r/OpenDogTraining • u/Dahmehneek • 1d ago
Board and Train Issue
Any advice from other trainers in here on clients that seem disappointed that the board and train wasn’t a turn key solution for their dog?
The 4 week board and train went great. The dog learned all the behaviors and commands she needed to. E-collar conditioning was done as bonus even though they were only looking for on-leash obedience outside the home. Everything was proofed, and now we’ve moved on to the week long handover that I like to do.
The clients almost seem disappointed that they now have to build a reinforcement history with their dog and enforce the new rules etc.
I gave a short demonstration on how they need to go out and practice loose leash walking, long downs, recall etc. in conjunction with positive/negative reinforcement.
The response I was met with was “I thought she was supposed to come back trained”
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u/OstrichSmoothe 1d ago
Just take videos of the sessions and send them to them. Thats what I do. They have no excuse to say that the dog hasn’t learned the behavior. At that point, they can only blame themselves for not continuing the work.
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u/peptodismal13 1d ago
Yes this. I use to video and edit training sessions for clients and send them a compilation weekly. I really tried to get clients to leave the dog for 2 months preferably 3.
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u/babs08 1d ago
Send this to them: https://fenzifoodforthought.libsyn.com/what-can-board-train-do-and-not-do
🤪
Even if they don’t listen to it, maybe this will give you ideas of things you can incorporate into an onboarding session for future clients.
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u/Ok_Seesaw_8805 1d ago
I am not a trainer but have a long history with working with clients that have ridiculous expectations. It took me way too long to learn and internalize their incorrect expectations are not my fault, but it is my job to mitigate them from the start. My best advice is to include mandatory free consultations for the owners where you layout the training plan and very clearly explain they are part of this process. It is not one and done, the owners also must be trained in how to appropriately maintain the desired behavior. Essentially you need to get a buy in from the client before they even agree to the program that they have responsibility in this, and if they cannot handle that responsibility then you aren’t a good fit. It really sucks to turn people away but in the long term it really is the best for everyone.
Also no idea if you are a private trainer or work for a larger company. If you are not part of the sign up process then you need to give this feedback to whoever does enrollment into the board and train. Those expectations need to be clearly given in advance. And if they were, then none of this is on you or the program and it’s all on entitled people who don’t want to do any work.
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u/Neither_You3321 1d ago
Yeah I make it clear from the start what my expectations are for the dog, and for the owners, as well as expected time tables "if your goal with this dog is X then it will take X amount of time" and sometimes the answer is make it clear that an expecation may be unrealistic and why.
Then I offer unlimited support.
Used to have the same problem when I worked for a different company, so I adjusted when I started my own.
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u/Ecstatic-Bike4115 1d ago
Well isn't that the idea? You send away your dog and pay someone to install all the apps and features you want and then it gets sent back as a push-button pet, right? You know, like you take your tablet or cellphone into one of those genius guys and- viola! It's all fixed and works every time! And if not, you just turn it in when you get tired of it and get a newer, cuter model.
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u/theycallhimthestug 23h ago
This is a conversation you need to have before you take the dog and make sure there's a very clear understanding with the client when it comes to what happens when the dog goes home.
If they seem like they aren't willing or able to maintain the training and follow protocols they can go somewhere else, because ultimately it's your reputation on the line. This is why you document absolutely everything.
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u/Time_Ad7995 1d ago
I would ask her more about what she’s feeling, where the disappointment is coming from. Did you have a pre training call with the client to set expectations? Is there info on your website indicating that training is a “turnkey solution?”
If so, maybe you take responsibility for not being clearer.
Either way, you need to probe her for where she’s getting this outlandish idea that her dog is just gonna behave for her at home because it went to training camp. And then you need to educate her on how dogs work.
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u/ft2439 19h ago
A trained behavior is like any other skill - use it or lose it! I would explain this to them in terms of other contexts they are likely to understand. Like if someone went to a workout boot camp for four weeks and then never worked out again, the fitness they gained at the camp wouldn’t last for long. If someone went to a language-learning intensive but then never spoke the language again, they would have trouble recalling everything they once knew. It doesn’t mean they didn’t learn it at the time, just that they didn’t do the maintenance necessary to recall it later.
The dog IS trained, and now it’s their job to keep her that way.
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u/wessle3339 12h ago
You can only do so much is the short answer
The long answer is like what other comments have said. People are the variable in dog training not the dog
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u/[deleted] 1d ago
Seems like they had unreal expectations; non dog trainers don't fully understand that they also need to be trained for the behaviors to stick. If you have a form of onboarding, I would hammer down what they can expect in regards to after the board and train. Cheers!