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Update format
Do you send videos during board and train?
A twenty-second clip can tell you more than a paragraph, and sometimes less than it seems to. This page covers what to agree about the update format, how to judge a training clip, and why the most useful video may be the one you send us.
What is fixed
Daily updates are part of both programs; their format is settled when you book
Two things are published: an update arrives every day of the stay, and it covers the training, meaning which skills were worked on and how your dog did. The format is not published. Some families want short clips, some are content with a few lines and a photo, and how Dogtown sends yours is agreed at booking. Settling it then avoids the most common letdown with any program's updates: expecting video and receiving text, or the other way round.
Make the conversation specific. Saying you would like video is less useful than saying which skill you most want to see, because a clip of a recall away from play tells you more than a clip of a sit in a quiet room. Ask how the updates reach you, whether you can reply to them, and how a clip you receive may be used. Dogtown publishes graduate stories only with a family's written permission and in its own words.
- Format: video, photos, a written note or a mix
- Roughly how often a clip comes, if clips are included
- Which skills you most want to see
- How updates reach you, and how to reply
Judging a clip
A clip worth watching shows the whole dog, the setting and the reward, including the occasional miss
Short videos are easy to make look good. A clip that tells you something frames the whole dog, so you can see its ears, tail and weight; shows where it is and what else is happening; and lets you see the cue given once and the reward arriving. A miss now and then is a good sign, because it means the trainer is filming real practice at the edge of what the dog can do rather than only the best take of the day.
Read the dog as well as the result. VCA's veterinary guide to stress lists signs such as pacing, panting, prolonged yawning, lip licking, eyes opened wide to show more white, ears pinned back, a tucked tail or a rigid body, weight shifted onto the back legs, and turning away to sniff the ground. A dog that is learning comfortably looks loose and interested. If a clip worries you, ask about it the same day; that is exactly what the updates are for.
- The whole dog in frame, not just its face
- The setting and any distraction visible
- One cue, then the reward arriving
- A loose body and soft eyes rather than stress signals
Video both ways
Video also works in the other direction: send short clips of home before the stay
Veterinary behavior services lean heavily on owners' video. The UC Davis Behavior Service, for example, calls it highly recommended, asks for a short video of the home, inside and the yard, and says to record a pet showing the problem behavior only if it is safe; for separation anxiety, it says video is required for diagnosis. A trainer planning a week of work benefits in the same way, because a minute of your front door says more than a page of description.
Send clips of the ordinary moments that matter to you: the doorbell, the leash going on, the first minute of a walk on your street, the evening settle. Never set up a lunge, a snap or a fight to catch it on camera. Ask the front desk how to share files before drop-off, and ask at the consult whether you may film the trainer's demonstrations at the go-home lesson, so the rest of your household can watch them later.
Settling the format
Settle the update format at the consult in six short steps
The steps below take a few minutes at the assessment and save a week of guessing. They work whether you live around the corner in Gloucester or read the updates from a hotel room, and they suit both programs. Advanced families may want to ask specifically about the second week, when skills leave the building for outings and the updates have the most to show.
If the agreed format is not arriving, say so the same day rather than at pick-up. Message the front desk through the Dogtown app, or call 978 491-5922 during opening hours, Monday to Friday 6:30 AM to 6:30 PM and Saturday 8 AM to 6 PM; on Sundays the building opens only for overnight-stay drop-off and pick-up. And remember that the go-home lesson is the best footage of all: you watch the skills live, then perform them yourself.
- 01
Tell Gabby which skill you most want to see
- 02
Ask whether updates include video, photos, a note or a mix
- 03
Ask roughly how often a clip comes, if clips are included
- 04
Confirm how updates reach you and how you can reply
- 05
Ask how to send your own clips of home before drop-off
- 06
Ask whether you may film the demonstrations at the go-home lesson
At Dogtown
Where the updates come from
Updates report on Dogtown's training programs and on the overnight stays a board and train is built around.
Asked and answered
Questions people ask about this
Short, complete answers you can act on today. More in the full FAQ.
Will I see every training session?
Can I share the videos you send me?
Is a written update as useful as a video?
What should I do if an update worries me?
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
Agree the update format before the first night
Tell us at the consult what you most want to see. Send the training form and the team replies 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
