January
The January board and train: why winter is the easiest stay
January is the mildest month on the Houston training calendar. Why our trainers get more done in a January stay, and what the two week and three week programs cover.
Ask our trainers which month they would pick for a board and train and most of them say January. It is not that the training is different. It is that the calendar finally gets out of the way. No heat clock, no fireworks, no hurricanes, no holiday guests, and the pet stores are empty on a Tuesday morning. A dog in a January stay trains in the middle of the day, in the sun, on pavement that would burn its paws in July.
What the mild weather buys
From May to September every outdoor session is a dawn or dusk session, which means two windows a day and a lot of indoor work in between. In January the window is the whole day. A dog can do a structured walk at nine, a field trip to the hardware store at eleven, a long line recall session at the lake at two, and place on the back porch at four. That is twice the reps, and reps are the entire reason a board and train works.
The cold snaps that do arrive are short. A morning in the thirties is a reason to put a jacket on a short haired dog, not a reason to skip the walk. And the occasional hard freeze, the kind that happens once every few years, is a day of indoor work, which the dog needs anyway.
A January day at the training home
- Half past six: out of the crate, potty, breakfast for a sit.
- Eight: structured walk through the neighborhood, then place while the house has coffee.
- Half past ten: field trip. Pet store, hardware store or a sidewalk in Towne Lake, depending on the dog's week.
- One: crate rest. Dogs learn while they sleep, and a tired dog is not a calm dog.
- Three: long line recall in the yard or at the lake, then a second walk.
- Evening: door manners while the family comes and goes, place through dinner, crate at night.
Photo and video updates land on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, which means you watch the dog do all of this rather than hear about it.
Which program for a January dog
Gold is two weeks at $2,500: sit and stay, place, loose leash walking, door boundaries, jumping, pulling and impulse control, with a go-home session, an additional lesson and lifelong support. It is the right stay for a dog with no behavior problems that simply never learned the rules. Platinum is three weeks at $3,750 and adds down and stay, a structured heel, behavior modification for reactivity or aggression, the field trips and public exposure, and unlimited private lessons after. It is the one most January families choose, because the mild weather makes the public work go faster.
Book before the spring rush
The spring calendar starts filling in February, when the Christmas puppies hit adolescence and the spring litters get booked. A dog that starts in January is home, trained and walking the bluebonnet roads by March. The free consultation is where our team tells you which stay fits and which weeks are open.
Best Dog University Team
Board and train trainers in Cypress, Houston. 16+ years, 900+ dogs. About our team
