Board and train · Feeding
What do dogs eat at board and train?
Food is the one thing about a stay that families can control completely, and it is also a training tool. Here is what your dog eats, when, how meals become lessons, and the Houston details that touch the bowl.
Last reviewed September 11, 2026 · by the Best Dog University Team
The short version
Your food, your portions, our schedule.
You send the food; we feed it. That is the rule, and it holds for kibble, canned, raw, home-cooked and prescription diets. The portion you send tells us his normal serving, so pack it measured by the day and note how many meals he gets. Meals happen at set times, in the crate or on a place bed, with a wait before the bowl goes down and a release word before he eats. Water is always available.
The reason we hold the line on your food is simple. A change of house is already a stressor, and a change of diet on top of it produces loose stool in a day or two, which then costs training days. The dog who arrives with three weeks of his own kibble and a note saying two cups twice a day is the dog who has no stomach trouble at all.
- The food he eats at home, no switches
- Portioned by the day, with three or four spare days
- Set meal times, wait and release at the bowl
- Water down at all times
The reasoning
Meals are training sessions, and the ration is the reward budget.
A dog eats twice a day anyway, so every meal is a chance to practice the things a stay is teaching. The bowl goes down only after a sit or a down with duration. The release word is the only thing that lets him eat. Half of a portion may be hand-fed during a session for place, recall or a loose leash, and the rest comes at mealtime. Nothing is added; the dog just earns what he was going to get.
This is also why we ask for few or no extra treats. Kibble from the dog's own bag is a perfectly good reward for most dogs, and a dog who works for his dinner is a dog who works. If your dog needs something higher value, or has allergies that limit what he can have, send the treats he is allowed and we will use those and nothing else.
- Sit or down with duration before every bowl
- Part of the ration hand-fed in sessions
- Your treats only, if he has allergies
For your dog
Puppies, adults, guarders and picky eaters each get a feeding plan.
A puppy at four to five months usually eats three meals a day and keeps that schedule here, on the growth food your vet recommended. Adults eat twice. Seniors eat what they eat at home, with supplements given as you wrote them. Picky eaters are the one group that sometimes eats better here than at home, because a bowl that goes down for ten minutes and comes up again, with no fuss, tends to fix pickiness in a few days.
Resource guarders are fed alone, in a crate, with nobody near the bowl, because the stay is about building a dog who does not need to guard, not about testing him. Dogs on prescription diets bring the vet's notes. Raw diets are stored and handled separately from the other dogs' food and fed in the crate. A dog with a history of bloat eats slowly from a bowl that makes him work, and rests after meals rather than training.
Houston reality
Heat, mosquitoes and fire ants all reach the food bowl here.
In a Houston summer, water matters more than food. Bowls are inside in the air conditioning, refilled through the day, and every outdoor session from May to September ends with a drink. Outdoor food bowls are a fire ant invitation in every Cypress yard, so meals are indoors, and a dog is never left with a bowl on the patio. Any food left down attracts more than ants in this climate, which is another reason for timed meals.
Monthly heartworm prevention is usually a chewable given with a meal, and mosquitoes carry heartworm here in every month, so if a dose falls during the stay, send it and we give it with breakfast on the date you note. Flea and tick prevention is the same. During hurricane season, June 1 to November 30, the spare days of food you packed are also the evacuation supply, which is why we ask for three or four extra.
Count the days of the program and add three or four.
Portion each day's food into bags or note the exact scoop, and write meals per day on the container.
Put heartworm and parasite doses due during the stay in with the food, labeled with the date.
Include vet notes for any prescription diet and preparation steps for raw or home-cooked food.
Add a small bag of the treats your dog is allowed, if any.
Tell our team on the phone consultation about allergies, bloat history or guarding.
The programs
The feeding plan is the same in every program; the number of days changes.
Gold is two weeks at $2,500, Platinum three weeks at $3,750 and VIP six weeks at $10,000, so a VIP dog needs about six weeks of food plus spare days. Meals as training carry into the go-home session, where you learn the wait and the release at your own kitchen bowl. With the $250 transport service our team collects the food with the dog and brings home whatever is left, along with the feeding routine that will keep working at your house.
The programs
Programs at Best Dog University, fed on your food.
Two, three or six weeks in our trainer's home in Cypress, with meals on a schedule and part of each ration earned in sessions.
Asked and answered
Questions people ask about this.
Will you switch my dog to a better food if his is poor?
No. Diet advice is your vet's job, and switching mid-stay would cost training days to stomach upset. If our trainers notice something worth mentioning, such as loose stool on the current food, we tell you at the go-home session and suggest you talk to your vet. What your dog eats during the stay is what you sent.
How much food should I send for a three-week stay?
Twenty-one days plus three or four spare days, at his normal daily amount. Portion it by the day or write the exact scoop on the container, and note how many meals he eats. If he is on a prescription diet, send the vet's notes as well. Leftover food goes home with the dog at the go-home session.
Do dogs eat less during board and train?
Some eat a little less on the first day while they settle, then eat normally from day two. A dog who skips more than a meal or two is a dog our team is already talking to you about. Because part of each ration is hand-fed in sessions, many dogs eat with more enthusiasm here than they do from a bowl at home.
Can you feed my dog raw or home-cooked food?
Yes, with instructions. Tell our team on the phone consultation so freezer space and thawing are planned, send the food portioned by day, and include preparation steps. Raw food is stored and fed separately from the other dogs' meals and always in the crate. A prescription diet comes with the vet's notes in case a clinic needs them.
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Tell our team what your dog eats.
Diet, allergies and medications go on file at the free phone consultation. A $250 deposit reserves the dates, and the packing list follows.