Service Dog Training · Board & Train · Suitability comes first
A working partnership.
Built with purpose.
Individual Board & Train foundations, task goals, public manners, and handler education for suitable dogs. Play-Based learning and real-life walks help us build a working partnership around your dog’s strengths.
All local programs are Board & Train
Your dog stays and trains with our team. Every program includes three full owner lessons: around 2½ weeks, around 3–3½ weeks, and on Go-Home day.
Finding the fit
The right work starts with the right fit.
We begin with your goals and your dog’s temperament, confidence, stability, and training history. Service work places specific demands on a dog. Honest evaluation helps determine whether this path is appropriate and what skills to prioritize. This is a Board & Train program: your dog stays and trains with our team.
Play-Based training.
Built for your dog.
We train The Dog In Front Of Us.
Your dog’s personality, history, confidence, and responses guide the work. We strive to understand your dog, uncover their strongest positive motivators, and use that understanding to teach effectively.
Find the joy in learning.
Play is central to how we train. Chase & Catch, Possession Games, Flirt Pole, Personal Play, and other games help us discover what your dog loves and bring that motivation into the lesson. The play, pace, and challenge are shaped around your dog.
Let the walk become the lesson.
A large part of the learning happens on walks. We train through real-life scenarios in a wide variety of parks, busy downtown areas, dog-friendly stores, and other everyday locations. We choose the setting and level of distraction around your dog’s needs and readiness.
What we build
Useful skills.
Real situations.
The program develops practical communication alongside the skills your dog needs:
- Sit, Down, Place, Stay, Recall, Heel, Let’s Go, and Out
- Verbal markers: Ok! & Ah-Ah!
- Reliable obedience and handler engagement
- Calm settling and distraction work
- Public manners in appropriate environments
- Task foundations matched to individual needs
- Handler lessons and continued maintenance
Additional commands and skills are sometimes taught, depending on the needs of the case. We shape the practice, priorities, and pace around your individual dog.
Owner education
A dog who works with you.
The handler is central to the training. We teach the communication, practice, and management behind the skills so you understand how to maintain the work in daily life. You also learn how to use play, your dog’s positive motivators, the commands and verbal markers, and practical walks to keep teaching the dog in front of you.
Watch the team’s real training footageIncluded in every program
Three full owner lessons.
Learning starts during training.
Around 2½ weeks
Your first full owner lesson takes place while your dog is still in training.
Around 3–3½ weeks
The second full lesson continues your hands-on learning before Go-Home day.
Go-Home day
Your final full lesson connects the training to the routines and practice you’ll continue at home.
These are approximate milestones. We coordinate lesson dates with you during the program.
Before you begin
Good questions.
Clear answers.
Can every dog become a service dog?
No. Temperament, environmental sensitivity, confidence, behavior history, and ability to work reliably all affect suitability. Evaluation comes before a training recommendation.
What kinds of task work are considered?
Task goals are individual. Existing program areas include retrieval foundations, positioning, guiding toward an exit, and other specific support behaviors discussed during assessment. The team will be clear about what is realistic for the dog and within the training plan.
How are public manners developed?
Foundations come first, followed by practice around appropriate distractions and environments. Work includes calm settling, polite walking, focus, and neutrality.
Who leads this program?
Christian Scharphorn guides the service dog program. Handler education and continued practice are part of developing the working partnership.
The plan, timeline, and expected progress are discussed individually. Continued practice and owner follow-through are essential.
Your next chapter starts here
Start with a conversation.
Tell us about your dog, your daily life, and what you want to change. We’ll help you understand the next step.