What are the benefits of a Dog Bootcamp Program at Specialty Dog Training? 

Written on May 22, 2023

Many dog owners wonder if a board and train program is right for them and their dog. Is my dog going to be okay? What can I expect from a canine bootcamp program? Is this a good investment of time and money? This blog explains why a dog boarding school program is beneficial for all dogs no matter what breed or age.

A bootcamp program is the best and quickest way to provide your dog training. It is much easier to reinforce learned behaviors as the owner than it is to train your dog yourself following a few hours of instruction. Our team of certified dog trainers will teach you all of the tools and commands your dog has already learned in our dog training camp. From puppy training to advanced off-leash obedience, and correcting behavioral issues such as nuisance barking, dog aggression, and leash reactivity, a board and train dog training program is the most effective way to train your canine family member.

Our programs are custom designed to fit your training goals and lifestyle while considering your dog’s age, breed, and temperament through a complimentary phone consultation. Our dog training experts take time to learn about your dog’s history, breed/breed mix, behavioral challenges, obedience goals, home life and lifestyle. A program recommendation will follow, to include length of time based on the components of your lifestyle, with training emphasis customized for your dog within that timeframe. Our team has a combined 45+ years of dog training experience and has been helping dogs and their owners with board and train programs for decades. Once we collectively agree on the training plan, our enrollment team will send you an electronic contract. When you execute this agreement and finalize enrollment through your hand-picked payment option, we secure a date for check in. 

Once Fido enters our bootcamp program, he or she will receive a thorough assessment and a plan of action created by their primary trainer. During the boot camp, you will receive weekly updates from your trainer on your dog’s progress, including videos and photos of them training together! Your trainer is also available to answer any additional questions you may have during camp via a scheduled phone call. 

As your dog training camp is nearing the end, your trainer will reach out to schedule your dog’s transfer lesson to get him or her home to you. This lesson is an average of 90 minutes and provides a very thorough understanding of what your dog learned during the camp, how to reinforce these obedience commands and new behaviors at home and we also recommend mental and physical exercises that will help your dog. The transfer lesson will share a plethora of information and most of it will be new to you, but don’t worry, we have follow up lessons built into your program to continue support and reinforcement for you and your pup. Teaching you to maintain the training is vital and our trainers are excellent at this transfer process. 

Your dog will have the opportunity to work with a team of certified dog trainers who have a deep understanding of dog behavior, body language, and obedience training, while utilizing proven scientific dog training methods, drive exhaustion and coping mechanisms to assist your dog during their boot camp. They also consider breed characteristics and challenges that may arise at different stages of age and maturity. Our team of professional dog trainers have the understanding to work with your dog with any type of challenging behavior problems and can further proof their obedience training in public settings around various distractions while considering your lifestyle and needs. Our ultimate goal of a bootcamp is to improve the communication between you and your dog, making life with your dog more fun and enjoyable. A well trained dog is a happy dog!

Here are some testimonials and reviews from our boot camp clients and how our dog training school made a life changing impact:

I enrolled our 10 month old German Rottie puppy (Kouda) into what I loving call Specialty Dog Training Boot camp.  Instinctively Kouda  had a fear aggression with people and would go for their leg when they walked away.  After 6 weeks with Nicole the Specialty trainer who works with rescue, personal protection dogs and behavior issues such as Kouda is one of the most wonderful trainers we have ever met.  Kouda had been through soft training as a puppy and they kicked her out at the first sign of aggression.  Nicole changed her behavior and taught us how to be great leader parents.  My respect for Nicole’s knowledge on all breed and behaviors is at a level 10.  She is patient, dog scholarly and great with people (us too).  Our pup came home two weeks ago and we are applying all the practices and skills Kouda learned (in German commands by the way) and our once fearful and aggressive pup is amazing!  She will never be perfect but Nicole has given us the tools to manage her while setting a strong foundation to do so during the six weeks she spent with Kouda.  We are forever grateful and will continue to stay in touch with Specialty and Nicole for future pointers.  Your never one and done, this is a life time parent commitment to your fur baby.   Separately, the staff that works there also loved on our Kouda Bear in between training so our puppy was never short of attention.  This is not a paid review, it comes from the heart!

Sharon and Ron Kern – Yelp

I met Graham Bloem about 20 years ago, within 5 minutes he had my then American Bulldog doing a roll over instantly. For 13.5 years she had my whole heart, she was wonderful and very well trained thanks to Graham.

Kailani and I adopted each other 1 year ago last October. Backstory for you, I am 48 living with 2 senior citizens. They both had major medical issues and immobilization concerns.

I had 2 trainers initially a puppy trainer and then another after that. There were many moments where I felt I had mad a vast mistake. How could I handle a puppy then teenager? After countless sleepless nights and stressed out days I contacted Graham again pleading for help. I knew this pup had potential to be a stellar dog.

I was matched with Danielle who has completely changed my life. I don’t know if I have ever encountered a trainer with more compassion, drive and skill.

I enrolled Kailani in a live aboard training camp. It was tough to have her gone for 4 weeks, but I made it through. I picked her up with big tears of joy and was completely blown away. Kailani was entirely a new dog, a perfect dog. She had structured skills and could follow command without fail. American  Bully’s are stubborn by nature but she could heel immaculately, her sit, down, stay and place were perfect. I shook my head over and over wondering how she did this. I was smiling so much more and began to feel incredibly hopeful.

I just picked up Kailani today from her 2nd 3 week enrollment training. This time we did E-stim collar training. Which is a humane discipline curated feature for dogs. I even tried it on my hand zero pain or irritation, it simply felt like vibration.

Once again Kailani is thriving and doing incredible post training. I don’t have to worry anymore about the 2 family members that are fall risks. This dog has done a total 360 and is now the best dog on the planet. I will eternally be thankful for Danielle.

I will openly say that there is no trainer like her at all. Would I recommend her and Specialty Dog Training? The answer a hundred times yes.

My trainer went through dog psychology training and certifications. She fully invested in herself to fully invest in her training clients. I feel like the luckiest person in the world. Danielle we love you!!!

Jolie B. – Yelp

We contacted Specialty Dog Training, amongst several other training facilities, in regards to some behavioral issues we were experiencing with our nearly 1 year old pup, Oliver. After our initial call with Speciality Dog Training we knew this was the facility we wanted to go with and while it was a little pricier than some others we were looking at, their staff explained the training process in a way the other facilities didn’t. This helped us feel more at ease with moving forward with the training as well as gave us the confidence that our desired results would be achieved. Prior to his training, getting Oliver to listen to commands in public settings was nearly impossible and taking him on walks was never easy as he would bark, growl & pull towards any other people/dogs we’d walk past. After 6 weeks of training with Cassie, we can now confidently take Oliver on walks without him reacting to other people/dogs. We are also so confident in his ability to listen to commands in public settings that we have even done some off leash play with him at some of our neighborhood parks. It has definitely been life changing for us and a big weight has been lifted off our shoulders! Cassie provided us with weekly updates on Oliver’s progress throughout his training, which definitely helped keep us at ease. And while Oliver learned a lot in his training, we as owners learned a lot in our sessions as well. Cassie demonstrated everything he learned and gave us all of the right tools to continue with his training at home. Definitely recommend Specialty Dog Training!

Cayla H. – Yelp