Questions · Program length
Is one week of board and train enough?
Is one week of board and train enough? For puppies and dogs missing the basics, often yes; for dogs who lose it in public, the second week matters.
What can realistically change in one week?
A week is enough to teach a dog new skills in a structured environment: the core cues, a calmer crate routine, waiting at doors and for food, and walking on a leash without towing. The one-week Foundation program covers basic obedience, leash skills, place, stay and recall, impulse control, crate and household manners, and daycare integration with enrichment.
What a week does not do is make those skills reliable everywhere. Dogs learn in context; a sit learned in a training room is not yet a sit on a busy sidewalk. That is why the week ends with a go-home lesson. The trainer shows you every cue, how to ask and how to reward, so you can carry the skills into your own home and streets.
Which dogs is one week usually right for?
Dogs whose main gap is the basics. Puppies starting out, young dogs who never had structured training, newly adopted dogs who need house manners, and families who want a head start before practising at home. For these dogs, a focused week plus an owner who keeps practising is often the right size of job.
It's also a good fit when the household is the main challenge: jumping on guests, rushing doors, struggling in the crate. Those habits are largely about manners and routine, which Foundation targets directly.
- Puppies and young dogs starting out
- Dogs who never learned the basics
- New family dogs who need a household routine
- Owners ready to practise daily after the stay
What needs the second week?
Reliability around distraction. The second week of the two-week Advanced program goes beyond teaching cues to proofing them: holding them for longer, from further away and with more going on. Trainers call these the three Ds, duration, distance and distraction. Advanced also adds real-world outings, neutrality around other dogs and people, confidence building and structured socialization.
So if your dog sits perfectly in the kitchen but pulls toward every dog on the street, forgets recall at the beach or gets overexcited in town, one week usually isn't enough. The knowledge is there; what's missing is practice in harder settings, and that takes more time. Advanced also includes two scheduled go-home coaching lessons, the second one after you've had time to practise.
| Your dog... | Usually fits |
|---|---|
| Is a puppy or young dog starting out | Foundation, 1 week |
| Needs house manners and a crate routine | Foundation, 1 week |
| Knows cues at home, loses them outside | Advanced, 2 weeks |
| Pulls, lunges or gets overexcited around dogs or people | Advanced, 2 weeks |
| Has significant fear, reactivity or guarding | Possibly a 6–10 week behavior-modification program |
When neither one week nor two is the answer
Some problems need longer than a board-and-train stay. Significant fear, reactivity or resource guarding often change slowly, through gradual exposure and changes in emotion, not just new cues. For those dogs, Dogtown offers behavior-modification programs of six to ten weeks.
Gabby will say honestly at the assessment which path fits. No length of stay can promise a result, and we don't; what we make sure of is that you leave knowing how to practise. Our comparison of one-week and two-week stays sets the two programs side by side.
The part that decides whether one week was enough
The weeks after you pick your dog up matter as much as the stay. A week of training followed by a month of practice usually beats two weeks followed by none. Use the cues exactly as shown, keep walks short and easy at first, and add difficulty slowly.
Our first week home guide lays out that practice, and if you find the skills slipping after a one-week stay, a follow-up lesson or a later Advanced stay can build on what's there.
The two programs
FAQs
Related questions
Can I start with one week and add a second later?
Is one week too short for a puppy?
How much do one and two weeks cost?
Will my dog forget everything after a week?
More questions? Read the full board & train FAQ
Next step
Tell us about your dog.
Send the enquiry and we reply within one hour on business days to set up a short assessment with Gabby. The evaluation is free.
- 01Send the enquiryReply within the hour on business days
- 02Assessment & evaluationPick Foundation or Advanced
- 03Train & go homeDaily updates, go-home coaching
