Day training is a fairly new training program in the world of dog training, so you likely have some questions: what is it, how does it work, is it right for my family? We’re here to provide you with the information you need to make an educated decision for your family. So let’s break down those big questions so that you can decide if day training is the right investment for your training needs.
What is Day Training?
Day training programs offer a hybrid training style between private lessons and board and train programs. We like to equate them to school, but for your dog. So in a typical day training program, you will drop your dog off in the morning and pick her up in the evening. During her day, she will have several training sessions with your trainer to work on basic skills (what skills exactly will depend on the program you sign up for). She will also get social time to play with the other dogs under your trainer’s supervision, and will have downtime in her crate to relax between each of these sessions.
Day training programs vary greatly in their length. Some training facilities require that you sign up for a complete program, which typically run several days per week for several weeks. Other trainers may allow drop-in days where your dog can come for just one day to work on specific skills you need help with. When talking about signing up for a day training program, make sure you know exactly how many days you’re signing up for, and what behaviors your trainer will help you work on.
Benefits of Day Training
Individualized Training Goals
Day training programs should give you the flexibility to set your own training goals with your trainer. Whether you need help with counter surfing, leash skills, reactivity, or any other behavior, your trainer can help you work through these issues as part of your program (assuming they are experienced with these skills). While many programs will have certain goals like crate training and impulse control, those can and should be added to anything specific that you need help with.
Your Trainer Does A Lot of Work for You
Here’s where you get the benefit of a hybrid program between private lessons (you learn how to train your dog), and board and train programs (your dog lives with your trainer for several weeks of training). When you drop your dog off for day training, your dog is getting fully immersed in training for the day. This includes kennel training, learning to wait at doors, learning how to play safely with other dogs. And this is on top of the individual goals and skills that you want to work on. And your trainer is doing all of this training all day long!
In case you haven’t hear yet, dog training takes a lot of patience, consistency, and repetition for your dog to truly understand. That’s what your dog is getting in a full day of training. So if teaching your dog alone doesn’t sound like something you’d enjoy or be successful with, enrolling in a day training program can help bring a lot of success in a short period of time.
One-on-One Lessons
Now that all sounds great – “let the trainer teach my dog!” But that isn’t really worth your investment, because that doesn’t guarantee that your dog will transfer those skills and learning experiences to your home. So even though your trainer may have great success with your dog’s behavior, you also need to learn how to practice and get comfortable with your new skills. That’s where lessons come in.
The best day training programs will offer you one-on-one lessons to transfer all of your dog’s knowledge over to you. So don’t think this program is an easy out – you will still have work to do. But your trainer will do the heavy lifting of making sure your dog understands her new commands before teaching you.
Lessons can be daily, weekly, or monthly, depending on how the program is setup. Regardless of the exact structure of these lessons, make sure that the day training program you are looking into offers a very clear way for you to learn and apply what your dog has learned at “school”.
Doggy Playtime
Want your dog to get playtime with other dogs? Day training programs should be offering playtime for your dog to have fun and unwind during their days. Dogs learn best when we keep them engaged and happy, and that includes giving them downtime to let loose and just have fun together.
Playtime should always be supervised, and dogs should be matched based on their personalities and energy levels. Supervised play sessions are full of great learning opportunities, but every dog needs to be advocated for. So if your dog doesn’t like other dogs, that’s ok! She should (hopefully) be given the opportunity to learn how to calmly coexist around other dogs. And what a benefit that will be for enjoying life with your dog out in the real world!
Small Group Sizes
Unlike a doggy daycare environment that can have 20-30 dogs in a group, day training programs have much smaller group sizes. This gives your dog more one-on-one time with your trainer, which means more opportunities to play and learn. When looking at a day training program, you should expect a small group size ranging from 3 to 6 dogs per trainer, per day. Any more than that, and your dog likely won’t be getting the attention and training that you’re paying for.
Downside of Day Training
Scheduling
Because you are dropping your dog off at a training facility, you will need to follow their daily schedule. This can be a hindrance for families that are also juggling work and kids’ extracurricular activities. Make sure you know when you can drop off your dog, and how late you can pick up in the evenings.
This also goes for your one-on-one lessons. Because your trainer will be engaged with the dogs during the day, she may have limited availability to schedule your lessons outside of program hours. If you have a busy schedule, it’s important that you check on your trainer’s availability so that you can plan accordingly.
Cost
Cost can be prohibitive for families considering day training programs. While these programs are not as expensive as board and train programs (where your dog lives with your trainer for weeks at a time), they are more costly than private lessons and group classes. This is because your trainer is committing to a full day of training to a small group of dogs. When your dog is in her care, she is committed to being onsite and working hands-on with your dog. And that’s a good thing! That means she’s working toward getting you the results that you need. But that also means she needs to be properly compensated for that time and work.
Your trainer’s rates can vary based on where you’re located, what behaviors you need to work on, your trainer’s level of expertise, and how many days per week your dog will attend. A rough estimate for day training can start at about $300 per week, and then increase from there based on the above factors.
Questions to Ask Your Day Training Program
- What training goals and skills will you be teaching my dog?
- Do you have experience teaching dogs to work on (your specific training needs)?
- Do you include lessons so that I can learn what my dog is learning in training?
- How do you match dogs for group playtime?
- What if my dog doesn’t like other dogs? Does she still get time to play?
- What is your dog to trainer ratio?
- What are drop-off and pick-up times?
- What is included in the cost of the program (training equipment, how many days of training, lessons, any follow-up training, etc.)?
- Can I talk with other program graduates about their experiences?
Conclusion
Day training can be a great training option for many dog owners. There are a lot of benefits to this unique program style, and we think it’s definitely worth looking into on your search. But not every training program is the right fit for every family. So when speaking with a trainer, we highly recommend bringing the above list of questions and making sure that the program truly meets your needs.
If day training can help you meet your dog training goals, then we wish you the best of luck! But if it doesn’t make sense for your family, know that there are other options available to you. Taking the time to carefully choose the right training program will make all the difference for your family.
Interested in learning more about our day training program? Check out our Training Programs page for a breakdown of what to expect when working with our trainers.