What is a hand-over session and why is it important?

A hand-over session is not the same thing as a follow-up training session: the hand-over is where we show you what we worked on and how you can continue with the training at home. A follow-up is where we check in to see how things have been going short-term and long-term after your dog’s Board & Train has ended. Both are important, but the hand-over session is the most crucial aspect of the process. Here’s why:

Your dog has spent his Board & Train time with a trainer at our facility, so he has learned how to behave with us. We also go off-site to train, so he learns that he needs to have good manners no matter where he is, but this is all conducted with and by the trainer. When your dog goes home with you, he is back in the same setting where he used to misbehave and with the same people around whom he used to misbehave. Dogs are very situational: he is going to quickly revert to his old ways unless he receives the guidance from you as to how he is expected to behave at home and with you in various environments. This means that, from the minute you walk in the front door with him after his Board & Train, you should know how to work with him to help him transfer his new skills to your home setting. Even a few days’ delay in a hand-over session can set a dog back in his training.

Of course, sometimes it’s not feasible to do a session when you collect your dog, in which case we schedule it as soon as possible. Training you to train your dog is the key to long-term success for any dog after any training program.