Provides dog training combined with boarding in Santa Barbara, including reactivity, aggression and puppy work.
Program details are summarized from Follow The Leader K9's own website. Confirm current pricing, program length, and availability directly with the trainer before booking — and see what to check before you hand over your dog.
Follow The Leader K9 is based in Santa Barbara, CA. Full details are on their own site at followtheleaderk9.com. Board and train clients commonly travel from surrounding areas, since the dog stays on site for the length of the program.
Follow The Leader K9 does not publish pricing, which is normal for board and train — most trainers quote after an evaluation. Board and train programs generally run $1,500–$6,000 depending on length and intensity. Request a quote to get their number.
Two weeks is the common minimum for meaningful obedience results, and three to four weeks is typical for off-leash reliability. Serious behavior cases — aggression, severe reactivity, resource guarding — generally need four to six weeks or more, and many trainers set a minimum stay for those. Programs shorter than a week are usually best understood as a jump-start or a refresher, not a transformation.
It works when the handoff works. A good trainer can reliably teach your dog new skills in a few weeks, but dogs do not generalize automatically — the results hold only if you learn to maintain them. This is why the go-home lesson and follow-up support matter more than almost anything else in the program. Ask specifically how many follow-up sessions are included and what happens if the behavior returns two months later.
Ask: How many dogs are in your care at once, and who handles my dog? What training methods and equipment do you use, and what happens if my dog does not respond? Where does my dog sleep? Can I visit the facility before booking? How many follow-up lessons are included? What updates will I get during the stay? Vague answers to any of these — especially about methods and supervision — are a reason to keep looking.
Reputable programs are, but the industry is largely unregulated, so due diligence is on you. Visit in person before you book. Ask to see where dogs sleep and exercise, confirm the trainer carries insurance, ask about staff-to-dog ratios and overnight supervision, and check that they have a working relationship with a local vet. Be cautious of any trainer who will not let you see the facility, or who guarantees a specific outcome on a fixed timeline.
Off Leash K9 franchise serving Santa Barbara, Montecito, Goleta and Carpinteria. Offers private lessons, 14-day on-leash and off-leash board-and-train programs, and a 21-day Top Dog program.
One-trainer Sacramento business (4710 Freeport Blvd) offering board and train by the day or week and a hybrid program of 2 weeks in-home plus 2 weeks with the pack.
Daycare, boarding and positive-reinforcement training facility with CPDT-certified trainers in Redondo Beach and Marina Del Rey. Its board & train has the dog boarding overnight while learning cues and polite behaviors, with a 2-week package option.
Board and train in which the dog stays at the trainer's Hemet location, with two programs (Beyond the Basics and Honor Roll) in 1- or 2-week options. Each program includes 4 in-home follow-up lessons, and a 3-week option is offered on a dog-by-dog basis.
Dogs live and train in the trainer's home, not a kennel, for 2-, 3- or 4-week programs. Training covers leash manners, recall, impulse control, a calm mindset, off-leash foundations and work around real-world distractions.
Elk Grove and Sacramento area company offering private visits, group classes and board training, where the dog stays in the trainer's home. Board training includes follow-up in-home visits and group classes for the owner.