Behavioural Board and Train in Scotland

For aggression, resource guarding, fear, reactivity and complex behavioural issues

My Behavioural Board and Train programmes are intensive residential stays for dogs who need more than standard training.

I regularly work with dogs struggling with human or dog-directed aggression, resource guarding, stranger danger, touch sensitivity, fear, reactivity and other complex behavioural issues.

I also work with less severe dogs where their owners want the opportunity to make deeper progress, troubleshoot more complicated patterns, or simply benefit from a period of intensive one-to-one behavioural work.

The important part is that this is not a "send your dog away to be fixed" service.

Every behavioural residential forms part of a wider programme involving you as well as your dog. We start working together before the stay, I work intensively with your dog while they live with me, and we finish with practical coaching so that you know how to continue that progress yourself.

How my Board and Train programmes work

1. Start with a free Discovery Call

All new behavioural clients start with a free 15-minute phone consultation.

We'll briefly discuss what is happening, what you've already tried and whether my approach is likely to be a good fit.

2. Complete your 8-Week Behaviour Programme

Before a residential can take place, you will need to purchase my 8-Week Behaviour Programme, consisting of four one-to-one Zoom consultations.

A minimum of two consultations must be completed before your dog's residential stay, so that you have had a chance to introduce changes at home that will form a crucial part of their ongoing progress with you after their stay with me, and so that we have had chance to consider any potential pain or health concerns that could affect whether a stay is suitable.

In many cases, people are surprised that the work they begin during these sessions actually starts to resolve many of their dog's issues. Quite often, I recommend that a dog doesn't need to come to stay with me at all, and instead we continue working on your own relationship and life with your dog.

Any remaining consultations can then be used after the residential, when you have had a chance to put everything back into practice at home.

3. Your dog's Behavioural Residential

Your dog comes to live with me in my home in rural Perthshire, Scotland.

I intentionally keep residential numbers very small, usually one and no more than two dogs at a time.

This allows me to adapt the stay around the individual dog rather than trying to fit them into a standard programme.

During their stay, you'll receive plentiful WhatsApp updates, including videos, messages and voice notes. These are often sent multiple times a day, so you can see what I'm seeing, understand why I'm making particular decisions, and follow your dog's progress as it happens, so that you really understand the process.

4. Owner Transition Coaching

Owner coaching is included as a standard part of every Behavioural Board and Train.

I don't want your dog simply learning to behave differently with me. You need the opportunity to practise the handling, skills, routines and decision-making that will allow that progress to transfer back into your own life.

You can choose between one or two full Transition Coaching Days. Your dog remains staying with me throughout these coaching days and goes home with you at the end of the programme.

Each coaching day consists of 2 × 2-hour practical sessions, giving us four hours of hands-on work together.

What we cover will depend entirely on your dog and may include handling, walks, dog or human setups, resource guarding, visitors, touch, boundaries, practical management, new routines and troubleshooting the situations that matter most to you.

Behavioural Board and Train Pricing

Behavioural Residential Programme | £1,750

A 14-day programme including:

• 13 days of residential training, with your dog living and working with me

• 1 full Owner Transition Coaching Day, with your dog continuing to stay with me throughout

• 2 × 2-hour practical owner coaching sessions

• Plentiful WhatsApp, video and voice-note updates throughout the stay

Your dog remains resident with me for the full 14-day programme and goes home with you at the end of the Transition Coaching Day.

Extended Behavioural Residential Programme | £1,995

A 14-day programme including:

• 12 days of residential training, with your dog living and working with me

• 2 full Owner Transition Coaching Days, with your dog continuing to stay with me throughout

• 4 × 2-hour practical owner coaching sessions

• Plentiful WhatsApp, video and voice-note updates throughout the stay

Your dog remains resident with me for the full 14-day programme and goes home with you at the end of the second Transition Coaching Day.

The Extended Programme is particularly useful where you want more time to practise, work through several different real-life scenarios, or build your confidence before taking your dog home.

Need a little longer?

Additional residential days can be added to either programme for £100 per day where appropriate. This may be because I recommend a longer minimum stay for your dog (this is rare, but I occasionally recommend a three-week stay for the most complex cases), or simply because additional days make travel to and from the Scottish Highlands easier for you.

The mandatory 8-Week Behaviour Programme is purchased separately.

Discounted rates are available for Honest Hounds members.

Is my dog suitable if their behaviour is very severe or complex?

Yes.

Many of the dogs I work with have bite histories towards people and/or other dogs, and some have reached the point where their owners are considering whether they can safely continue living with them.

A serious bite history does not automatically rule your dog out.

We will discuss risk, safety, management and whether a residential is genuinely appropriate during your Zoom work before any stay is booked.

Does my dog have to be severely aggressive?

No.

Severity isn't the only reason a residential can be useful.

I also work with dogs whose problems are less extreme but where there is an opportunity to make much more intensive progress than would be practical through occasional lessons alone.

That might include a socially difficult adolescent dog, a sensitive or fearful dog, handling problems, difficult household patterns, reactivity, over-arousal, or a dog whose owner feels they have simply got stuck.

What matters to me is that you want to be involved in the process and are invested in understanding and working with your dog afterwards.

Why do I need Zoom consultations before the Board and Train?

The pre-residential work means we can start changing things before your dog arrives, identify anything that needs preparing in advance, and make much better use of their residential time.

For most dogs, there are changes needed to their, and your, routine at home before and after any stay with me. At an absolute minimum, this may include making sure they are getting adequate sleep, physical and mental exercise, breed fulfilment, and an appropriate balance of structure and freedom. In more complex cases, the changes we make at home become much more nuanced.

It also means that by the time your dog arrives, you already understand how I work and we have started building a shared picture of what needs to change.

For many dogs, the residential then becomes the intensive middle part of the programme rather than an isolated intervention.

What happens when my dog comes home?

Your Transition Coaching takes place towards the end of the residential, while your dog is still staying with me, so that you have practical experience working with your dog before taking them home.

Your dog then goes home with you at the end of your final Transition Coaching Day.

You can use any remaining consultations from your 8-Week Behaviour Programme once you are home.

This gives your dog time to settle back into normal life and gives us the opportunity to work through anything that appears once you are back in your own environment.

Ongoing WhatsApp support is not included after the residential stay, but further behavioural support can be booked if needed. Most clients choose to book an additional block of four Zooms after their stay, spaced over several months.

Will I get updates during the stay?

Yes. Lots of them.

You'll receive detailed WhatsApp updates throughout the residential, including videos, messages and voice notes.

I want you to be able to follow what is happening rather than simply dropping your dog off and seeing the end result two weeks later.

Those updates are also part of your learning. I'll explain what I'm seeing, what I'm changing, what is working and what I want you to understand before your dog comes home.

Are you qualified and insured?

I am fully insured for behavioural and training work and have extensive practical experience working and living with dogs with complex behavioural issues, including significant human-directed aggression.

I am continuing my formal study in canine behaviour alongside my practical work and am a student member of the Canine and Feline Behaviour Association (CFBA), working in accordance with its Code of Ethics.

Can I claim on my pet insurance?

Not yet, unfortunately. I am continuing my formal study in canine behaviour alongside my practical work and am likely to be able to offer insurance referred work in 2027.

Interested in Behavioural Board and Train?

The first step is a free 15-minute Discovery Call.

We can briefly discuss what is happening with your dog, whether my approach is likely to suit you, and what the next step would be.