Gold, the two-week foundation
2-week board and train in Houston: what the $2,500 Gold program covers
Two weeks is where a board and train stops being a tune-up and becomes a foundation. There is enough time to teach a command, add duration and distraction, and then repeat it until the dog offers it without being asked twice. Gold is built for the pulling, jumping, counter-surfing family dog who is a good dog with no rules.
Last reviewed September 11, 2026 · by the Best Dog University Team
Who Gold is built for
Gold fits the good dog with no rules: the puller, the jumper, the door dasher.
The over-friendly adolescent. A ten-month-old Lab or doodle who greets guests with both front feet, drags you toward every dog at Bill Archer Bark Park and treats the front door as a starting gate is the classic Gold dog. Nothing is wrong with him. He has never been shown that calm gets him what he wants and pushing gets him nothing.
The rescue settling in. A newly adopted adult who has been home a month or two and is now testing the house does well with two weeks of clear structure. Gold gives him place, a crate routine and a walk that does not involve dragging, and the additional lesson afterward lets us check in once he has been back in your home for a while.
The household that needs impulse control most. If mealtimes, doorbells and the leash are the daily flashpoints, Gold addresses all three. What Gold is not for is a dog who lunges, growls or bites. That work needs the three-week Platinum with its behavior modification and field trips, and our team will say so on the consultation.
- Best for: jumping, pulling, door dashing, no place command, general chaos
- A first board and train for a dog aged roughly six months to six years
- Rescues who are past their first few weeks at home
- Not for reactivity or aggression; that is Platinum territory
Fourteen days, in order
Week one teaches the commands; week two makes them hold under distraction.
Drop-off. You bring your dog to the Cypress training home off US-290 with his food and his vaccination records, or our team picks him up at home for $250. The first day is deliberately low-key: a crate, a structured walk, dinner for a sit. Nothing is taught on a stressed dog, so day one is about letting the house become normal.
The training weeks. Mornings and evenings are leash and obedience sessions; the middle of the day is place, crate rest and household structure. Gold dogs train on the property and the neighborhood streets rather than in stores, which still supplies delivery drivers, fence dogs, cyclists and the neighbor's cat. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday you get photos and a video of the current skill so the progress is visible, not described.
Days 1 to 2: settling in, crate routine, the first structured walks, and marker words so your dog learns what yes and no sound like.
Days 3 to 5: sit/stay and place/stay are taught in the yard, then moved into the kitchen while meals are cooked around him.
Days 6 to 7: door boundaries at every exit in the house, and the leash work moves from the driveway to sidewalks with distractions.
Days 8 to 10: duration and distance. Place holds while people come and go, the stay survives a dropped bowl, the walk passes another dog on the far sidewalk.
Days 11 to 12: impulse control drills: waiting for food, waiting at the truck door, ignoring a thrown toy until released, no jumping on anyone who walks in.
Day 13: a full proofing day with a second handler and the Friday video showing every command in sequence.
Day 14: the go-home session, at the training home or at your house if you chose transport, followed by your additional lesson a couple of weeks later.
Price and inclusions
Gold is $2,500 for two weeks, and the follow-up lesson is part of that price.
Gold costs $2,500. That covers 14 days of living and training in the house, the go-home session, one additional lesson after your dog is home and lifelong support from our team when questions come up months later. It sits between the one-week Silver at $1,500 and the three-week Platinum at $3,750, and the table below shows what each step adds.
The $250 reservation deposit. When the consultation confirms Gold is the fit, a $250 deposit reserves your two weeks and is credited against the $2,500. Because a limited number of dogs live in the home at once, popular windows such as the weeks before Thanksgiving fill early, and the deposit is what holds your dates.
- $2,500 all in, no charges for updates or food
- One follow-up lesson included, plus lifelong support by phone
- $250 pickup and return is optional and adds an in-home first lesson
- $250 deposit reserves the dates and is applied to the balance
| Program | Length and price | What is included |
|---|---|---|
| Silver Foundation | 1 week, $1,500 | Loose leash walking, door boundaries, basic structure, go-home session |
| Gold Board & Train | 2 weeks, $2,500 | Sit/stay, place/stay, loose leash, door boundaries, jumping, pulling, impulse control, go-home session, one additional lesson, lifelong support |
| Platinum Board & Train | 3 weeks, $3,750 | Everything in Gold plus down/stay, structured heel, behavior modification, field trips, comprehensive handover, unlimited private lessons, lifetime support |
Houston specifics
Two weeks in Cypress means two weeks of Houston doors, sidewalks and weather.
The neighborhood around the training home is the classroom. Sidewalks in the subdivisions off Fry Road carry joggers, strollers, and dogs walking the other way; the esplanades have fire ant mounds that teach a dog to walk where the handler walks; the front door faces a street with regular deliveries. Gold dogs meet all of it on leash before they meet your street.
Timing follows the calendar. From late May through September the outdoor sessions run at dawn and after dinner, with the hottest hours spent on place and crate work indoors. From June 1 to November 30 our team also keeps a storm plan for every dog in the house, and Ready Harris is the reference we point families to for their own kit.
- Central Houston to Cypress: about 30 to 45 minutes outside rush hour
- Katy, Cinco Ranch and Tomball: closer to 25 to 35 minutes
- Summer sessions at dawn and dusk; pavement is hand-tested before every walk
- Mosquito and heartworm pressure is year-round here, so prevention should be current at drop-off
The programs
Gold, and the programs on either side of it.
Most dogs who call about two weeks end up in Gold. Some need less, and a few need the behavior work that only Platinum carries.
Asked and answered
Questions people ask about this.
How much is a 2-week board and train in Houston?
The Gold Board & Train is $2,500 for two weeks at Best Dog University. That price includes the stay in our Cypress training home, all training, updates three times a week, the go-home session, one additional lesson and lifelong support. Optional door-to-door transportation is $250 and includes the first lesson at your house.
Is two weeks enough to stop jumping and leash pulling?
For most dogs without reactivity, yes. Jumping and pulling are habits with a payoff, and 14 days of consistent structure replaces the payoff with a better one. The go-home session then teaches you the leash handling and the door routine so the habit does not return the first time a guest arrives.
What is the additional lesson that comes with Gold?
It is a private session with our trainers after your dog has been home long enough for real life to test the training, typically a couple of weeks. It happens in Cypress, or at your home if you chose transport. We watch you handle the dog, fix what has slipped and answer the questions you did not know to ask at the handover.
Can my dog do Gold if he is reactive to other dogs?
We would steer you to Platinum. Gold has no behavior modification and no field trips, and reactivity needs both: controlled exposure to real dogs at a distance the dog can handle, repeated over weeks. Two weeks of obedience will make a reactive dog easier to hold, but it will not change how he feels about the trigger.
Where does my dog sleep during the two weeks?
In a crate inside our trainer's home in Cypress, in the same house where he trains. There are no kennel runs. A limited number of dogs live there at once, each on his own crate and place routine, and the crate itself becomes part of the structure he brings home.
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Talk to our team about two weeks for your dog.
Start with the free phone consultation, a no-cost call with our trainers about what is going on at home. When Gold is the fit, a $250 reservation deposit holds your dates and is credited toward the $2,500.