What makes Dogtown's board and train different?

The American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior's 2021 position statement recommends only reward-based methods for all dog training, behavior problems included, and finds no evidence that aversive methods work better in any context. It asks trainers to avoid tools that work through pain, naming choke chains, prong collars and electronic shock collars, and also intimidation such as squirt bottles, shaker cans and forced alpha rolls, along with leash jerking and flooding.

Dogtown publishes its training as fear- and force-free and built on positive reinforcement, so none of those appear in Foundation or Advanced, and none are sold with a stay. Dogs learn with a marker, food, play, a long line and management. To verify it, ask for the equipment list in writing before you book, which the AKC recommends for any board and train, and read the daily updates for how each skill was taught.

Both programs include a daily update through the Dogtown app, the same app families use to book daycare and to message the front desk. Each update reports which skills were worked on and how your dog responded. Whether it carries photos, video or a written note is confirmed when you book, so tell us at the consult what you most want to see, and ask how a difficult day would be reported.

Look across several updates rather than at any single one. A good week shows cues moving from quiet rooms into busier settings, appetite and sleep settling, and group time starting when your dog is ready. If an update worries you, reply the same day in the app's messages. Together, the updates also form a record to compare with what you see for yourself at the go-home lesson.

We do not publish a board and train price; it is quoted after the assessment, with sessions from $94. Capacity, staff ratios, and deposit and cancellation terms are confirmed when you ask rather than printed. We do not promise results, because the weeks at home decide what lasts. The stays are short, one or two weeks, and they are not the right first step for fear, reactivity or separation panic, which change best with you present.

To compare programs fairly, ask each one the same four things and write down the answers. Which tools and corrections are used, in writing. Where the dog spends its days and nights, and alongside which other dogs. How often you hear about the training, and in what form. And who is responsible for the plan, by name, and when you meet that person before the stay.