Board and train
Board and train for adolescent dogs
Between six months and a year and a half, many dogs seem to discover that the world is more interesting than you are. Recall gets selective. The leash gets heavy. That is not a verdict on your training or a sign of defiance; often it is attention going to smells, dogs and open space that a kitchen cue was never practised against. A board and train gives that skill daily one-on-one work.
Last reviewed September 28, 2026
Comparing the programs
What we work on in each program.
On-Leash Foundations is a two-week board and train at $1,865 + GST. We work on loose-leash walking, heel, sit, stay, down and place, around everyday distractions. It is built for dogs who drag, lunge at squirrels or treat the leash as a suggestion, and for owners who miss enjoying the walk. A slip lead and training collar come home with the dog, and lifetime phone and email support means the questions that surface months later still have somewhere to go.
Functional Off-Leash is a three-week board and train at $3,030 + GST. We work on reliable recall around distractions, off-leash manners, socialization and basic behaviour modification, with a Micro or Mini Educator remote collar included and owner education on using it properly. It is built for dogs with decent manners who are ready to earn freedom. Advanced Off-Leash runs four weeks at $3,940 + GST and adds off-leash heel, sit, stay and down at distance, and public manners, with two free follow-up sessions.
- Loose-leash walking and heel
- Recall around distractions
- Slip lead or remote collar included
- Owner education and handover
After the handover
What we hand over, and the program built for reactivity.
Every board and train ends with a handover lesson, where you learn the cues, the tools and the timing so the dog hears the same things at home that it heard here. Free follow-up sessions are included in every program, and Advanced Off-Leash includes two. A young dog will keep meeting new things after it comes home: the neighbour's cat, a new route, a visitor at the door. The follow-ups exist for that, and nobody has to have done anything wrong to use them.
Not every adolescent behaviour is a manners question. Barking and lunging at other dogs, hackles up, unable to take food, can have more going on underneath, and we do not decide that from a description. Behaviour Rehab is built for anxiety, reactivity and aggression: five to six weeks, $4,850 to $5,760 + GST, customized and priced after a full assessment, with two free follow-up sessions and in-depth owner education. At the consultation we recommend a program, and the smaller one when it is enough.
The programs
Programs and prices
NE · 2-week board & train
On-Leash Foundations
If every walk is a wrestling match, pulling, barking, zig-zagging, this two-week program rebuilds the walk from the ground up with foundational on-leash obedience..
Includes handover lesson, follow-up session, lifetime support, slip lead + collar
E · 3-week board & train
Functional Off-Leash
Everything in the on-leash program, then the next level: reliable off-leash recall even around distractions.
Includes handover lesson, follow-ups, Educator remote collar
S · 5–6 week board & train
Behaviour Rehab
Kaitlin's specialty, and the work she loves most.
Includes assessment-built plan, 2 follow-ups, deep owner education
Asked and answered
The questions people ask us.
Is board and train worth it for a 1 year old dog?
It can be, and age by itself does not decide it. What matters more is what the dog needs to work on: loose-leash walking, heel and place are part of On-Leash Foundations, while recall around distractions is what Functional Off-Leash is built around. We recommend a program at the consultation, based on the dog rather than the birthday.
What age is too old for board and train?
None of the published programs names an upper age. Apart from Puppy Fundamentals, which is built for puppies in their key learning window, each program is described by what it works on rather than by how old the dog is. For an older dog whose behaviour changed suddenly, a vet visit is a sensible first step.
Why did my dog stop listening at 8 months?
We cannot say for one dog without meeting it, though a common pattern around that age is attention: smells, other dogs and open space often start to outrank you, and a cue only ever practised in the kitchen may never have been asked for around any of that. If the change was abrupt or the dog seems unwell, check with your vet first.
Can board and train fix an adolescent dog that lunges at other dogs?
We would not promise a fix for any dog, and we would not pick a program from a description of the lunging. Lunging can be a leash-manners issue or something closer to reactivity, and different programs are built for each: On-Leash Foundations for manners around everyday distractions, Behaviour Rehab for anxiety, reactivity and aggression after a full assessment. The consultation is where we work out which applies.
Keep reading
A plan for the teenager
Tell us what your young dog is doing on the leash and off it. Book a consultation.
From real owners
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