Beyond the Dog is now offering a Board and Train Program where dogs live and train with our co-founders, Dr. Kristyn Echterling Savage and Sean Savage, at their home and throughout Tampa Bay, Florida. During this program, your dog will learn high-level obedience commands, develop good manners, and reinforce positive behaviors through science-based behavior-modification methods. At the end of the training program, your dog will return home to you, where follow-up lessons will take place to teach you how to reinforce everything your dog has learned. In this blog, we will answer commonly asked questions about our Board and Train Retreat Program. Specifically, the training methods that we use, and what your dog will learn while in our care.
Our Training Methods
We build a personal relationship with your dog
Throughout this program, we will build both a personal and working relationship with your dog. We understand that a happy and engaged dog will learn more effectively and develop a lifelong love of training. We will never use punishments such as shock collars or prong collars. As these can cause behavioral issues that may take years to resolve.
Instead, we promote long-term behavioral changes by focusing on your dog as an individual. Each training session is conducted one-on-one, using behavioral science and reinforcement to teach your dog good habits and address problem behaviors. While living as part of the family, they will have a mix of leisure and training time. With dedicated time to play and train at places including Tampa Bay’s beaches and hiking trails, and at the trainer’s home.
Our training plans are personalized for each dog’s unique needs
Training takes place both in the trainer’s home and throughout the Tampa Bay area. By exposing your dog to a variety of settings, we ensure that training is consistent in any environment and around various distractions.
Our training plans are developed by Dr. Echterling-Savage is a Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist (CAAB) and Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA), with a PhD in Behavioral Psychology, specialising in animal behavior. With over 20 years of experience, she has treated complex behavioral issues that include separation anxiety, aggression, resource guarding, touch sensitivity, reactivity, cat chasing, and fearful behavior.
Dr. Echterling-Savage will ask that you submit your completed “Indirect Assessment of Canine Behavior” and also meet with her for a virtual or phone consultation. She will use this information to not only better understand your training goals, but to evaluate your dog’s behavioral history. Every factor will be considered, including your dog’s environment, genetics, and training history. Each problem behavior will be addressed through science-based training methods grounded in positive reinforcement and classical conditioning techniques.
After the assessment and consultation, Dr. Echterling-Savage will develop a training plan that identifies how to best support their progress. This could include practicing socialization skills across parks, shops, and hiking trails in Tampa Bay, or spending more time addressing resource guarding behaviors at home. Training will be generalized so it can be transitioned to your own home and neighborhood. This provides a flexible but structured training plan that focuses on long-term success.
We treat the underlying behavioral issues, not just the symptoms
We use reinforcement to address problem behaviors and apply Functional Behavior Analysis to identify the underlying causes, not just the symptoms. This allows us to develop a training program that provides long term success.
It’s crucial that we understand the causes behind each behavior so we can understand the best training approach. To select the most effective training approach, we analyze three key factors. Here is an example using a dog with touch sensitivity:
- Antecedent (what happens before the behavior): When a person reaches toward the dog’s collar to remove it.
- Behavior (what the dog actually does): The dog growls or nips at the person when their neck is touched.
- Consequence (what happens after the behavior): The person stops petting them.
A Functional Behavior Analysis helps shape your dog’s training plan for more effective results. Behavioral issues such as touch sensitivity can worsen as a dog gets older, so early intervention is crucial. Training will also help your dog become more confident and comfortable around other people and dogs.
What is taught during the Board and Train Retreat
During the retreat, your personalized training program will focus on a range of goals, such as:
- Crate training
- Puppy manners training (chewing, playbiting, and jumping)
- Leash training
- Socializing your puppy
- Potty training
- Teaching your puppy high-level obedience (down, sit, heel, stay, come, wait, etc.)
- Preparing and testing for the Canine Good Citizen Title or Certification
Depending on your dog’s needs, the retreat can also address behavioral challenges such as separation anxiety, resource guarding and touch sensitivity. By having training sessions at the home and across Tampa Bay, your dog will learn to reliably listen to obedience commands, have good manners and to be comfortable across multiple settings and with multiple distractions. This will be easily transferred to your own home and when exploring your neighborhood.
We hope this has helped answer some of your questions
If you’re interested in enrolling your dog in Beyond the Dog Board and Train Program, you can always contact our Pet Behavior Team today for a free consultation. We also offer virtual training programs to address multiple problem behaviors with Dr. Echterling-Savage. For more information you can check out our puppy training blogs and dog training blogs.