Residential Program · Toronto & GTA
BOARD & TRAIN TORONTO —
Your Dog Comes Home Better,
Not Just Rested.
$1,750 Obedience · $3,500 Aggression Rehab · $150/day all-in (min 7 nights)
Canada Day 5 left · Civic Holiday 5 left · Labour Day 5 left
4-6 week residential program. Trainer on-site 24/7. Real-environment proofing — parks, parking lots, sidewalks, not just the kennel yard. 3 in-home handover sessions at your house at no extra cost. Minimum 7 nights for measurable change.
Free 15-min phone evaluation first. No commitment. Honest read on whether B&T is right for your dog before money changes hands.
Why Board & Train
Why an immersive program works when weekly class doesn't.
Standard obedience class — 6 weeks, 1 hour a week, dog goes home the same dog. You do all the homework. The trainer never sees what's actually happening in your living room. Most dogs regress within 90 days because reinforcement was thin and inconsistent.
Board & Train flips that. The dog lives with the trainer 14-28 nights. Neural patterns build by repetition plus consistency — same handler, same rules, all day, every day. By week 2 the new behaviour is the default. By week 4 it's automatic under distraction.
Then the 3 in-home handover sessions transfer the work to YOU. The trainer comes to your house, walks the dog through the protocol in YOUR kitchen, YOUR front yard, YOUR local park — with you running the reps. That's what makes the results stick after pickup. Most B&T programs charge extra for this or skip it entirely. We include it.
Real-environment proofing means the work gets tested where it matters — parking lots with shopping carts, sidewalks with joggers and skateboards, parks with off-leash chaos. Training that only holds in the kennel yard isn't training.
What's Included
One investment. Everything in.
- —Trainer-supervised 24/7 — not minimum-wage staff
- —Daily structured training (heel · place · recall · leash manners · threshold work)
- —Real-environment proofing — parks, parking lots, sidewalks, traffic, distractions
- —Written protocol so the owner can maintain the work after pickup
- —3 in-home handover sessions at your house — included, not an upsell
- —Premium crates for rest periods + overnight (decompression discipline)
- —Daily photo + 30-second video update sent proactively
- —20-acre Paddock Estate (Pickering) + Scarborough drop-off
- —Free 15-min phone evaluation before booking — no commitment, honest read
Pricing
Five tiers. Pick the one that fits.
Obedience Program
4-6 weeks · fixed program
$1,750
Heel, place, recall, leash manners, threshold control, real-environment proofing. Most dogs with normal temperament and basics-stuck-on-default problems fit here.
Aggression Prevention / Rehabilitation
6-8 weeks · fixed program
$3,500
Reactive escalating to bite risk, resource guarding, leash aggression, fear-based defensive behaviour, or bite history. Different protocol, longer timeline, deeper follow-up.
Per-Day Board & Train
$150/day · min 7 nights
$150/day
Boarding plus daily training reinforcement during the stay. Use when you need date-flexible training during travel. 7 night minimum for visible change.
Reactive Dogs B&T Tier
$200/day · per-day rate
$200/day
Dog-reactive or human-reactive dogs requiring threshold work, controlled yard rotation, separate intake, and structured trigger management during boarding.
$50 Phone Evaluation
15 min · credited to program
$50
Free 15-min phone evaluation determines the right tier. Credited toward the program if you book. No commitment if you don't.
Full payment upfront via e-transfer to support@dogfather.ca locks dates. No deposit games. The $50 phone evaluation is the only Stripe charge — credited to the program if you book.
Active Case · Illustrative, Not A Guarantee
Casper — what 24 nights of B&T looks like.
Day 1 — Intake
Powerful-breed adult dog. Drop-off at Paddock Estate. Decompression walk, temperament read, baseline obedience check, calm crate introduction. No training in the first 24 hours — the dog has to settle into the environment before structured work begins.
Day 14 — Mid-Program
Foundation locked. Heel, place, recall, leash manners, threshold control all reliable in low-distraction environments. Real-environment proofing begins — parking lots, sidewalks, the off-leash park boundary. Daily photo and video updates ship to the owner's phone.
Day 24 — Pickup
Owner pickup at the kennel for the first owner-on-leash session. Written protocol handed over. Three in-home handover sessions scheduled across the following two weeks — at the owner's house, at their park, in their daily distractions. That's how the work transfers and sticks.
Casper is an active B&T client at the time of writing — illustrative of what 24 nights looks like, not a guaranteed outcome for your dog. Every dog enters and exits the program at different points. The $50 phone evaluation sets honest expectations before booking.
Who It's For
The right candidates.
- —Powerful breeds (Cane Corso, Mastiff, Shepherd, Mal, Bully) where standard 1hr/week obedience classes don't hold
- —Dogs with reactivity — dog-reactive or human-reactive — needing threshold work and caps on triggers (not yet bite-history-level behavior modification)
- —Pulling, ignoring recall, jumping, counter-surfing — the basics-stuck-on-default cases
- —Multi-dog homes where the system is breaking down and one dog is dragging the rest
- —Owners who travel for work and want training during boarding instead of dropping money on training after
Who It's Not For
When B&T isn't the right fit.
- ×Bite-history aggression — that's the Aggression Rehabilitation program at $3,500, different protocol
- ×Puppies under 16 weeks — vaccine series + age-appropriate work requirements apply
- ×Dogs needing personal protection training — separate program from $19,500
- ×1-2 night stays — that's boarding only, not B+T (min 7 nights for measurable change)
FAQ
Board & Train — common questions.
How many nights minimum for measurable change?
7 nights is the floor for visible behaviour shifts in the per-day B+T model ($150/day). For the full Obedience Program ($1,750 fixed), plan 4-6 weeks. For Aggression Rehabilitation ($3,500 fixed), plan 6-8 weeks. Below 7 nights you'll get a well-rested boarded dog but not a trained one — neural patterns need repetition over consecutive days to stick.
What do the 3 in-home handover sessions actually look like?
After pickup, the trainer comes to your house three times. Session 1: walk-through of the protocol in your living room, kitchen, and front yard — same commands, same reps, owner running them. Session 2: real-environment work at your local park and street. Session 3: distraction-proofing and troubleshooting the specific failure points showing up in your week-to-week. This is what makes the training stick — the dog has to respond to YOUR voice in YOUR environment, not just the trainer in the kennel yard.
What if my dog regresses after the program?
Regression is usually owner-side, not dog-side. The dog learned new patterns; the owner went back to old ones (no structure, no follow-through, inconsistent commands). The 3 in-home handover sessions exist to prevent this — they transfer the work to you with the dog in front of both of us. If a real regression shows up later, text 647-551-2633 with what's happening — most cases are fixable with a one-off tune-up session, not a re-enrollment.
Can I visit my dog during the program?
Mid-program visits are not recommended for the first 14 nights — they reset the dog's attachment loop and slow integration into the training environment. After day 14, structured short visits are case-by-case based on temperament and progress. Daily photo + 30-second video updates ship to your phone the entire stay so you're never out of the loop.
Do you train with food, e-collar, prong, or just praise?
Balanced — meaning all of the above used in the right order at the right time. Foundation work is built with food and praise. Marker reliability is layered in next. A flat collar is the baseline tool. E-collar conditioning is introduced low-level (humane, owner can wear-test it) only after foundation is solid and only when it fits the dog. Prong is a tool, not a default — used selectively on heavy pullers where flat collar leverage isn't enough. Tool selection is dog-specific, not ideology-driven.
What's the difference between the Obedience Program and Aggression Rehabilitation?
Obedience Program ($1,750, 4-6 weeks) builds reliable commands, leash manners, recall, place, threshold control, and real-environment proofing for a dog with normal temperament and basics-stuck-on-default problems. Aggression Rehabilitation ($3,500, 6-8 weeks) is for dogs with reactivity escalating into bite risk, resource guarding, leash aggression, fear-based defensive behaviour, or bite history. Different protocols, different timelines, different post-program follow-up. The $50 phone evaluation determines which fits.
What if my dog flunks the program?
We vet honestly at the $50 phone evaluation — dogs that aren't a fit get told before money changes hands. If a dog enters the program and is genuinely not responding to the protocol within the first week, we call you, refund the unworked portion (this is the only refund scenario), and recommend the right next step — usually that's Aggression Rehabilitation instead of Obedience, or a longer per-day stay, or a different referral. We don't keep money for work we can't deliver.
How do I know if my dog is a B+T candidate vs just needs boarding?
If you can write down three specific behaviours you want changed — 'pulls on leash, ignores recall at the park, jumps on guests' — you're a B+T candidate. If you just need a safe place for your dog while you travel and you're happy with the dog's behaviour day-to-day, you want boarding ($90/day, see /services/boarding). The $50 phone evaluation sorts this in 15 minutes.
Get an honest read on your dog.
Free 15-min phone evaluation first. No commitment, no pitch. Honest read on whether B&T is right for your dog and which tier fits.
E-transfer support@dogfather.ca to lock dates after fit is confirmed. Full upfront, non-refundable.
See also: standard boarding ($90/day) · reactive boarding ($200/day) · special needs boarding ($250/day) · summer boarding · Summer 2026 GTA guide · full intake form