Board and train for crate training

Every board-and-train dog sleeps in an overnight suite with 24/7 monitoring, and the first job of any stay is getting the dog to settle there: eating, resting and sleeping in a new place. That matters for crate work, because a dog that cannot relax in a room will not relax in a box. Once the suite feels like home, the crate comes in during daytime sessions, set up where the dog is already calm, with the door open and food appearing inside.

From there the steps are small. The AKC's crate guide suggests tossing a treat inside whenever the dog approaches, leaving the door open so the dog goes in by choice, then slowly building how long it stays happily inside with the door closed. We follow that order and keep each step short. Meals, chews and naps move into the crate as the dog accepts it, so the crate's history fills with good things before it ever means a closing door.

Licking and chewing are calming for most dogs, which is why a long-lasting food toy is the usual companion for crate time. Our enrichment add-ons, which can be booked onto overnight stays, include a frozen Kong for $6 and a lick mat for $5, and a puzzle game for $7 suits a dog that needs to think before it rests. The aim is a dog that lies down in the crate and works on something quiet, rather than one that stands at the door waiting.

On overnight stays, the Dogtown Deluxe bundle, +$15 a night, rolls in a gourmet stuffed Kong or Toppl, daily treadmill or enrichment play, an upgraded orthopedic memory-foam bed and 15 percent off grooming. Ask at the consult whether it can be added to your dog's board-and-train nights, since the stay itself is quoted after the assessment. At home, a dog that has had a walk and has something to lick settles far faster than one that is bored and wound up.

At the go-home lesson you play the crate games yourself while the trainer watches: the cue, the door, the release word, the payments inside. Put the home crate where the family spends time rather than in a cold garage, and size it as the AKC suggests, large enough for the dog to stand up, turn around and lie down comfortably. Keep the first closed-door stretches at home shorter than the ones your dog managed during the stay, because a new room is a new lesson.

The daily updates during the stay tell you how the crate work moved along: how long the door stayed closed, whether the dog went in on cue and how it settled at night in its suite. We confirm at booking whether those updates arrive with video. For everything else the week covers, see our board and train page. A dog at ease in a crate is easier to travel with and easier to board, and our how-to on crate training before a first overnight stay covers the timing before a trip.