at my home.
Beyond that, my biggest issue with board and train is the fact that more times than I care to admit, the results you see when you get your dog back will not last. Your trainer is going to return your dog to you all prim and proper and well behaved, yes indeed. They will show you their methods, a lot of time involving a fancy named collar (I’ll use the one I’ve seen used a few times over the years: “a big named franchise” collar, nothing more than an electronic static collar, commonly known as a shock or correction collar) they have used to train your dog that you pay for in your package. My favorite is when they advertise “Off Leash Training”…. again, electronic collar used if the dog does not recall. In other words, an invisible leash that beeps and or gives a static shock to correct your dog.
Not all trainers use the shock collar, but many unfortunately do and sadly not many know how to use them properly. Electronic collars are not my choice personally, I do not like them, and I feel it is a terrible way to train but honestly used CORRECTLY the genuinely are not horrid and can be a great tool. They downfall is MANY are not skilled on how to use them and train their clients wrong on how to use them. Not to mention not using it eventually, either by choice or accidently forgetting to have it on.
So, the trainer shows you all the wonderful and complaint behaviors your dog now knows. So here is the flaw, much like I have said before dog trainers are dog trainers because they can get dogs to respond to them.
In other words, we know what we are doing, at least most of us anyways (there is a few exceptions) We are fluent in our motions, patient, consistent, assertive and know how to make it fun for the dog.
So, upon pick up, the dog looks simply awesome of course. You take your dog home and apply EVERYTHING you were shown for a while but human nature kicks in and you fall out of the routine. Skip a day or two here and there. Next thing you know it’s been months since you’ve genuinely worked your dog’s mind and even worse the collar is on the counter because you took it off to bathe your dog or needed to recharge it and forgot. The behaviors you just paid a small fortune to get rid of start resurfacing again.
This goes back to personal accountability, probably the best example of it. There is no amount of training in the world that you do not have to follow to a tee or at least darn close to for the results to be lifelong. My favorite example is Algebra in school…. how many of you have practiced algebra since school? So, if you had to do it now, could you recall what to do easily without fail or help? Your answer is likely no and that is because you have not practiced and the skill and knowledge set that was embedded in your brain has faded over the years. Our dogs work virtually the same way. A command is a learned behavior, they do not naturally know them. Yes, a dog naturally sits and lays down and various other thing BUT that is only the motion, not doing it on “command”. In other words when we the human asks for it. It is our job to teach them and practice them. They also do not generalize well.
Meaning they do not understand “sit” in the kitchen mean the same as “sit” while out at the park with other people, dogs and those pesky squirrels. They may need a reinforcement or reminder of what they are supposed to be doing and that is your job as the owner to give them that extra help where it is needed to reinforce and mark a correct response.
So, all of this tied in together is why I rarely offer board and train. One thing that a major pet peeve of mine is when I work a dog for ages and keep getting the same feedback, being “My dog won’t do this for me, only you”.
IF your dog is not doing something for you, that you have witnessed them do with their trainer, this means YOU are doing something wrong in your work and you need to address the issue and hear out your trainers feedback. I have literally looked at clients and politely said, “The issue isn’t your dog, the issue is you” Dogs naturally feed off their owner’s energy levels. If you are a naturally hyper person who goes a mile a minute, its likely your dog will as well. If you are negative and say, “my dog will never do that”, your darn right that dog will never do that because you have already set him up to fail. If your flighty and forgetful or unable to handle your dog, again your dog is going to know this. When you are working with a dog, confidence is KEY. Now on the opposite end if you are a calm, patient, positive and confident leader, this will feed right into your dog and create a happy willing to work moldable dog.
There’s nothing worse for a trainers mind than to see a client/dog team not succeeding or the infamous “I’ve tried training, it didn’t work or my trainer didn’t train my dog” Most trainers are extremely passionate about their jobs and pour their heart and souls into training, so to hear that kind of feedback is devastating to them.
I have had to learn to separate myself from some of it and some people because I realize I can only do so much, and the rest lies in the hands of what happens when I’m not there.
The same rules apply to board and train, just because I spend 10-14 days with your dog, DOES NOT mean your dog will be perfectly behaved FOREVER with no practice or even GASP….MORE TRAINING. Training is not a one and done thing, training is a lifetime commitment to your dog for you to provide BOTH MENTAL AND PHYSICAL stimulation for your dog, daily for the rest of their lives. The backyard running or walk around the block IS NOT stimulation for the record.
So, for these reasons if people are not willing to commit to a board and train at the very beginning, I am not willing to offer it when your dog becomes an issue. I am obviously not a fan of it to begin with, unless you have a good reason. I would much rather see an owner and dog work together towards lifelong goals in group courses or private training, rather than charge a small fortune to train your dog for you knowing that the chances of it lasting lifelong are slim. It is not in my nature. And in my opinion, shock collar or “Electronic Static Stimulation” collars are not ideal for 95% of the average dog owner out there.
I hope this sheds some light on the subject for everyone considering board and train. Always check out your trainers and their methods PRIOR and do not fall for gimmicks, fancy terms or catch phrases that promise things and fancy advertisements. There is no quick fix to training that does not involve follow through on your end.
In conclusion, PLEASE invest in your puppy’s education early on and do not wait until there is a problem. And please, select a breed appropriate to your lifestyle, strength and abilities. Not due to their looks, nor the dog you meet last week that was perfectly behaved and wonderful and you just must have one. Not training early on and selecting purely based on looks is a recipe for disaster. Not to mention unfair to the dog. A dog is a lifelong commitment and all factors, from size to activity level should be considered before selecting a breed. Research different breed characteristics and traits to match them to your lifestyle. It will make for a happier lifestyle all around.

Happy Training!