One week
Is a one-week board and train enough?
A week is short, and honest trainers say so. It is also genuinely useful for the right dog. This page separates what seven days in our training home can do from what it cannot, so you can choose Silver for the right reasons or skip it for the right reasons.
Last reviewed September 10, 2026 · by the Best Dog University Team
What a week does
Seven days is enough to install a framework the dog did not have.
Structure changes a dog quickly. Within a few days of earned meals, waiting at doors, a structured walk and place, most dogs are calmer and more attentive, and that shows in the first update. Loose leash walking and door boundaries can be taught and practiced enough to send home with a go-home session. For a dog who has never had rules, that is a real change.
For a dog who has had training and drifted, after a move, a new baby or a lapse, a week is a reset. The skills are still in there; a week of consistent handling brings them back and the go-home session reminds the household how to keep them.
- Structure: earned meals, doors, place, a walk with rules
- Loose leash walking and door boundaries
- Refreshers for dogs that had training before
- $1,500 with a go-home session
What it cannot do
Behavior that took months to build does not change in a week.
Reactivity, aggression, separation anxiety and fear are patterns the dog has rehearsed hundreds of times. Replacing them means practicing the opposite more times than that, near the trigger, in real places, and a week has no room for it. Neither does a week have time for field trips or the proofing that makes obedience hold in public.
Our team will tell you this on the free phone consultation rather than book a week that will disappoint. Most dogs benefit from additional time and repetition to reach reliable, lasting results, especially in distracting real-world environments, and the two-week Gold and three-week Platinum exist for exactly that.
Who Silver fits
Three kinds of dogs get real value from a week.
The first is the dog who needs a starting point: young, no bad habits yet, an owner who wants structure installed before adolescence. The second is the refresher dog: trained before, drifted, needs a reset. The third is the family that wants to try the format before committing to a longer stay, which is fine, and Silver graduates often book Gold or Platinum later as a second stay.
A Houston summer makes the week attractive for a fourth reason: a family that cannot use the dawn and dusk training windows can hand that week to our trainers and get a structured dog back.
Ask yourself whether the problem is manners or behavior.
If it is manners and the dog is young or previously trained, Silver fits.
If it involves other dogs, strangers, fear or being alone, plan on Gold or Platinum.
Book the free phone consultation and let our team confirm the length.
Silver versus Gold
The second week is where obedience gets proofed, and that is the difference in price.
Silver is $1,500 for one week; Gold is $2,500 for two. The extra week buys sit/stay, place/stay, work on jumping, pulling and impulse control, repetition until the commands hold at home and on the street, and an additional lesson plus lifelong support after the go-home session. For a dog with mild to moderate manners problems, Gold is usually the better buy per result.
| Silver | Gold | |
|---|---|---|
| Length | 1 week | 2 weeks |
| Price | $1,500 | $2,500 |
| Structure, loose leash, door boundaries | Yes | Yes |
| Sit/stay, place/stay, impulse control | Introduced | Built and proofed |
| Jumping and pulling addressed | Started | Yes |
| After the stay | Go-home session | Go-home session, extra lesson, lifelong support |
After the week
A week sends home rules; keeping them is the household's job.
The go-home session at pick-up shows you the walk, the doors and the place bed, and you keep the structure at home. Silver does not include follow-up lessons, so families who want ongoing help either book private lessons at $160 or $220 or return for Gold or Platinum. Many do, and the week they already did counts: the dog arrives with the framework and the longer stay starts further along.
The programs
One week, two, or three.
Silver installs structure. Gold proofs obedience. Platinum changes behavior.
Asked and answered
Questions people ask about this.
Can a one-week board and train fix pulling?
It can install loose leash walking and get a dog started on it, which for a dog without other issues is often enough with practice at home. A dog that pulls toward other dogs and people needs the repetition of Gold or Platinum for the result to hold in public.
Is Silver a good refresher after a move or a new baby?
Yes. Dogs that had training and drifted respond fast to a week of consistent handling, and the go-home session reminds the household of the routine. That is one of the best uses of the program.
Can I upgrade to a longer program after Silver?
Yes. Families often book Gold or Platinum as a second stay, and the dog arrives with the framework already in place. Our trainers will tell you at the go-home session whether more time would pay off.
Does Silver include field trips?
No. Field trips into stores, parks and public places are part of the Platinum and VIP programs. Silver builds structure and a loose leash on the property and the surrounding streets.
Is one week enough for a puppy?
Puppies under four months do better with the Puppy Development Bundle, which teaches the household. From about five months an adolescent with manners problems usually needs the two weeks of Gold rather than one.
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Ask our team whether a week is enough for your dog.
We will say so plainly on the free phone consultation, or tell you which longer program fits.