So, your dog came home from a board & train and now you’re feeling just a bit overwhelmed trying to keep on top of all the trainer’s instructions. Hopefully your trainer left you with a detailed go-home plan and is available as a continued source of support, but even so, it’s challenging! In an effort to provide some encouragement, I want to remind you of three reasons why the post-training effort is worth it.
Improve Your Relationship with Your Dog
The weeks following the board & train period are crucial for your relationship with your dog. Your dog loves you and has lots of history with you, but that history isn’t always what you want to bring into the present. He has a history of blowing you off when you ask him to do something, a history of making his own decisions, and maybe even a history of walking all over you. The post-training period is an opportunity to reset your relationship regardless of history. The board & train program will teach your dog to see humans as the leaders and decision makers, but that alone will not shift your personal relationship with your dog. In order for your dog to listen to you and take you seriously, you’ve got to show him that you’re going to be consistent with the same rules that were enforced during training. This is one of the main reasons why I give my clients a detailed go-home plan! We set up your daily life with your dog to give you ample time to practice being the leader, and to give your dog ample time to believe you. If you stay consistent, your dog will love you just as much as ever and he’ll also see you as his leader.
Improve Your Dog’s Behavior in Your Home
Your dog will learn new, calmer ways to behave in your home environment if you stay consistent with the go-home plan!
The other reason why we give a detailed go-home plan is because your dog needs to reshape his ideas about how to behave in your home. During the board & train your dog will have learned how to behave in a home environment (assuming it took place in the trainer’s home like my programs do) but that doesn’t automatically translate to your home environment. Your dog has a history of behaving a certain way in your house: pacing around looking for something to get into, barking at everything that moves out the front window, stealing food off of your countertops, etc. If you don’t follow through with the go-home plan, your dog will revert right back to all of those old patterns of behavior because that’s what he’s used to doing in your home. By contrast, if you follow the go-home plan and stay consistent with the same structure and rules that were in place at the trainer’s house, then your dog will start to form new patterns of behavior in your home—that’s exactly what we want! We want to transfer all those good patterns and associations from my home to yours.
It’s an Investment in Your Future
Quality dog training isn’t cheap. That alone is a good reason to follow through with the post-training go-home plan, but another reason to follow through is because this is really an investment in your future. You didn’t invest in training because you wanted your dog to behave for a few weeks, you invested in training because you want your dog to behave for the rest of his life. Following through with the post-training instructions is the best way to ensure that this happens! You’re setting your dog up for good behavior and a healthier lifestyle with you, and you’re setting yourself up for way less stress and way more opportunities to enjoy your dog’s company.
The post-training go-home plan can feel like a lot of work at first, but it’s worth the effort! The work you put in now will pay off in dividends as your dog gets older. You can do it!
