Board & train
Board and train for Mastiffs
A Mastiff puppy is a brief window. The leaning, the door barging and the polite refusal to move all feel manageable at four months and become a logistics problem once the dog outweighs the person holding the leash. This breed matures slowly, in body and in mind, so the manners need to arrive before the mass does. That is what a live-in program is for here.
Last reviewed October 4, 2026
Before the weight
Leash, doorway and visitors, taught before the body finishes growing.
Puppy Fundamentals, three weeks at $2,775 plus GST, is the program with the timing advantage: leash manners, place, crate comfort and calm exposure to new sights and sounds, taught while a Mastiff is still a size you can physically redirect. The advice that sooner is genuinely better applies doubly to a giant breed. Crate comfort matters here because a grown Mastiff who dislikes the crate is not a dog anyone carries in.
For an adolescent or adult, On-Leash Foundations, two weeks at $1,865 plus GST, works on loose-leash walking, heel and place around everyday distractions. Many Mastiffs are naturally watchful of the home and reserved with visitors, so place away from the door and a calm greeting routine take priority over flashy obedience. Where reserve has already become growling, lunging or a bite, Behaviour Rehab works at the dog's pace after a full assessment, and bite histories are accepted into it.
- Loose leash before full size
- Place away from the door
- Calm when visitors arrive
- Crate comfort taught early
Home and visitors
A giant breed keeps learning long after the program ends.
At handover you take the slip lead, the training collar and the cues, and the follow-ups catch drift. With a Mastiff, what you keep doing is mostly door protocol: the dog goes to place, leashed or behind a gate, before the door opens, visitors ignore the dog until it settles, and nobody coaxes a reserved dog toward a stranger. Growling is information, not defiance; add distance and raise it at the consultation. The Mastiff training guide covers the method itself.
Slow maturity means the adolescent stretch is long, and a dog that looked finished at a year often tests the rules again. That is what the follow-up sessions are for, and graduate boarding at $65 plus GST a night keeps a familiar structure available to graduates later on. The consultation is where program and timing get decided together, with the smaller program recommended whenever it genuinely covers what the dog needs.
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
SE · 4-week board & train
Advanced Off-Leash
The full four-week build: from functional foundations to advanced reliability in public environments and around higher-level distractions.
Includes handover lesson, 2 follow-ups, Educator remote collar
Asked and answered
The questions people ask us.
When should a mastiff start a board and train?
Earlier than instinct suggests, because the breed grows faster than it matures. Puppy Fundamentals is built for puppies in their key learning window, and leash and crate manners are far easier to teach before the dog can plant itself. Adults are not too late: On-Leash Foundations is built for dogs who drag, and Behaviour Rehab for reserve that has turned into growling or biting, after a full assessment.
Does a board and train mastiff come home calm with visitors?
A live-in program works on place, a settled greeting routine and calm around new people; what holds at home depends on the door protocol you keep. Visitors ignore the dog until it settles, and a wary dog is never coaxed toward a stranger. No result is promised, and persistent growling at guests is a reason for a professional assessment.
Which mastiff training program fits a dog that leans, barges doors and drools on guests?
On-Leash Foundations covers the leash, the heel and place at the door; the drool is yours to keep. For a puppy, Puppy Fundamentals adds crate comfort and calm exposure to new sights and sounds. The consultation chooses between them after meeting the dog.
Can a mastiff do an off-leash program?
Functional Off-Leash works on reliable recall around distractions and off-leash house manners, with the Educator remote collar included and owner education on using it properly. Many Mastiffs are not runners, so the appeal is often a calm, reliable dog at a campsite rather than a long-range recall. Fit is decided at the consultation.
Keep reading
Manners before the mass
Bring your Mastiff's age, weight and a description of how the front door goes. Book a consultation and we will match the program.
From real owners
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