During the Board and Train Retreat, your dog will live and train directly with Beyond the Dog’s co-founders, Dr. Kristyn Echterling-Savage and Sean Savage, in their Tampa Bay home. Your dog will learn high-level obedience, manners, and have problem behaviors addressed, with training occurring both inside the home and throughout the Tampa Bay area. With training taking place in various environments, your dog will develop confidence and skills that translate to everyday life. With over 20 years of experience, our training experts use science-based training methods, including positive reinforcement, to ensure lasting results.
Your dog will enjoy a balance between playtime and training, with outings to shops, trails, parks, dog-friendly beaches, and farmers’ markets. Our retreat is ideal for those traveling outside the Tampa Bay area or who are unavailable during the week, allowing their dog to return home well-trained, socialized, and confident.
Your personalized training program will focus on a variety of training goals that can include:
By living at the trainer’s home, your dog can learn and reinforce positive behaviors in a real home setting, making it easy to transition new skills to your own home. Your dog will also be taught in public settings, including parks, hiking trails, and shops. Research shows that training in various environments helps your dog develop high-level obedience skills everywhere, not just where they have been taught.
As Dr. Kristyn Echterling-Savage explains, “Training across multiple environments helps dogs generalize skills, so they respond reliably at home, in public, and in any situation. Our approach uses science-based training methods to create lasting, meaningful results.”
While living as part of the family, your dog will benefit from daily training sessions with two leading experts, using science-backed methods to reinforce obedience, manners, and positive behaviors.
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. With more than 20 years of training experience, Kristyn trains and mentors every trainer at Beyond the Dog, ensuring our expertise and high-level of care across all of our locations.
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 treating challenging behaviors.
The program begins with a consultation with Dr. Echterling-Savage, where she will discuss your dog’s behavior and your training goals. She will also use your submitted “Indirect Assessment of Canine Behavior” to understand more about your dog’s behavioral history. This allows Dr. Echterling-Savage to create a personalized training program that addresses your dog’s needs unique needs.
Throughout the four-week board and train, your dog will live as part of the family and experience training as part of their everyday routine. While living as part of the family in Tampa Bay, your dog will experience structured training with leisure time. They’ll get to explore the best of Florida, from splashing around Davis Island Dog Park to improving their leash walking along the Tampa Riverwalk. They can practice recall at Al Lopez Park, or socialize at Gadsden Dog Park, or wherever their Tampa Bay experience takes them. These outings are not just fun; they reinforce the skills they learn during training while building up their confidence in every setting.
You will receive reports and correspondence throughout your dog’s stay so that you can closely follow their training journey. At the end of the board and train retreat, Sean and Kristyn will take your dog back home and provide 4.5 hours of follow-up lessons over multiple sessions. These follow-up sessions provide you with the confidence and knowledge to maintain your dog’s new skills and ensure long-lasting success.
1. Behavioral challenges are treated through positive training methods, including operant conditioning and positive reinforcement.
Dr. Echterling-Savage will assess your dog’s behavior to create a personalized training plan that effectively addresses problem behaviors. Problem behaviors can include separation anxiety, resource guarding, touch sensitivity, reactivity, cat-chasing behaviors, or fearfulness. Problem behaviors are treated through science-based training methods grounded in classical conditioning and positive reinforcement. At the end of the board and train retreat, your dog will come home more confident, well-mannered, and able to enjoy the best that Tampa Bay can offer.
2. Our training methods are informed by behavioral science.
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, brings over two decades of experience training dogs, cats, and other animals.
Dr. Echterling-Savage applies science-based training methods to create a personalized training plan that delivers the best results for your dog. When creating this plan, she considers every dog’s individual needs and how various factors, including genetics, the environment, and training history, can influence behavior. Dr. Echterling-Savage and Sean Savage will work closely together during the retreat to deliver long-term success in meeting the goals of your personalized training plan.
3. While living as part of the family, your dog will receive training throughout the day.
Our retreat is designed so that your dog lives in the home as a member of the family. This means that your dog won’t be limited to just hourly training sessions; instead, training will occur naturally in a home setting. Skills will be consistently reinforced, whether your dog is learning good behaviors during meal time, being potty trained throughout the day, or learning socialization skills when exploring Tampa Bay’s parks and shops. Because your dog is continually developing skills under the careful supervision of Dr. Echterling-Savage and Sean Savage, training results will be reliable across multiple settings and transition to their home after the retreat.