Choosing a trainer
What questions to ask a board and train?
A board and train is the biggest thing most families will ever spend on a dog, and the questions that sort a good one from a bad one are the same everywhere, including here. Our trainers would rather answer them on the phone than have a family find out the answers on pickup day.
Last reviewed September 11, 2026 · by the Best Dog University Team
The short version
Nine questions, and the answers that should end the call.
Where does the dog live, a home, a kennel run or a training floor, and can you see it: a trainer who will not show you has answered. How many dogs at once, and how many handlers: a number that sounds like a business rather than a household is a number to think about. What is the method and which tools, in words a stranger can follow: a method described only as positive or only as firm, with no detail, is not a method. What are the vaccination and health requirements: a trainer with none is not protecting the other dogs. How often are the updates and in what form. What is the go-home session, how long is it, and does it train you. What follow-up is included, for how long, at what cost. What does the price include, in writing. And what happens if it does not work, asked plainly and answered with a plan rather than a promise.
- Where the dog lives, and can you see it
- How many dogs, how many handlers
- The method and the tools, in plain words
- Vaccination and health requirements
- Updates, the go-home session, the follow-up
- The price in writing, and what if it fails
The reasoning
Why each question matters, and what the bad answers hide.
Where the dog lives decides what kind of dog comes home: a dog that spent three weeks in a kennel run learns to be calm in a kennel run, and a dog that lived in a house with real doors, real guests and real meals learns to be calm in a house. How many dogs decides how much attention yours gets, and a household number is different from a facility number. The method and the tools decide whether you can continue the training, because a family that does not understand what was done cannot keep it. The health requirements protect your dog from the others. The updates tell you the dog is alive and working, and their absence is the most common complaint about board and trains. The go-home session decides whether the training transfers to you, and the follow-up decides whether it lasts. The price in writing prevents the pickup-day surprise, and the answer to what if it fails tells you whether the trainer has thought about your dog or about the sale.
The bad answers hide the same thing: a program built for volume rather than for the dog in front of it.
- Where it lives decides what comes home
- How many decides the attention
- The method decides whether you can continue it
- The handover decides whether it transfers; the follow-up decides whether it lasts
- A price in writing prevents the pickup-day surprise
What it means for your dog
The manners case, the behavior case, the puppy and the bite history.
For a manners case, the go-home session and the follow-up are the questions that matter most, because the manners live in your house and the stay only starts them. For a behavior case, the method, the tools, the number of dogs and the follow-up matter most, because reactivity and fear need daily individual work and lessons afterwards. For a puppy, ask whether the trainer takes puppies at all and at what age, because a ten-week puppy does not belong in a stay and a trainer who takes one is telling you something. For a bite history, ask whether the trainer assesses before booking, what the muzzle plan is, and whether they have ever said no to a dog, because the right answer to the last one is yes.
- Manners: the handover and the follow-up
- Behavior: the method, the tools, the number of dogs, the follow-up
- A puppy: whether they take one at all, and at what age
- A bite: an consultation first, a muzzle plan, and a trainer who has said no
The Houston factor
Two more questions for a Houston stay: the heat and the drive.
Add two questions for any Houston board and train. Where and when does the outdoor work happen from May to September: a trainer who works dogs on a July afternoon does not understand the climate, and the right answer involves dawn, dusk, store aisles and the pavement test. And how does the dog get there and back: a family in Sugar Land or Kingwood is an hour from Cypress, and the transport, the drop-off and where the go-home session happens change the decision and the price. Our own answers to all eleven are below and on the how-it-works page, and the free phone consultation is where a family asks them.
Write the nine questions down and add the two Houston ones
Ask them on the phone, and listen for detail rather than a script
Ask to visit, and look at where the dog would live and the dogs that are there
Ask for a family with a similar dog to talk to
Get the price, the inclusions, the handover and the follow-up in writing
Ask what happens if it does not work, and listen for a plan
Put down a deposit only after all of that, and only for dates that fit the dog
Our answers
The eleven questions, answered for the record.
The dog lives in our trainer's home in Cypress, sleeps in a crate in the house, and families are welcome to see it. A limited number of dogs at a time, and our team tells you the number for your dates. Balanced training, with the tools chosen for the dog and named on the phone. Current vaccinations including rabies are required, and records are sent at booking. Photo and video updates every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Every program ends with a go-home session that trains the family, at the training home or, with the $250 transport, at your house. Follow-up runs from one lesson after Gold at $2,500 to unlimited lessons after Platinum at $3,750 and VIP at $10,000, with lifetime support on all three. Prices are on the pricing page. If the training does not take, the follow-up lessons are where it gets fixed, and our team says on the phone when a dog's case is beyond a stay. Summer work runs at dawn, dusk and in the store aisles along 290, and the transport covers the whole metro.
The programs
Our programs, with the questions answered.
Gold, Platinum and VIP, with every question above answered on the free call and on the how-it-works page.
Asked and answered
Questions people ask about this.
What is the most important question to ask a board and train?
Where the dog lives during the stay, and whether you can see it. A house, a kennel run and a training floor produce different dogs, and a trainer who will not show you has answered. The second is how many dogs are trained at once.
Should a board and train send updates?
Yes, on a schedule you know in advance, with photos or video of your dog working. The absence of updates is the most common complaint about board and trains, and a trainer who cannot say what your dog does all day is a trainer to skip. Ours arrive on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
What should happen at the end of a board and train?
A go-home session that trains you, not a handshake in a parking lot: the trainer shows you what the dog learned, teaches you the handling, and sends you home with a plan. Follow-up lessons afterwards are what make it last. Ask how long the session is and who is trained in it.
What if the training does not work?
Ask before you book, and listen for a plan rather than a promise: follow-up lessons, a reassessment, an honest conversation about the dog. A trainer who promises results is dodging the question. Ours is answered on the how-it-works page and on the free phone consultation.
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Ask all eleven.
Ask our team the eleven questions. The free phone consultation is a direct call, and every answer is on the how-it-works page too.