Residential Dog Training: Pros and Cons of Sending Your Dog Away
Updated: Oct 31
When your dog is pulling, ignoring recall or jumping up at every visitor, sending them away for a few weeks of residential training can sound like the perfect answer. Someone else does the work, and you get a well-behaved dog back. I understand the appeal. But after more than 30 years of training dogs, I rarely recommend it. Here are the pros and cons of sending your dog away for training, and what usually works better.
THE SHORT ANSWER
Residential dog training, sometimes called board and train, means your dog lives with a trainer for a few weeks while they're taught new skills. It can work well for the trainer, but dogs often struggle to carry those skills home, because they learned them in a different place with a different person. The biggest downsides are that you don't learn the skills yourself, you can't see which methods are used, and time away can be stressful for some dogs. Learning alongside your dog, in classes, one-to-one sessions or online, is usually more effective because the skills are built where your dog actually lives, with the person they live with.
What is residential dog training?
Residential training, also called board and train or sending your dog away for training, is when your dog stays at a trainer's home or kennels for anything from one to several weeks. The trainer works with your dog each day, then hands them back, often with a short lesson on how to keep it going.
It's offered for all sorts of things, from basic manners and recall to reactivity and aggression. Prices vary hugely, and so does the quality.
The pros of sending your dog away for training
It's only fair to look at both sides. Residential training isn't all bad. There are a few real advantages:
an experienced trainer works with your dog every day
it can suit owners who are away, injured or genuinely unable to train for a while
a good trainer can make a solid start on basic skills
If you do choose a residential programme, pick a trainer who uses kind, reward-based methods. They should also involve you closely, before, during and after the stay.
The cons of residential dog training
Dogs don't generalise well
Dogs are very good at learning in one place and not so good at carrying it to another. A dog who walks beautifully on a lead at the trainer's centre may pull just as hard on your street. They learned the skill in a different place, with a different person and different rules.
You don't learn the skills
Most training is really about teaching the owner. Timing, rewards, reading your dog's body language and knowing what to do when things go wrong are skills you need every day. If someone else does the training, those skills stay with them.
You can't see the methods
Dog training isn't regulated in most countries. Some residential programmes use harsh tools like prong, choke or shock collars to get fast results. A dog who comes home quieter isn't always a dog who's learned. Sometimes they're just worried.
Time away can be stressful
Some dogs cope well with kennels. Others find a new place, new people and time away from home very hard, which isn't a good state for learning.
It doesn't fix the cause
Many behaviour problems come from something in the dog's everyday life, like too little sleep, too much excitement, a worry about visitors or a routine that doesn't suit them. Those things are still there when your dog comes home.
Why learning together works better
When you learn alongside your dog, you're building the skills where they'll be used, in your home, on your walks and with your family. You learn how to reward, how to set your dog up to succeed and how to handle tricky moments.
That might be a well-run class, one-to-one sessions or online training where a trainer helps you in your own home. All of them put you at the centre of the process. Read how to tell if a dog training class is helping.
Questions to ask any trainer
Whichever option you choose, ask before you book. A good trainer will be happy to answer. These questions help you find someone kind and effective:
What methods do you use, and what happens when a dog gets it wrong?
Do you use prong, choke or shock collars? (The answer should be no.)
Can I watch you train, or see videos of my dog during their stay?
How will you teach me to keep the training going at home?
What qualifications and experience do you have?
RENEE'S TIP
Pick the one behaviour that bothers you most and practise it for five minutes a day for two weeks, in the exact place it happens, such as the front door or the start of your walk. Short, regular practice where the problem happens beats weeks of training somewhere else.
QUICK CHECK
ā Residential training means your dog lives with a trainer for a few weeks
ā Dogs often struggle to carry skills home from a new place
ā You don't learn the skills yourself, and you can't always see the methods
ā Learning alongside your dog builds skills where they're needed
ā Always ask which methods and tools a trainer uses
ONE-TO-ONE HELP
Help without sending your dog away
If you'd like help with recall, lead walking, jumping up or a behaviour that's worrying you, I can help you build a plan for your own home in an online Dog Behaviour Consultation from wherever you are.
Online on Teams, wherever you are. 30 or 60 minutes.
FAQs
What is residential dog training?
Your dog stays with a trainer for one to several weeks and is trained daily, then returns home. It's also called board and train.
What are the pros and cons of sending your dog away for training?
Pros are daily work with a trainer. Cons are that skills often don't transfer home, you don't learn them, and you can't see the methods.
Does residential dog training work?
It can work for the trainer, but many dogs struggle to repeat those skills at home without the owner learning them too.
Is board and train cruel?
Not always, but some programmes use harsh tools for fast results. Always ask which methods are used and whether you can watch.
What is better than residential dog training?
Learning alongside your dog, in a class, one-to-one sessions or online, so skills are built at home with you.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Renee Patience Ā· National Dog Trainer of the Year 2025
Founder and head trainer of Paws Academy, with more than 30 years training dogs and a Level 6 Diploma in Applied Canine Behaviour. Renee has competed in agility, obedience and heelwork to music across the UK, including at Crufts and Olympia, has appeared on CBBC, and is the author of the Modern Training Guides and the Modern Breed Handbook series. Pictured with her boxer, Kookie.
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