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Follow-up lesson
How to plan a follow-up lesson
A follow-up lesson is only as good as what you bring to it. Dogs rarely perform the problem behavior on cue in a trainer's room, and owners rarely remember the details accurately a week later. A little preparation turns an hour of guessing into an hour of fixing.
Before you start
Before you book, know which lesson you are planning and leave a week or two of home practice ahead of it
Start with what your program includes. Foundation ends with one go-home lesson. Advanced includes two scheduled go-home coaching lessons, and Gabby explains at the consult how the second one is timed around pick-up. Coaching beyond that is a private session, from $94, requested through the training form, which the team answers within one hour on business days. Whether anything else comes with your dog's stay is something to confirm with the training team rather than assume.
Then give home practice time to show you where the gaps are. Problems worth a lesson tend to appear once the novelty of being home has worn off, so book the follow-up after a week or two of daily practice rather than on the first wobbly evening. In the meantime, resist changing the cues or the equipment before a trainer has seen what is going on.
- Advanced: the second scheduled coaching lesson
- Foundation, or anything extra: private sessions from $94
- A week or two of daily home practice before the lesson
- The same cues and equipment until a trainer has seen them
Problems first
List problems by risk first, by how often they happen second, and by how much they annoy you last
A follow-up lesson cannot fix everything, so the order decides what gets fixed. Anything involving teeth, escape or traffic goes to the top, however rare: a snap when a toy is taken, a dash through the front door toward a busy road such as Route 127, a dog that backs out of its harness. Next come the problems that happen every day, such as pulling on the morning walk or jumping on visitors, because daily problems mean daily practice. Polish goes last.
Write no more than three problems, and for each one note where it happens, when, what happened just before and what you did next. That context is often most of the answer. A dog that pulls only on the way to the beach and a dog that pulls on every walk need different plans, and a trainer can only choose between them if you say which one you live with.
| Priority | Examples | Why it goes here |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Safety | A snap or bite, door dashing, backing out of the harness | One incident can hurt someone or lose the dog |
| 2. Daily friction | Pulling, jumping on visitors, barking at the window | It happens every day, so every day becomes practice |
| 3. Polish | A faster down, a longer stay, a tidier heel | Worth time once the first two are under control |
Filming at home
Film the ordinary moments at home in short clips, and never stage the bad ones
Video shows a trainer what words cannot: where your dog was looking, how the leash hung, what your body did a second before the problem started. Veterinary behavior clinics ask for the same thing. The Tufts animal behavior clinic, for one, says videos owners have captured of concerning behaviors are helpful, asks owners to bring the training equipment they use, and warns against provoking a potentially harmful response for the sake of the camera.
Filming is not a test for your dog. Record what happens naturally on an ordinary day, catch a good moment as well as a bad one, and stop recording as soon as you need both hands for your dog. When the problem involves other dogs or people, choose safety over a clearer shot every time. A shaky ten-second clip of the real thing is worth more than a polished one of a setup, because the trainer is reading your dog, not your camera work.
- 01
For two weeks before the lesson, write two lines a day: what you practiced, where, and what went wrong.
- 02
Keep your phone handy at the times the problem usually happens: the doorbell, the leash going on, the corner where your dog pulls.
- 03
Hold the phone sideways and wide enough to show your dog's whole body and whatever it is reacting to.
- 04
Let the problem happen naturally, and never set up a bite, a fight or a dash for the camera.
- 05
Film one moment that went well, such as a settle or a recall, so the trainer sees what is working too.
- 06
Trim each clip to under a minute and label it with the date and the problem.
- 07
Choose the best clip for each problem on your list, and ask the front desk how to share them before the lesson.
- 08
The night before, pack the leash, harness or collar, mat and food you actually use, plus the log.
Mistakes we see
The mistakes we see are ten problems, no footage, new gear and the main handler staying at home
Ten problems on the list means none get fixed. Pick three, in the order above, and expect some of the others to shrink once the big ones are handled. No footage means the trainer works from a description, and owners' descriptions of their dogs tend to be generous. New gear bought the week before hides what the old gear was doing, so bring what you have been using, even if it embarrasses you.
The most expensive mistake is sending the wrong person. If one adult walks the dog every morning, that adult needs to hold the leash at the lesson, because the trainer is coaching a handler as much as a dog. Bring everyone who feeds, walks or sets rules for the dog if you can; the Tufts clinic asks for the involved family members for much the same reason.
- Three problems, in order of risk
- A short, safely filmed clip of each
- The gear you actually use, not something new
- The person who walks the dog most, holding the leash
When to call us
Call before the lesson date if a problem involves teeth or gets worse every week
Some things should not wait for a scheduled date. If your dog has snapped at or bitten a person or another dog since the stay, if a fear is spreading to new places, or if a problem is clearly worse each week, message the front desk through the Dogtown app or send the training form now. A sudden change in an adult dog can mean pain, so call your vet as well.
Plan on coming to 210 Eastern Ave in Gloucester for the lesson. From Rockport, Essex or Manchester-by-the-Sea that is a short drive; from farther along Route 128, allow for weekday traffic. If your list needs more than one session, the training team may suggest a longer program, such as Calm & Connected over 4, 6 or 8 weeks, or Canine Campus, with 2, 4 or 6 weeks of day training while your dog sleeps at home. The two stays themselves are described on our board and train page.
At Dogtown
Coaching after the stay
Private sessions, longer programs and Academy days that pick up where the go-home lessons leave off.
Asked and answered
Questions people ask about this
Short, complete answers you can act on today. More in the full FAQ.
Is a follow-up lesson included after board and train?
Can the follow-up lesson happen at my house?
How long should my videos be?
What if my dog behaves perfectly during the lesson?
Who should come to the follow-up lesson?
More questions? Read the full FAQ
Sources
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
Come with evidence.
Send the training form with your top three problems. We reply within one hour on business days and set up the next lesson with Gabby.
- 01Free evaluationWeekdays 6:30 – 9:30 AM
- 02Book a dayOnline, in the app or by phone
- 03Play, rest, repeatReport card at pick-up
