Board and Train Retreat | Beyond the Dog

A Retreat-Style Training Experience

At our Board and Train Retreat Program, your dog will live as part of the family and train with Dr. Echterling-Savage and Sean Savage at their home in Tampa Bay. The retreat follows a personalized training plan that teaches high-level obedience skills, good manners, and address behavioral challenges. Training takes place both at home and at various locations throughout Tampa Bay, ensuring consistent and reliable behavior in every setting. At the end of the four-week retreat, Kristyn or Sean will bring your dog back home and conduct four and a half hours of follow-up lessons. These follow-up lessons will teach you how to maintain your dog’s newly learned skills and behavior.

This program is available nationwide and is ideal for those who are traveling or aren’t within our regular service area. Depending on the distance from Tampa Bay, Kristyn and Sean will either fly or drive with your dog to their home. During their Florida retreat, training is balanced with leisure time, including outings to dog-friendly beaches, trails, shops, parks, and farmers’ markets. After training has concluded, your dog will return home better socialized, confident, highly trained, and ready to explore.

Dr. Echterling-Savage's Board and Train Retreat

$6,820

Our Board and Train Retreat is perfect for those seeking a truly immersive training experience. The program combines expert guidance with a home setting, offering each dog a personalized plan that is both enriching and enjoyable. Using positive reinforcement and the principles of operant conditioning, we foster a lifelong love of learning and help your dog be more sociable and confident in everyday life.

Every Board and Train Retreat is customized to meet your specific training goals, including but not limited to:

Potty training
Crate training
Puppy manners training (jumping, playbiting, chewing)
Leash training
Socialization
Teaching your puppy high level obedience (down, heel, sit, come, stay, wait, etc.)
Preparing for the Canine Good Citizen Test

4 weeks of Board and Train at Dr. Echterling-Savage’s home.
4.5 hours of follow-up lessons at your home and local neighborhood

Depending on the distance, travel may be complimentary or require a small additional cost.

Behavioral research shows us that dogs learn more effectively when they can practice skills across a variety of environments. During the retreat, your dog will live in the trainer’s home, where they will develop high-level obedience, good manners and have positive behaviors reinforced. By training in the home, newly learned skills will be more easily transitioned to your own home.

Training also occurs throughout the Tampa Bay area, including shops, restaurants, parks, and hiking trails, ensuring your dog reliably responds to training in any setting. Throughout the training program, we use scientifically proven methods, including positive reinforcement and operant conditioning, to help dogs generalize skills, build confidence, and reinforce positive behaviors.

Dr. Kristyn Echterling-Savage

Dr. Kristyn Echterling-Savage is a Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist (CAAB) and Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) with a Ph.D. in Behavioral Psychology, specializing in animal behavior. Kristyn brings over 20 years of training experience and trains and mentors every trainer at Beyond the Dog, ensuring our high level of care and expertise across all our locations.

Sean Savage

Sean Savage is a Certified Dog Behavior Consultant (CDBC) and Certified Professional Dog Trainer – Knowledge Assessed (CPDT-KA). Sean has over two decades of experience training dogs in obedience, manners, and addressing complex behavioral challenges.

This program starts with you submitting your completed “Indirect Assessment of Canine Behavior”, which provides us with information on your dog’s behavioral history. Dr. Echterling-Savage will then meet with you for a consultation to discuss your training goals and your dog’s behavioral challenges. The assessment and consultation allow her to create a personalized training program that addresses your training goals and your dog’s unique needs.

Dr. Echterling-Savage or Sean Savage will personally transport your dog to their home in Tampa Bay, ensuring care and comfort from the very start. During your dog’s stay, they will be a part of the family, living in the home and having training alongside leisure time. Your dog will explore Tampa Bay’s dog-friendly parks, trails, shops, and farmers’ markets to practice high-level obedience, good manners, and reinforce positive behaviors.

You will receive regular progress reports, correspondence, and updates throughout the four-week retreat. At the end of this program, Dr. Echterling-Savage or Sean Savage will bring your dog back home, where you will receive 4.5 hours of follow-up lessons across multiple sessions. The follow-up sessions help to give you the confidence and knowledge in maintaining your dog’s newly learned skills and ensure long-term success.

If you are a pet parent with an insurance policy covering behavior modification, this training program is likely covered. Most companies with behavior policies such as Trupanion cover behavioral training when under the direction of a CAAB or a Board Certified Veterinary Behaviorist.

References

Why Choose Our Board and Train Retreat?

Your dog will live and learn as part of the family.

During the retreat, your dog will be staying in Dr. Echterling-Savages and Sean Savages’ home. This means that your dog won’t just be trained during structured training sessions, but will be trained throughout the day in a natural home environment. Proper behavior and new skills will be consistently reinforced, such as when your puppy is being potty trained, learning place when visitors arrive at the home, or learning socialization skills when on outings throughout Tampa Bay. Your dog will be continually developing skills under the direct supervision of Dr. Echterling-Savage and Sean Savage, ensuring reliability in training across multiple settings that will easily transition to your own home.

Problem behaviors will be addressed through positive training methods, including operant conditioning and positive reinforcement.

Problem behaviors will be addressed through positive training methods, including operant conditioning and positive reinforcement. Dr. Echterling-Savage will assess your dog’s behavior and work closely with you to achieve your personalized training goals and address problem behaviors. Whether it’s separation anxiety, reactivity, resource guarding, touch sensitivity, cat chasing behaviors, or fearfulness, each behavior is approached with scientifically-backed training methods that include classical conditioning and positive reinforcement. At the end of the retreat, your dog will return to your home highly-trained, better mannered, and more socialized. Ready to take on whatever journey awaits them.

Our training methods are informed by scientific research.

Dr. Kristyn Echterling-Savage, a Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist (CAAB) and Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) with a Ph.D. in Behavioral Psychology specializing in animal behavior, has over 20 years of experience training dogs to be highly-trained, better behaved, and treating challenging problem behaviors. Every dog’s needs are unique and complex and can be influenced by a variety of factors, including training history, genetics, and environment. Dr. Echterling-Savage and Sean Savage will work closely together to understand all of the training perspectives. This helps us deliver exceptional training results during their retreat and to best teach you how to maintain their progress for long-term success.

Travel with Care and Comfort

Your dog’s safety and comfort are always a priority to us during travel to and from Tampa Bay. We will never place your dog in the Cargo hold. Instead, your dog will ride alongside them in their car or sit comfortably beside them on the plane. This helps to ensure your dog has a calm journey.