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Campus after the stay
How to continue with Canine Campus after board and train
Board and train builds skills in a burst; Canine Campus spreads the work across weeks while your dog sleeps in its own bed. Used one after the other, the stay lays the cues down and Campus keeps a trainer in the week while you take over the evenings.
Before you start
Campus suits a graduate whose skills hold at home but not yet out in the world
The best sign that Campus is the right next step is a specific gap. The cues work in the kitchen and the yard, the go-home lesson went well, and then a sidewalk, a trailhead or a passing dog undoes them. Campus adds what a one- or two-week stay cannot: many more days of practice in real settings, spread over weeks, with your dog home every night so you can repeat the work the same evening. The AKC calls training a lifelong pursuit, and this is the stretch where it starts to feel like one.
It is the wrong next step when nothing has slipped, and when something has, Campus is not always the answer. A dog that is holding its skills may need only an occasional Dogtown Academy day, $89 for a full day or $69 for a half. A dog whose real trouble turned out to be fear or reactivity is usually better served by an owner-present program such as React Less, Relax More, 8 weeks and 16 sessions. Gabby will say which applies at the assessment.
- Cues solid at home, unreliable outdoors
- A household that is home most evenings
- Skills that need weeks of real-world repetitions
- Not first choice: deep fear, strong reactivity, or nothing slipping
The level
Gabby sets the level, and the stay you finished is only part of the decision
Canine Campus has three levels. Freshman, Foundations, runs 2 weeks and about 10 training and adventure days, built around the basics, real-world exposure and daycare integration. Dean's List, Advanced Skills, runs 4 weeks and about 20 sessions for leash skills, impulse control, obedience, confidence, neutrality, household manners and mild-to-moderate reactivity. Graduate, Advanced Resilience, runs 6 weeks and about 30 sessions for reactivity, significant leash struggles and generalization across many settings.
A Foundation graduate does not move automatically to Freshman, and an Advanced graduate does not move automatically to Graduate. The level follows what your dog needs now, which is what the assessment measures. Bring the daily updates from the stay and your notes from the go-home lesson, because together they show what was solid at pick-up. Plans vary with the intensity and complexity of each dog's needs, sessions start from $94, and the investment is confirmed after the assessment.
| Level | Length | Often a fit after a stay when |
|---|---|---|
| Freshman, Foundations | 2 weeks, about 10 training and adventure days | A young Foundation graduate needs its basics carried into real places |
| Dean's List, Advanced Skills | 4 weeks, about 20 sessions | Leash manners, impulse control or neutrality fall apart outdoors |
| Graduate, Advanced Resilience | 6 weeks, about 30 sessions | Reactivity or leash struggles need generalizing across many settings |
The steps
Move from the stay to Campus in seven steps, keeping the same cues throughout
The handover between programs is where cues get muddled, so keep the vocabulary fixed. Campus homework builds on what your dog learned during the stay, and the trainers can only do that if they know the exact words and signals you use now. Pick-up and drop-off are part of every Campus plan; the Pup Van's regular area is Rockport, Gloucester, Essex and Manchester-by-the-Sea, and from other towns you ask what can be arranged.
Do the evening homework the night it arrives. A Campus day ends with a daily report and a small task, usually a few minutes of a cue at home or on a short walk, and that loop is the whole reason to choose a day program over a second stay. The program closes with an end-of-program lesson, where you see what your dog can now do and take the leash yourself.
- 01
Finish the go-home lesson, or both Advanced coaching lessons, before booking anything new
- 02
Practice at home and write down where each cue holds and where it fails
- 03
Send the training form, naming the program your dog finished and the gaps you found
- 04
Meet Gabby for a short assessment, which sets the Campus level and the investment
- 05
Tell the front desk about any change since your dog's free evaluation
- 06
Agree the schedule, the pick-up and drop-off plan and the cue words everyone will use
- 07
Do each evening's homework that night, then attend the end-of-program lesson
Mistakes we see
Most problems in the switch come from new words, skipped homework and treating Campus as daycare
Campus is a training program with a start date, a level and an end, not a run of play days. Owners who treat it as daycare skip the homework and then wonder why the evening walk has not changed. The daily report tells you what was worked on; repeating it at home is what moves the skill from our trainers to you. Two minutes done tonight is worth more than twenty minutes saved up for Sunday.
Changing the vocabulary is the other common slip. A family that learned heel at the go-home lesson and switches to with me for Campus is teaching a second cue for one behavior. Keep the same marker, release word and rewards. And let your dog rest when it needs to; a worn-out adolescent learns less, which is why the schedule is set around your dog's stamina at the assessment.
- Homework done the same evening
- One word per behavior, from the stay onward
- Rest days when your dog is flat or sore
- The daily report read before dinner
When to call us
Ask us early if the gap is a feeling, a medical change or a household change
Tell us before booking if your dog has started reacting to things it ignored during the stay, has had a new diagnosis, or your household is about to change with a move or a baby. Each can change the level or the program. A sudden behavior change in an adult dog is a reason to see your vet first. The training team replies to the form within one hour on business days, and the front desk answers messages in the Dogtown app.
For your own practice between Campus days, Cape Ann's calendar matters. Gloucester's beaches take dogs from October 1, Good Harbor on even-numbered days and Wingaersheek on odd ones at the time of writing, and Ravenswood Park in West Gloucester, a Trustees property, welcomes dogs on its woodland trails. Where adventure days go is set in your dog's plan, so ask Gabby which of your own local places suit the homework.
At Dogtown
Training by day, home by night
Canine Campus pairs trainer-led days with pick-up and drop-off, and Academy days keep the work going afterward.
Pick-up & drop-off
The Pup Van comes to you.
Pup Van pick-up and drop-off is available for $10 each way in the Rockport, Gloucester, Essex and Manchester-by-the-Sea area. Not in the area? Ask us for pricing.
- Rockport
- Gloucester
- Essex
- Manchester-by-the-Sea
Asked and answered
Questions people ask about this
Short, complete answers you can act on today. More in the full FAQ.
Is there a Canine Campus discount for board and train graduates?
How soon after board and train can Campus start?
Does my dog need another evaluation for Campus?
Will my dog join playgroups during Campus?
Can we go back to board and train later instead?
More questions? Read the full FAQ
Sources
- AKC: Are board and train programs a solution?
- City of Gloucester: beach details
- The Trustees: Ravenswood Park
Rules and dates change. We re-check every beach, licensing and ordinance page each spring and fall; the source above is the current word.
Keep reading
Next step
Ready for the next program?
Send the training form with the program your dog finished and what still slips outdoors. We reply within one hour on business days.
- 01Free evaluationWeekdays 6:30 – 9:30 AM
- 02Book a dayOnline, in the app or by phone
- 03Play, rest, repeatReport card at pick-up
