Board and train
Board and train for busy professionals
Your calendar ate the training. That says something about the week, not about you. What a board and train buys is the repetition you cannot supply this month: the same skill, the same standard, every day, inside a structured routine, while you are in meetings. What it does not buy is a dog who no longer needs you. The program ends, and the dog comes home to your house and your rules.
Last reviewed September 28, 2026
While you work
What we cover while you are at work.
Every board and train here runs one-on-one, daily, inside a structured routine with socialization and enrichment. For an owner who leaves at seven and gets back at eight, that is the difference between a skill practised once on a Sunday and a skill practised every day for two to six weeks. Depending on the program, that time goes into loose-leash walking, heel, sit, stay, down and place around everyday distractions, or into recall and off-leash manners around heavier ones.
Visits are gently discouraged because they interrupt the routine, which tends to suit a packed week anyway. Progress comes as social-media updates and personal phone or email check-ins from us. If the goal is a dog who can join you on a river path or at a campsite off leash, Functional Off-Leash runs three weeks at $3,030 + GST and Advanced Off-Leash four weeks at $3,940 + GST, both with the remote collar and owner education included.
- Daily repetition you cannot supply
- Updates instead of visits
- Structured routine every day
- Work around everyday distractions
Your part afterwards
What we still need from your calendar.
The handover lesson is where the dog's new cues and tools become yours, so book it like a client meeting. Free follow-up sessions come with every board and train; Advanced Off-Leash and Behaviour Rehab include two, and Puppy Fundamentals schedules its follow-up within 60 days. Between those, the dog needs the rules it learned to be the rules at home. How much daily practice that takes varies by dog and by household, and it is a fair question for the handover lesson.
If you are home by six on weeknights, Day Training may fit better: Monday to Friday, drop-off 8 to 10 am, pick-up 5 to 7 pm, $650 + GST per week, with a one-hour go-home lesson each week so you learn alongside the dog. Work travel is worth raising at the consultation before dates are set, since the handover lesson and follow-ups need you in town. Once your dog is a graduate, graduate boarding is $65 + GST per night.
The programs
Programs and prices
SW · Weekdays, drop-off 8–10 am · pick-up 5–7 pm
Day Training
Professional training all day, your couch at night.
Includes weekly one-hour go-home lesson, daily structure
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
Asked and answered
The questions people ask us.
Is board and train a good option for busy owners?
It covers the part a long work week tends to squeeze out: daily one-on-one repetition inside a structured routine. It does not cover the handover lesson, the follow-up sessions or the day-to-day rules at home, and those stay with you. We would rather you know that before booking than after.
What does dog training for busy professionals look like day to day?
During a board and train, your part is small: we send social-media updates and check in by phone or email, and visits are gently discouraged because they interrupt the routine. After the program, the handover lesson shows you the cues and tools, and the rest is keeping those rules consistent at home. Day Training, at $650 + GST per week, is the version where you also get a one-hour go-home lesson every week.
No time to train the dog: will a board and train cover it?
It covers the weeks of daily teaching, which is the part a full calendar makes hardest. It cannot cover the handover lesson, the free follow-up sessions or the consistency at home, because the dog also needs to learn that the rules apply with you. Private Training is a different format, $150 + GST per one-hour session with a written weekly plan customized to your home, and the consultation is where we recommend one program or the other.
How does work travel fit around a board and train?
It depends on the dates. The training weeks do not need you on site, but the handover lesson and the follow-up sessions do, so we would plan those around your travel at the consultation rather than assume. Once your dog is a graduate, graduate boarding is $65 + GST per night for graduates and existing clients.
Keep reading
Your calendar, our repetitions
Send us the shape of your week and the habits you have run out of evenings for. Book a consultation.
From real owners
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Real Northline dogs