Boarding School
A full-immersion transformative learning experience.
Our Boarding School program offers immersive training for dog owners of new puppies, teenage knuckleheads, and challenged dog owners.
We’re not here to turn your dog into a robot. We’re here to give you a dog you can actually live with, who listens, who can handle the world, and who still feels like them.
Same personality. Way better life.
Whether you’re trying to get ahead of things or you’ve hit the point where you’re like, “this isn’t working anymore”, yeah…we’ve got you.
Program Options
Puppies
Baby alligators start with our Puppy Kick Start program for foundational learning and socialization with mentor dogs at our quiet country farm. We then see your pup when they are a teenage knucklehead for a 3-week program, where we do more advanced training.
Teenage Knuckleheads
If your adolescent pup needs fine-tuning with impulse control/learning to chill, and real-world skills like leash walking, coming when called, and navigating trails, sidewalks, and life at home, we begin with a 3-week immersive program, where your dog learns: leash skills that actually work in the real world, recall you can trust, how to chill (this is a skill, not a personality trait), how to navigate life…trails, sidewalks, home, distractions.
Then we bring them back for a 1-week refresher to lock it in. We don’t just train on-site. We take them out into the world so the skills actually stick.
Behavior Modification for Behavioral Challenges
Many times, people come to us saying, “I just want my dog to be happier.” What they mean is, “I want my dog to feel okay in the world…and I want to feel okay with my dog.”
So often, these are sensitive dogs that need massive guidance from us to help them weather the storm of daily life and climb beyond the proverbial mountains and molehills to get to the other side. We begin with 3+ weeks of training on reactivity, nervous/flighty pups, barking/lunging on a leash, resource guarding, and confidence-building.
Our program is designed for 3+ weeks of training, with support for clients over the course of a year. With behavioral changes the goal is helping your dog regulate, not just “behave.” We aim to build confidence and coping skills and we want to give them a way through…not just managing the problem.
For off-leash training and certain behavioral problems, low-level remote training collars may be recommended. We only use TENS unit collars with a minimum of 100 settings.
For OpBarks Program Grads
Graduates are welcome to come in for a 1-week Reboot program to fine-tune whatever is needed, which is great for when you are going on vacation and wouldn’t mind a little farm spa learning for your fuzz butt.
What's includeD:Daylong structured training and overnight stays for the length of the program
Experienced mentor dogs to facilitate socialization and to work around dogs in training.
Nature hikes on our trails and play on our 6 acres
Indoor and outdoor training and off-site/immersive field trips
Lessons to download and practice post-program
Online Courses
REQUIREMENTS
This program is best for cooperative dogs, with no history of aggression that can relax when crated for downtime and are comfortable with multiple handlers.
APRIL BOOST
For a limited time, when you purchase a foundations class and put down a deposit for a Boarding School Reboot week, you’ll get $200 off. This offer is available to the first ten people to purchase in April.
QuAKERTOWN LOCATION1-4 weeks
INVESTMENT1000+
“I am not being dramatic when I say you have changed our lives. WOW! (My husband actually cried in the first hour of being home. We were expecting improvement but anticipated there would be a lot of work to transition him home and he has already blown us away with his good behavior! Thank you thank you thank you!) I am not being dramatic when I say you have changed our lives.”
— L. Poe
“I absolutely love your approach to training both dog and owner to coexist with a greater ability to communicate. I've always been fearful of training courses for fear of every dog being placed in the same category and training dogs to be robodogs. I love that Fiona can be herself but have the tools to be her best self. Thank you so much! I will definitely recommend your services.”
— L. Evans

