Dog Training | Animal Behaviour

We Do Not Recommend Board & Train

Family involvement is crucial for successful pet training

What is Board and Train?

Each facility or trainer will run their programs differently, but I will provide a very basic summation.

Essentially sending your dog to board-and-train means you drop your dog off with a trainer, your dog stays with them for a specific length of time and trains your dog, then you pick your dog up when they are finished their program.

Usually the trainer meets with the dog and their family first, discusses the family’s behaviour concerns and training goals, and what they hope to get out of the board and train service.

The trainer then will often explain what they would like to do in order to help the family and their dog reach those training goals, provide a general timeframe, and a quote for the price of these services.

During and after the program, the trainer should provide regular and frequent updates to the family, giving them information and tools for continuing the training once the dog goes home. The trainer should also follow-up with the family to provide support and assistance to them as they take over the role of trainer(s).

Why Pawsitive Pet Care Does Not Recommend Board-and-Train

There are exceptions to every rule, however typically speaking, it is ideal for your trainer to work with you and the members of your household, as well as your pet. Below we will outline the two primary reasons why.

Dogs do not generalize well

Generalization is the process of deriving a concept, judgment, principle, or theory from a limited number of specific cases and applying it more widely, often to an entire class of objects, events, or people.

For example: your dog learns to “sit”, but always when you’re standing in front of him. Now try sitting (you, not your dog) in a chair, then asking him to sit, if you’ve never done that before. He may get confused and it may take him a little to figure out what it is you’re asking because something has changed and he has not yet generalized what he learned to this new scenario.

Generally speaking, dogs do not take information learned in one context or environment and easily apply it to new situations in other contexts or environments.

If your dog learns some fantastic new behaviours in a board-and-train situation, that’s great. Once they get home, you and your family might essentially have to start from scratch and re-train the behaviours in the dog’s home environment with the dog’s familiar surroundings and people.

For more on generalization and how to help your dog apply what they learn to new and various situations, Emily Larlham wrote a fantastic article on the topic.

The humans in the pets’ lives are the most important part of the training process

Positive training strengthens the bond and the relationships between humans and animals. When you have fun working, training, and playing with your pet, you bond with each other. This trust and kinship will also improve how well your pet responds to you, and how well you understand your pet & why they do the things they do.

Training is about 75% teaching the humans and 25% teaching the pets. This applies to everyone from brand new pet-owners to experienced pet trainers, because we all need to adapt our environment and our approach to fit the needs of the pet we are working with in the moment.

Pet owners also need to learn the fundamentals of animal behaviour and learning, as well as learn to read and understand their pet’s communication, particularly their body language in order to effectively and humanely train and work with their pets.

Some of the best help your trainer can give you is to explain what you need to do with your pet in a way that you can understand, demonstrate it for you, and then watch you do it and give you constructive and specific feedback. This last piece is the most important part because sometimes a subtle change in positioning, body language, or cueing can help solve a training challenge and help reduce frustration for both animal and human.

Have you ever had someone set something up for you, maybe a new computer program, or a new entertainment system of some kind, and then later you run into trouble? Because they did it for you and didn’t walk you through the steps, now you have no idea how to troubleshoot or how to go about fixing the problem.

It may seem convenient that the outset, but sending your dog off to be “ fixed” and then returned to you is not empowering you and the members of your household to be able to build upon your pet’s training and have the skills to deal with any new issues that may arise.

As we noted in a previous article, Finding a Trainer:

“Your trainer needs to be able to explain to you what they are doing, why they are doing it, and how you will be able to do it once they leave. They are not a magician, they are a teacher, and their job is to educate and empower you to understand how your dog learns and how to get desired behaviours from your dog. This should be done in a way that works for you and your family and in a way that helps strengthen your relationship with your dog.” — Jillian Enright, CPDT-KA

Think of a trainer as a teacher for you, any members of your household, and for your pet. Their job is to give you the tools and information you need so that you can feel good about moving forward in a positive direction.

In addition, training isn’t just about solving behavioural problems after they have begun. In fact, good training is proactive and intends to prevent these problems from coming up in the first place. And the best training ( in our opinion), is training that is done just for fun!

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About the Author

Jillian is a fear-free certified and CPDT-KA certified animal behaviour specialist and has been working in the animal care and behaviour field since 2009.

Originally published at pawsitivepooch.blogspot.com on January 23, 2021.