FINE-TUNED CANINES

Board and Brush-up

OTHER Boarding

Exercise

On a daily basis. No additional charge. Exercise is always structured and always supervised. No mindless running in a big fenced area. That does not create happy or balanced dogs. Structured exercise combined with mental stimulation.

Depends. Some services exercise the dogs, some don’t at all, others charge for every walk. Also, many times, even though they advertise themselves as “animal lovers” the service employees or owners do not have adequate dog handling skills or confuse proper, structured exercise with other activities.

Discipline

Always. All dogs practice good manners and learn how to be self-disciplined. All activities are supervised and structured. There are no chaotic unsupervised “play times” or wild games that would teach or encourage improper behaviors in your dog.

Often there is no teaching of self-discipline and no proper leadership, only unstructured playtime and simply….chaos.

Praise and Affection

Your dog gets PROPER praise at the RIGHT time so all the good behaviors and skills are reinforced. Dogs have their own preferences about praise and they consider different things as praise. The kind of praise your dog receives is based on the individual situation because every dog is an individual.

Very often too much praise is given and at the wrong time. The result is a spoiled, anxious or overwhelmed dog. Also, praise offered at the wrong time and in the wrong situation reinforces IMPROPER behaviors in a dog.

Knowing how to read a dog

YES. Not only is Lexi a certified dog behavior specialist but she is also a natural at understanding and reading a dog’s body language and at understanding dogs. She knows how to communicate clearly to a dog. She is both a dog lover AND a canine professional.

Rarely. Quite often boarding facilities’ staff members describe themselves as “animal lovers” and “dog lovers”. This is laudable; however, it does not indicate a true understanding of the canine mind, dog psychology or proper dog handling skills.

Training

YES

NONE

Reinforcing known commands and skills

Yes, we keep it consistent. If you have already taught your dog certain verbal cues, we will use them in the same way. We respect the hard work you have put into teaching your dog some skills and we will reinforce your own training. The same goes for non-verbal cues. This makes the communication with your dog much smoother and easier.

NO. If your dog has had previous training (either with you or formal professional training), he or she can regress in an environment that does not reinforce all the skills you and your dog have worked on. Also, your dog can become very confused if familiar words are suddenly replaced with unknown ones.

Balanced dog pack environment

YES. Your dog interacts with our own very well-behaved and balanced dogs that are already his or her good friends.

There is no guarantee here. Your dog either does not interact with any dogs at all or interacts with the dogs that happen to be boarded at the time when your dog is boarded. These can include dogs of various energy levels, various behaviors, personalities and styles of interacting as well as dogs that react to stress in a variety of ways (including barking, whining, etc,). Dogs DO learn from each other, including good AND bad habits. They also pick up on emotions easily. If your dog is surrounded by stressed out, unbalanced dogs, he or she may be affected by the negative emotions from them.

Since every dog owner has different goals and needs, what is appropriate for one dog owner might be very unwanted and unacceptable for another. For example, you might enjoy the fact that your dog is not a barker, but to another dog owner, barking might be a desired behavior. Don’t be surprised if your dog picks up some new unwanted behaviors, especially if there is a large group of dogs controlled by a small number of people.

Evaluation

YES.

We already know all the dogs that come to us to do Board and Brush-up very well, as they were all our Board and Train students and, prior to their Board and Train program, they were thoroughly evaluated in their own home and environment. We do not take a dog away to evaluate him or her. Instead the dog has an opportunity to get to know us in his/her own home. 

Some facilities offer “evaluations” which consist of dropping the dog off and leaving him or her with complete strangers in a completely unknown environment for a few hours to be “evaluated”. This is potentially a very stressful experience to a dog. A stressed dog can behave differently than usual. The dog does not understand why he or she has been separated from his or her own pack. Furthermore, these “evaluations” are often done by people who have no understanding of dog psychology.

Social experiences

YES. Always. Dogs that board with us always experience various social and real-life situation at our facility and are exposed to common situations in the house and around the house (various people, sounds, distractions, etc.). They learn and practice good manners and obedience skills in real-life situations. We also offer an ongoing education program "TRAINING TRIPS: Real-world dog obedience training, good manners and proper socialization in public places" (local trips ONLY) for our Board and Train graduates and Back to Balance Rehabilitation graduates when dogs go out with us and experience a variety of proper social situations in public places too - depending on circumstances.

NO or very limited. Usually far from a normal home environment social experiences. Your dog stays in a boarding facility at all times.

Accepting young dogs that haven’t been spayed/neutered yet

YES. We do not reject young puppies that haven’t been spayed/neutered yet. We believe that it is up to the dog owner to determine the time to spay and neuter their dog. 

In general, NO. Many times intact young dogs are not accepted at all, so if the owners need to travel, they cannot board their dog(s) in an average boarding facility.

Natural needs of your dog versus marketing tactics aimed at humans

We always provide all dogs with what THEY need as animals and dogs and with the kinds of things that will fulfill them as dogs. That means that while boarding your dog with us, you can be sure that your dog will get needed exercise, walks, mental simulation and social experiences at NO additional charge. Your dog’s health and well-being (physical, psychological and emotional) are the most important things for us. Your dog will always be in a safe, clean and peaceful environment here with us.

Marketing to humans is very fashionable nowadays. Remember that dogs are animals, and deserve to be accepted for who they are instead of being humanized or being made into "furry humans". They are not humans. Do not be fooled by typical marketing tactics aimed at humans. Your dog will benefit from the freedom of being who he/she is - a dog - and from experiencing the real world, rather than being made into something it is not. 

Number of dogs

We do not take more than 2 to 3 "green" dogs at a time (for Board and Train program and Back to Balance Rehabilitation program) and we also limit the number of already trained dogs for Board and Brush-up program. This guarantees that YOUR dog will have the right amount of individual attention from a professional dog trainer and dog behavior specialist.

Your dog will NOT be just one in a crowd. We know all the dogs that come here for Board and Brush-up very, very well and they are all treated as individuals. We know their personalities, drives, energy level, exercise needs, etc.

This depends on the facility and the situation. Sometimes 20 or more dogs may be boarded. Ask how many employees work at the facility and divide the number of dogs by number of employees. Then consider how much individual time and human interaction YOUR dog can possibly get during the day.

Also think about what experience each employee has with dogs. There are a lot of "dog lovers" that run boarding facilities with little to no understanding about dog training, dog behavior, etc.

Often a dog is just one of the crowd.

Charging fees based on your dog's size and weight

NO. Humans don’t get charged higher fees at hotels based on how tall or heavy they are. Why should you be charged more because your dog is a larger breed? We do not discriminate against large dogs. We love dogs of every size.

With that said, we always encourage that dog owners keep their dogs at healthy weight and we monitor the dogs' weight here as well.

YES.  Sadly, large dogs are often “fined” for being large and their owners have to pay higher fees for boarding a larger dog. Often this happens even when the owners provide the boarding facility with their own food.

Charging fees based on your dog’s age

NO. There is no age discrimination. The fee for younger dogs is the same as for older dogs. 

YES. Often some facilities charge additional fees for puppies.

Your dog sent away to a “hosting family”

NEVER. Your dog meets us first and has an opportunity to get to know us, then comes to us and stays with us. Your dog gets professional care with professional training during the whole stay.

We are dog lovers and dogs are our passion and our life, but at the same time, we are canine professionals who work with dogs on a daily basis and have a lot of experience.

Some services offer boarding where your dog is “hosted” by a family. The family might be a terrific dog loving family, but its members probably do not include dog trainers and canine behavior specialists. Also, many times the host family members work full time so your dog can end up being alone for hours on end.