Ready before the due date
Board and train before the baby arrives: a Houston timeline
The dog who was your first baby is about to meet your second, and the timing is not negotiable. Everyone tells expecting parents to prepare the dog. Very few say how, or when, or that the last trimester is not the moment to start. This is the timeline we walk families through, counted backward from the due date.
Last reviewed September 11, 2026 · by the Best Dog University Team
Who books before the baby
Pre-baby board and train fits couples whose dog runs the house right now.
The dog who sleeps in the bed and answers the door. A young couple's first dog often has no place command, no threshold rule and free access to every room. None of that is a problem until a newborn is on the floor. Gold installs place, door boundaries and calm greetings so the dog has a spot to go to when the baby is being changed and the grandparents are arriving.
The dog with a nervous streak. A rescue who startles at noise, paces when routines change or hides during storms will find a crying newborn and a house full of visitors overwhelming. Structure gives that dog something to do, and building it in our quiet Cypress home before the baby arrives is kinder than trying to teach it during the sleepless weeks after.
The dog who has guarded or growled. If your dog resource guards, has snapped at a visiting child or gets stiff when hugged, the baby's arrival raises the stakes. Platinum's behavior modification, handling work and management plan are the honest answer, and they need to be done with time to spare, which is why this timeline starts in the second trimester.
- Dogs with no place command and no rules at the door
- Anxious or noise-sensitive dogs who struggle with change
- Dogs who guard, growl or dislike being touched
- Couples who want the first week home to be about the baby, not the dog
Counting back from the due date
The stay belongs in the second trimester, and the timeline is built backward from the baby.
The mistake families make is booking the stay for the month before the due date. That leaves no time for the new rules to become habit at home, and it puts drop-off and a go-home session into the weeks when appointments multiply and the nursery is being built. The right window is earlier, with a buffer for a baby who comes early.
Once the dog is home, the weeks before the birth are for rehearsal: place while the swing runs, a wait at the nursery door, a calm greeting for every visitor. The go-home session teaches all of it, and with transport the handover happens in your house so the nursery itself is part of the lesson. Gold's additional lesson lands a few weeks later, right when the household is testing the rules.
Twenty weeks before the due date: the free phone consultation. Our team hears about the dog, the house and any guarding or anxiety, and recommends Gold or Platinum.
Sixteen to eighteen weeks before: pay the $250 reservation deposit and lock the dates; the home keeps a limited number of dogs and these windows fill early.
Twelve to fourteen weeks before: drop-off in Cypress or pick-up at your door, and the two- or three-week stay.
Nine to eleven weeks before: the go-home session, ideally in your home with transport, including the nursery, the front door and the couch rules.
Six to eight weeks before: the Gold additional lesson or a Platinum private lesson, tightening whatever has slipped and rehearsing the baby's arrival with a stroller, a doll and recorded crying.
The final weeks: run place and the door routine daily, keep the walks structured, and have the plan for the first introduction written down before the hospital bag is packed.
Price and inclusions
A pre-baby stay costs $2,500 for Gold or $3,750 for Platinum, and transport is worth the $250 here.
Gold at $2,500 covers two weeks of place/stay, sit/stay, loose leash, door boundaries, jumping, pulling and impulse control, plus a go-home session, one additional lesson and lifelong support. Platinum at $3,750 covers three weeks and adds down/stay, the structured heel, behavior modification, field trips, a comprehensive handover and unlimited private lessons, which for a new family means a trainer on call through the first year.
Deposit and transport, both $250. The deposit holds your dates through Reserve Your Spot and is applied toward the program. Transport is the option we most often suggest to expecting couples: our team collects the dog, returns him and runs the first lesson in your house, so the go-home session happens in the rooms the baby will live in, without a drive to Cypress late in a pregnancy.
- Book the stay for the second trimester, not the last month
- $250 transport puts the handover in your nursery
- $250 deposit, applied to the program total
- The additional lesson or unlimited lessons cover the rehearsal weeks
| Household situation | Program | Price | What the new parents get after |
|---|---|---|---|
| No place command, jumps on visitors, sleeps on the bed | Gold Board & Train, 2 weeks | $2,500 | Go-home session, one additional lesson, lifelong support |
| Guarding, growling, anxiety or a dislike of handling | Platinum Board & Train, 3 weeks | $3,750 | Comprehensive handover, unlimited private lessons, lifetime support |
| Door-to-door pick-up and return | Transportation | $250 | First lesson in your home, included in VIP |
Houston specifics
Houston due dates land in hurricane season, fireworks season or the heat, and the plan accounts for that.
A due date between June 1 and November 30 means a newborn during hurricane season, and a dog who is crate-calm and on place is far easier to evacuate or shelter with than one who panics. Ready Harris and Ready.gov both cover pets in an evacuation kit, and our team includes the dog's storm routine in the go-home session for families with autumn due dates.
A summer due date means the rehearsal weeks fall in the heat, so the walks that keep the dog settled have to happen before 8am and after 7pm, and a late-pregnancy parent should not be walking a pulling dog at all. That is one more reason the leash work is done in Cypress first. A December or early January due date puts New Year's fireworks in the newborn weeks; place and crate calm are built with that in mind.
- Storm routine for the dog folded into an autumn due date plan
- Heat-safe walk times for summer rehearsal weeks
- Fireworks preparation for December and early July due dates
- The Heights, Memorial and Katy families are 25 to 45 minutes from the training home
The programs
The two programs expecting families choose between.
Gold for structure and manners, Platinum when there is guarding, growling or anxiety. Our team recommends on the free call, early enough to fit the timeline.
Asked and answered
Questions people ask about this.
When should I book board and train if I am expecting?
Call our team around twenty weeks before the due date and aim for the dog to be home nine to eleven weeks before it. That leaves time for the new rules to become habit, for the additional lesson to land, and for a buffer if the baby arrives early. Booking for the final month is the most common mistake we see.
Which program is right before a baby arrives?
Gold, at $2,500 for two weeks, for a dog who needs place, door boundaries and calm greetings. Platinum, at $3,750 for three weeks, for a dog who guards, growls, dislikes handling or is anxious about change, because those need behavior modification and a management plan. Our trainers decide on the free phone consultation.
Will my dog be jealous of the baby?
Dogs do not experience jealousy the way people describe it, but they do notice lost attention and changed routines, and an unstructured dog responds with pushing, whining or guarding. A dog with a place command and a predictable routine has a job to do when the baby is being fed, which is what removes the friction.
Should the go-home session happen at my house?
For an expecting family, yes if you can. With the $250 transport option our team returns the dog and runs the first lesson in your home, so place is set up in the living room, the nursery door rule is taught at the actual door, and neither parent has to drive to Cypress late in the pregnancy.
What does the first introduction to the baby look like?
Calm, brief and on leash, with the dog on place or in a sit and the baby held by a parent who is relaxed. Our trainers rehearse it before the birth with a stroller, a doll and recorded crying, and write the sequence into your household plan. The dog does not need to sniff the baby on day one; he needs to see that nothing has changed about the rules.
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Tell our team your due date, and we will build the timeline back from it.
The free phone consultation is a direct call with our trainers, and the earlier in the pregnancy the better. A $250 reservation deposit then holds the dates and is applied toward the program.