Three updates a week
Do you send updates during board and train?
Handing your dog to someone for two or three weeks is hard, and silence would make it harder. Our update schedule exists so you never wonder, and so that by go-home day you already recognize the dog walking toward you.
Last reviewed September 11, 2026 · by the Best Dog University Team
The short version
Three scheduled updates a week, plus a phone call whenever something matters.
The rhythm is fixed: Monday, Wednesday and Friday, photos and short video clips sent directly to you. Some days that is a clip of a loose leash walk down a Bridgeland sidewalk. Some days it is your dog holding a down-stay while another dog walks past. The point is not a highlight reel; it is an honest window into what he is learning and where he still struggles.
Scheduled updates are the floor, not the ceiling. If your dog goes off his food, limps after a session, or has a hard day around other dogs, you hear about it the day it happens. Our team would rather send an unplanned message than let you find out on Friday. That is the arrangement we would want for our own dogs.
- Monday, Wednesday, Friday: photos and video
- Real settings, not staged shots
- Same-day call for anything health related
- Text or call our team between updates
Why three days
A fixed rhythm keeps the training day about the dog.
Training in a home with several dogs is a full day. Early sessions before the Houston heat builds, crate rest, midday store trips, evening walks, and the quiet structure in between that teaches a dog to settle. Filming every minute would change that day, and a constant stream of messages would pull the trainer's attention off the dog in front of him. Three fixed days let us plan real footage around real work.
The gap between updates also serves a purpose. Progress in dog training is not linear: day six can look worse than day four as a dog tests the new rules. Seeing him every other day rather than every hour gives you a fairer picture of the trend, and gives our team the chance to add context to a clip that might otherwise worry you.
What you see
Expect the unpolished clips too, because they are the ones that teach you the most.
The first update usually shows settling: crate, place, food, a first walk. By the middle of a Gold stay you should see leash work on sidewalks and door boundaries at our front door. Platinum families get field trip footage from stores off 290 and Fry Road and, in cooler months, from parks like Bill Archer Bark Park or the trails at Josey Lake. In summer, outdoor clips come from early morning and the indoor work fills the rest.
We deliberately include the moments that did not go to plan. A clip where your dog breaks a stay and gets reset shows you more about the method than a perfect one, and it is the method you will need on go-home day. If you want to see something specific, a particular trigger or a skill you care about, tell our team and we will film it.
Watch each clip twice: once for the dog, once for the trainer's hands and timing.
Note the words and the leash handling; you will be asked to copy them.
Reply with questions, and send a clip of the problem you see at home.
Share updates with everyone in the household so nobody is surprised at handover.
Save the clips; they become your reference after the go-home session.
The Houston calendar
Weather shapes what an update looks like in a given week.
From May through September, the outdoor footage arrives from dawn and dusk sessions because pavement in the afternoon can burn paws; our trainers do the back-of-the-hand test before any sidewalk work. Store aisles and indoor obedience fill midday, so summer updates lean toward hardware store heel work rather than park trails. Neither is less valuable, and the stores are a harder test.
During hurricane season, June 1 through November 30, a storm week may mean fewer clips and more phone calls. If a system threatens, our team contacts every family before conditions change, and updates resume once the dogs are settled. Fireworks around July 4 and New Year get the same treatment: we tell you how your dog handled the noise rather than leaving you to wonder.
- Summer: early and late outdoor clips, indoor midday
- Pavement checked by hand before sidewalk work
- Storm weeks: calls first, clips when settled
- Fireworks nights: you hear how he coped
What it means for you
Updates are the start of the handover, not a substitute for it.
By go-home day, a family that has watched a dozen clips already knows the commands, the leash position and the pace of the structured walk. That makes the handover session faster and the first week at home smoother. For families far out in Montgomery or Pearland, the updates are also the bridge across a drive to Cypress that is not made lightly.
After the stay, support continues by phone and text. Gold includes one follow-up lesson and lifelong support; Platinum adds unlimited private lessons; VIP moves all of it into your home. The habit of sending our team a quick video when something slips is one we hope you keep for years. Quick questions get quick answers.
The programs
Every program, updated three times a week.
The schedule is the same whether the stay is two weeks or six; only the footage changes.
Asked and answered
Questions people ask about this.
Can I get updates every day instead of three times a week?
The schedule is Monday, Wednesday and Friday for every dog, and we keep to it so the training day stays focused. That said, our team answers texts and calls between updates, and anything health related gets a same-day message. If a specific worry is keeping you up, say so and we will send what you need.
Do you send updates by text, email or an app?
Directly to your phone, photos and short video clips, so you can watch them anywhere and share them with the household. There is no app to install. Keep the clips: after the go-home session they become your reference for the exact words and handling our trainers used.
Will I see my dog with other dogs in the updates?
Yes, when it is part of the work. Your dog lives in a house with a small group of other client dogs, and learning to stay calm around them is a big part of the program. For reactive dogs we film the controlled exposures so you see the distance and the timing, not just the result.
What if I see something in an update that worries me?
Call us. A clip that shows a dog breaking a stay or being reset is usually a normal training moment, and our team will explain what happened and why. If it is something else, a limp or a change in appetite, we have almost certainly already called you about it.
Do updates continue if my dog is with you for six weeks on VIP?
Yes, all the way through. Six weeks of Monday, Wednesday and Friday footage shows the full arc from leash work to off-leash reliability and front and center positioning, which is what VIP builds. The final week's clips preview the in-home handover our team delivers with the dog.
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Want to see what an update looks like?
Ask our team on the free phone consultation. A $250 deposit reserves the dates, and the Monday, Wednesday and Friday rhythm starts the first week.