Puppy Training Camp

A Board & Train program can be a great solution for busy people who want to achieve their puppy training and relationship goals faster and easier, without trying to become an expert dog trainer. Because training puppies is our passion, we use our experience and education to lay in a strong training foundation and then help you effectively maintain and practice those behaviors. Your puppy will still be a puppy when they return home, and will need appropriate supervision and guidance, so there is still plenty of work for owners to do. Our job is to do the intensive initial work so that your efforts are more effective and fun for both you and your puppy, and you can communicate better.

Almost everyone asks some version of these questions, and the answer to both is no. We don't take puppies that have been living with you less than two to four weeks, so there is already a strong bond between you, and they don't forget. By having puppies come with you for an initial consultation, and then leave with you that day, they already have a positive association with this environment, and it's not unfamiliar or scary, so they are happy to arrive when they come back to stay... but equally happy to see you again when you come pick them up at the end of their stay. That visit also allows us to identify any signs of potential fears or other reasons which would prevent this from being a good choice for your puppy. In almost 20 years of doing this, there have been only 2 occasions when we had to send a dog or puppy home (with refund) after arrival because they were stressed without the owner, and in that time we have never had a puppy forget their owner.

We follow the recommendations of the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior [link to their position paper] which emphasizes the need to find safe opportunities to socialize your puppy in the first 3 months of life, even before they are fully vaccinated. We consult regularly with our veterinarian to determine the best practices to minimize risks in our environment, and we are inspected and licensed by the County Department of Animal Services to meet safe and appropriate standards of care. We accept puppies as young as 12 weeks into our program as long as they have had at least two sets of their distemper/parvo shots, and are free of communicable illness and intestinal parasites. We can incorporate their normally scheduled additional vaccines into their training program if those visits fall during their stay here. We will discuss with you during the initial consultation any risks and how we minimize them (e.g. where we will and won't take puppies for field trips, what our cleaning procedures are, etc. Dogs older than five months must be current on rabies, DAPP/DHPP, bordetella, and canine influenza vaccines, with written proof provided. All environments and interactions, at your home or here, present some level of risk. It is important to evaluate the relative risks and benefits of any choices so that decisions can be made with the best information available.

Because puppies and socially appropriate adult dogs interact with one another here, we only accept dogs that enjoy the company of other dogs and are comfortable being cared for by people other than their parents. Puppies who are mildly undersocialized or fearful may still be candidates for our program; the initial consultation will allow us to evaluate whether it's a good fit and whether we can help your puppy be more comfortable and confident. Putting a puppy or dog into an environment which makes them uncomfortable, stressed, or afraid is the opposite of our goal, and is counterproductive to learning, so we are careful to always do what is best for an individual puppy. 

Each day will vary somewhat, but will contain some mix of multiple short individual training sessions, supervised and guided social time with other puppies and socially appropriate adult dogs, multiple naps and short periods learning to handle “alone time,” local field trips based on specific training and socialization goals, and working with a training assistant to generalize learning. Specific training goals are customized to each individual client and are agreed upon during the initial consultation. Common items are basic manners and cues (come, sit, down, stay, leave it, settle in house, etc.), addressing jumping and mouthing in age-appropriate ways, potty training and crate training, socialization, introduction to leash walking skills, and getting them comfortable with body handling.

Training is a life-long process, and its success depends many variables, including the efforts of everyone living with the dog to practice and follow recommendations, as well as influences of genetics and environment/experience. It is considered unethical in this profession to offer guarantees of behavior – nothing more than a marketing scheme. However, we DO guarantee: to provide a safe environment for your dog, to make recommendations and use methods that rely on industry best practices and most up-to-date understanding of dog behavior and training, to never intentionally do anything that causes fear or pain for your dog, and to be transparent and realistic about all training methods, goals, and recommendations. We have been training puppies for almost 20 years, and rely on satisfied clients; most of our business comes from referrals from past clients, from veterinarians, and from other positive reinforcement trainers. We are routinely voted Best Dog Training in Style Magazine and the Mountain Democrat, and we have many positive reviews. So while we do not offer a training guarantee, we can demonstrate a long history of satisfied clients, and provide references upon request.

The training methods we use rely on positive reinforcement. Briefly, this means that we focus on rewarding dogs for getting things right instead of correcting them for getting things wrong. And, we help our dogs get things right by preventing unwanted habits from developing by managing their environments for success. As a proud member of the Pet Professional Guild, The Association for Force Free Pet Professionals, we pledge the following: “No shock, no pain, no choke, no fear, no physical force, no physical molding, no compulsion-based methods are employed to train or care for [your] pet” while in our care. To learn more about this organization and to see the full pledge, click here. More generally, you can learn about our values on the About page.

You always have the right to see your own puppy, and we will never tell you otherwise! However, there are three reasons we may discourage visits: 1) your puppy's excitement at seeing you may outstrip where they are in training (e.g. with jumping), and this can cause a small setback in training progress; 2) your puppy may be confused or stressed by having you come and go, and 3) logistically, because a visit takes our time and resources away from training and supervising the dogs, it has to be scheduled as a regular appointment, and your included appointments are generally best used as part of training follow-up after your puppy's stay. It will always be your decision, but all visits must be scheduled rather than drop-in, since we do not have the staff to accommodate unplanned visits.

That depends on the dogs! Average days have 3 to 4 dogs staying here, of which one or two are here for training, and the rest for regular boarding. The goal is to have a safe and harmonious group, and to be able to meet the individualized care and training needs of all dogs at all times. We will never have more dogs than we can safely handle, or can safely evacuate in the event of an emergency such as a wildfire.

In our experience, there is a minimum amount of time that allows for sufficient practice of goal behaviors to make them strong enough to realistically hand off to owners to practice; for this reason, three weeks is the minimum session we will agree to. We do not currently offer group classes or individual sessions other than as follow-up support after a Board & Train stay here. However, we are happy to refer to trusted colleagues for these services if that is a better fit for you. Please see our Resources page for a list of other trainers, as well as helpful books and videos. There are many ways to reach training goals, and it's important to choose ones that meet your needs, budget, and preferences.