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Food and rewards
What does my dog eat during board and train?
Food has two jobs in a training stay: it feeds your dog, and it pays for good behavior. This page shows how both jobs share one daily ration, with a worked example, how meals are timed around training, and what to tell us before drop-off.
Packing the food
Bring your dog's usual food, bagged by meal, with enough for the whole stay and a little spare
The packing advice for any Dogtown overnight stay applies here: your dog's own food, pre-portioned, plus its medicines and one small comfort item. Keeping the diet the same is the simplest way to avoid an upset stomach while everything else is new. Count the bags before you leave home. A one-week Foundation stay on two meals a day comes to about 14 meal bags, and the two-week Advanced stay to about 28. Add a couple of spares in case pick-up moves by a day.
Label each bag with your dog's name and the meal, and write the daily amount on the instructions sheet, so anyone filling a bowl or a treat pouch knows the total for the day. If your dog eats wet, fresh, raw or prescription food, flag it at the consult so storage can be planned and we can confirm whether that diet can be fed during the stay. Leave any change of food until well after the go-home lesson.
- 01
Find the daily amount on your dog's food label, or ask your vet
- 02
Divide it into meals at the times your dog eats now
- 03
Bag each meal and label it with your dog's name and the meal
- 04
Add a couple of spare days
- 05
Pack any special treats in a separate, labeled bag
- 06
Write the daily total and the meal times on the instructions sheet
Rewards and the ration
Training rewards come out of the day's food, so the bowls get smaller rather than the dog getting heavier
The AKC's guideline is that treats should be no more than 10 percent of a dog's daily calories, and it counts training rewards inside that figure. It also suggests small portions of a dog's regular kibble as a lighter option, and says meal portions should come down slightly when treats go up, so the total stays the same. A force-free training day pays for a great deal of behavior, which is why part of the ration usually moves from the bowl to the trainer's pouch.
The table shows the arithmetic for an imaginary dog fed two cups of kibble a day. It illustrates how a ration is usually split, not a fixed Dogtown schedule; the real split for your dog is agreed at the consult and depends on its size, its appetite and how hard it works for food. The principle holds for any dog: one daily total, divided between rewards and meals, with richer treats kept small and counted.
| Part of the day | Example for a dog fed 2 cups a day |
|---|---|
| Daily ration | 2 cups of its usual kibble, from the label or your vet |
| Training pouch | About half a cup of the same kibble, spread across the day's blocks |
| Breakfast | Three quarters of a cup |
| Dinner | Three quarters of a cup |
| Richer rewards for hard moments | Small pieces, counted inside the 10 percent of calories the AKC allows for treats |
Meal timing
Meals are fitted around training and rest, and large, deep-chested dogs get quiet time after eating
Food works best as a reward when a dog wants it. Veterinary behavior services rely on the same idea: the UC Davis Behavior Service asks owners to limit food in the six hours before an appointment, unless there is a medical need to eat, because it uses food in training. A stay rarely needs to hold meals back to get there. Spreading part of the ration across the day's training blocks usually keeps a dog interested without leaving it hungry.
Timing matters for big dogs too. Cornell's Riney Canine Health Center lists exercising soon after eating and eating too quickly among the risk factors for gastric dilatation-volvulus, or bloat, and advises two or more meals a day and limited activity after meals; Great Danes and Saint Bernards are among the breeds most predisposed. If your dog is large and deep-chested, bolts its food or has had a bloat scare, tell us at the consult so meals and active time are kept apart.
- Your dog's usual meal times, written on the sheet
- Whether it eats once a day, or twice or more
- A fast eater, or a large, deep-chested breed
- Any history of bloat, or a gastropexy
Special cases
Allergies, prescription diets and picky eaters change the plan, so tell us before you book
A dog with a food allergy or a prescription diet should work for its own food or for treats you supply, packed in a separate labeled bag, and the trainer needs to know exactly what it cannot have. The same goes for the edible extras on Dogtown's enrichment menu, such as a frozen Kong or a homemade pupsicle at $6 each or a lick mat at $5. Ask whether they can be added to a stay, and check what goes in them against your dog's diet first.
Picky and nervous eaters are common in the first day or two anywhere new. Tell us what your dog normally leaves, whether it eats better from a hand or a slow-feeder bowl, and what you do at home when it skips a meal. A dog that is not eating is not ready for hard training, so appetite belongs in the daily updates. The free evaluation, held on weekday mornings at 210 Eastern Ave in Gloucester, is another good moment to raise it.
- Allergies: the exact ingredients to avoid
- Prescription or raw diets: storage and feeding confirmed at the consult
- Picky eaters: what your dog usually leaves, and what helps
- Edible enrichment: checked against the diet before it is added
At Dogtown
Food, nights and enrichment
A board and train combines Dogtown's training with the routine of our overnight stays, and the enrichment menu includes edible extras.
Asked and answered
Questions people ask about this
Short, complete answers you can act on today. More in the full FAQ.
Do I have to bring my dog's food?
Will my dog gain weight from all the training treats?
Can I send my dog's favorite treats?
What if my dog will not eat on the first night?
More questions? Read the full FAQ
Sources
- AKC: how many treats a dog can have
- Cornell Riney Canine Health Center: gastric dilatation-volvulus (bloat)
- UC Davis Behavior Service: appointment policies
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
Tell us how your dog eats
Send the training form with your dog's diet, meal times and any allergies. We agree the food plan at the consult, 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
