Residential Program · Toronto & GTA
BOARD & TRAIN TORONTO —
Your Dog Comes Home Better,
Not Just Rested.
$150/day Standard · $250/day Reactive/Aggressive · $200/day Special Needs (min 7 nights)
Long-weekend and holiday dates book 2–4 weeks ahead — text to check yours
Board and train is an immersive residential dog-training service where your dog lives with a trainer and practises new behaviours throughout each day. The Dogfather serves Toronto and the GTA with trainer-supervised daily work, real-environment proofing in parks, parking lots and sidewalks, plus three in-home handover sessions after pickup. Minimum 7 nights for measurable change.
$50 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
- —Scarborough drop-off, confirmed at booking
- —$50 evaluation before booking — no commitment, honest read
Pricing
Five tiers. Pick the one that fits.
Obedience Program
4-6 weeks · fixed program
From $1,500
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
$250/day · per-day rate
$250/day
Dog-reactive or human-reactive dogs requiring threshold work, controlled yard rotation, separate intake, and structured trigger management during boarding.
Evaluation
30 min · Interac e-Transfer, pay to book
$50
$50 evaluation to discuss the right tier — credited in full toward an enrolled program.
Full payment upfront via e-transfer to support@dogfather.ca locks dates. No deposit games, no card processors. Your 30-minute evaluation is $50 by Interac e-Transfer, credited in full toward an enrolled program.
Reactive B&T Packages
Three longer commitments for reactive dogs.
The Reactive Dogs B&T Tier above stays exactly as it is at $250/day, booked by the day. These three packages are the longer-runway option, booked as one block at a lower effective rate. All three run the same work — threshold distances, controlled yard rotation, separate intake and structured trigger management. What changes is how long we have to move each one outward and how much of it transfers to you before handover. We do not sell a cure or a date by which a reactive dog is finished; reactivity is managed, and the length you pick is how much management we get to build.
Foundation
2 months · 60 days
$15,000
$250/day effective
Separate intake, solo yard time with the trainer, and daily threshold work with structured trigger management. Two months is enough to find the distances your dog can actually hold, write them into the protocol you take home, and run the three in-home handover sessions at your house. Reactivity is managed, not cured — this tier is where the management becomes repeatable.
Working toward: holding under threshold at a known distance from its triggers during solo yard time and on real-environment walks, with you running the written protocol at home.
Advanced
4 months · 120 days
$27,000
$225/day effective
Everything in Foundation with twice the runway. Controlled exposure is only added after threshold work confirms the dog can stay under threshold, so the extra months are what buy the repetitions: solo yard time first, then controlled yard rotation, then real-environment proofing in parks, parking lots, sidewalks and traffic.
Working toward: staying under threshold through controlled yard rotation and in the real environments on the protocol, with any exposure earned and supervised step by step rather than assumed.
Saves $3,000 against the per-day rate
Master
6 months · 180 days
$39,000
$216/day effective
The longest of the three. Everything in Advanced, with the repetitions spread across six months — more real-environment proofing and more weeks of structured trigger management before the written protocol and the three in-home handover sessions move the job across to you. Reactivity stays a management job after pickup; six months is about making that job small enough for you to hold on your own.
Working toward: a management routine you can run without us — threshold distances, trigger handling and yard and walk routines rehearsed often enough that your handling is what holds it.
Saves $6,000 against the per-day rate
Packages are full payment upfront by Interac e-Transfer to support@dogfather.ca. No deposits, no card processors. Every reactive dog starts with the $50 evaluation and a separate intake before a package is offered — we only take the dogs we can run safely, and the evaluation is credited in full toward an enrolled program.
Live From The Field
Recent Transformations
Fresh from @thedogfather___ — real training sessions from the field. Tap a card to watch the original reel.
Great Dane × Cane Corso dog training in the GTA: from overpowering his owner to calm, focused control. 🐕🦺🔥
I dreamed about this walk for years… one powerful black dog and one powerful white dog beside me. 🤍🖤
One dog is learning structure. The other is showing what trained freedom looks like. 🔥
She tried to attack me when I first got her. Now watch her work.
🚨 This Frenchie used to be distracted by EVERYTHING.
Dog reactive. Pulled on every walk.
Follow the newest training clips, then book your consultation
Active Case · Illustrative, Not A Guarantee
Casper — what 24 nights of B&T looks like.
Day 1 — Intake
Powerful-breed adult dog. Scarborough drop-off. 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 evaluation sets honest expectations before booking, and is credited in full toward an enrolled program.
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 minimum for the per-day Board & Train model. Standard Board & Train is $150/day, Reactive/Aggressive Board & Train is $250/day, and Special Needs Board & Train is $200/day. Session-based Obedience is a separate option at $150/session in packages from $1,500; Aggression Rehabilitation is a separate $3,500 program.
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?
Session-based Obedience ($150/session in packages from $1,500) builds commands, leash manners, recall, place, threshold control, and real-environment proofing for dogs with normal temperament and foundation gaps. Aggression Rehabilitation ($3,500) is for cases escalating into bite risk, resource guarding, leash aggression, fear-based defensive behaviour, or bite history. Board & Train is priced separately by day. Book your $50 evaluation to get matched — credited in full toward an enrolled program.
What if my dog flunks the program?
We vet honestly during the $50 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 evaluation sorts out the right starting point.
Get an honest read on your dog.
$50 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 ($250/day) · special needs boarding ($200/day) · summer boarding · Summer 2026 GTA guide · full intake form