Immersive School for Dogs!

Our training camp is the only of its kind in Pennsylvania.  Your dog stays on our 6+ acre farm in Perkasie, PA for a fun but intensive learning experience. 

Our team of certified dog trainers will work with your dog each day to teach important skills and manners focused on improving their behavior.  We’ve spent years perfecting a curriculum that can be customized to each day and is proven to work. 

Our programs are Monday – Friday for 2 to 4 weeks.  Your dog gets to go home on the weekend to relax and rest up for another week of learning.  This works great for both the dogs and you.  It also helps us to get feedback during the program so we can adjust training if necessary.  If you are going away, we can board on most weekends (except major holidays) but your dog’s first day of training must be a Monday. 

WHAT’S INCLUDED WITH OUR DAY SCHOOL or BOARD & TRAIN PROGRAM

• Weekly assessment of the dog’s training & session planning
• a minimum of 5 individual training sessions per day  – the most of any board and train program out there
• 3 dog per trainer ratio – the lowest ratio out there which means more attention for you dog and better results
• Daily and weekly summary videos – the most inclusive learning enviroment for dog owners
• Behavior Cheat Sheet – written summary of where your dog is in the learning process and what your next steps are once they come home
• 1 to 2 Private Lessons – included so that you have hands on help from our Training Director to implement training at home 
• Support Sessions – weekend classes are included for additional practice and guidance around other dogs & people

We live on site so the typical day starts before 7am with potty time and feeding breakfast to the dogs who stay overnight.  Our trainers start to arrive at 7:30am to get ready for the day and start training.  Day School dogs can be dropped off between 8:00am -9:30am and picked up between 4:00pm – 5:00pm.  

Example schedule:

7:00am – Potty time & feeding (some rest after eating to prevent upset stomachs or bloat)
7:45am – 1st session of the day –  walk to work on leash skills and get some exercise
8:15am – Back to the kennel with an enrichment toy to rest/latent learning
9:00am – Potty time & 2nd session of the day 
9:40am – Back to the kennel with an enrichment toy to rest/latent learning
10:30am – Potty/Play time in the yard/facility
11:15am – Back to the kennel with an enrichment toy to rest
12:00pm – Potty time & 3rd session of the day
12:45pm – Back to the kennel with an enrichment toy to rest
1:30pm – Potty time & 4th session of the day 
2:15pm – Back to the kennel with an enrichment toy to rest
3:00pm – Potty/Play time in the barn/yard
3:30pm – Back to the kennel with an enrichment toy to rest
4:00pm – Potty time & 5th session of the day (most dogs are tired by this session!)
4:30pm – Dinner is Served
5:00pm – Potty time

Our staff is generally done for the day at 5:30pm after everyone has been fed and pottied or picked up.  Our owners live on the property and monitor the dogs after the staff is gone for the day.  The dogs are let out again for additional time to stretch their legs and potty between 8:30pm – 10:00pm depending on their needs. 

WHY OUR SCHEDULE IS BUILT THIS WAY
We’ve built this schedule over the last 10+ years with your dog’s needs and successfuly learning in mind. 

Did you know that even adult dogs need up to 13 hours of sleep per day (puppies need even more!) ?  On average, 50% of their day is spent sleeping with an additional 30% of the day “loafing” which means not doing much at all but laying around and generally enjoying being lazy.  

The majority of the dogs enrolled in our program belong to parents that work and many also have families which means that they aren’t able to entertain their dog for 8+ hours a day.  If you’ve ever watched video from a doggie daycare, you’ll actually see quite a few dogs napping throught the day as well.  Dogs need rest.  Especially when we are working their brains and they are learning new things – they are tired!  So rest in between sessions is essential to their learning success and to not creating a dog that needs attention every minute of the day. 

WHAT DOES DROP OFF and PICK UP LOOK LIKE
We schedule each family for a specific drop off and pick up appointment.  This allows us to give you our undivided attention and to prevent the dogs from being distracted by other dogs during that time. Each time slot is 15 minutes. 

Our trainers have already read over your consult notes and enrollment form before you arrive so we may ask a few clarifying questions or welcome you to tell us anything you want us to know or ask questions. Much like kids, we find that it is best to get your dog moving and into the routine right away so we don’t spend a lot of time saying goodbyes so they aren’t stressed when you leave.  

Pick up is also a 15 minute appointment.  It’s Friday, you want to get home and your dog is too excited to see you to show off anyway. During the week, you’ll have videos to watch on your dog’s progress (and we will ask you questions in the videos) so we will give you some quick instructions on what to do (or not do) over the weekend – mostly, your dog will be tired and need some rest.  No crazy outings. 

On the final pick up, we will go over your dog’s progress, give you some take home instructions and ask you to do 2 sessions a day (no more than 15 min per session) following your dog’s videos.  Our office will reach out during the week to schedule your follow up session which should be within 2 weeks.  If you are struggling with something, don’t hesitate to reach out right away!

WHAT CAN I EXPECT AT MY PRIVATE LESSON
In most cases, you’ll meet with our Training Director or Training Manager who have worked closely with your dog and our trainers during their stay.  First, we will check in and see how things have been going since your dog has been home and if there’s any part of the training you need some clarification on.  Then it’s up to you, we’ll work on whatever you need the most help with.  In most cases, that’s implementing training with the added distraction of your other dogs or kids.  Or just troubleshooting specific scenarios.  

WHAT ABOUT THE SUPPORT SESSIONS?
Our support sessions are held most weekends (at least 2 weekends per month but many months they are every weekend) either on Saturday or Sunday.  There are two general sessions: all dogs & reactive dogs.  Your take home paperwork will include which session is right for your dog to attend.  The session is run much like a group class and is a great opportunity to practice around distractions (or you can ask for a barrier) and to get some extra guidance from our instructors.  New behaviors take time to become habit so the support sessions are the best way to keep up with training in a fun, supportive environment. 

DO YOU USE E-COLLARS IN YOUR PROGRAMS?
No, we do not use e-collars in our training programs. There are many available studies that show that learning is best done through reinforcement of desired behavior. For this reason, our training program is rooted in positive reinforcement.  This doesn’t mean that we just feed your dog all day.  There are many ways to reinforce desired behaviors although food is often the quickest, at least in the beginning.  

By working with the dogs in our program to determine what motivates them the most, we can use what’s most reinforcing to them to build a desire to train and listen without having to rely on equipment (or treats – though they don’t hurt!).  For some dogs, that’s play with us or toys, or being able to sniff outside or even some are motivated by a good nap (me too sometimes!). 

Our training program prides itself on putting your dog’s well-being first and you’ll never find us intimidating or scaring your dog to get them to listen.  We love each and every dog for their unique personality and work with them to create good manners without losing what makes owning a dog fun!

HOW MUCH DOES THIS COST?
Great question!  We have programs available between 2 -4 weeks in length.  Returning dogs may sign up for shorter stays but 2 weeks is the minimum amount of time new to us dogs need to get acclimated and make progress with training. 

Programs start at around $2,300 but our trainer will recommend the program that will best suit your dog and your goals during your consultation.