A local dog shelter paid for one of their lab mixes who had been with a foster family to board and train with the facility where I worked in Colorado. This was an exceptional opportunity for a dog who was set to be euthanized for getting in fights with dogs and humans to have another chance at co-existing in the world.
Boarding and training looks different to various trainers but at that facility and at Magnus K9, it’s a time for consistent training and exposure to controlled situations to help dogs understand what is and is not acceptable. I use the terms “stress inoculation” and “exposure therapy” to describe putting dogs through low levels of stress to build their confidence, but there are many nuances of these circumstances. Imagine if you lived in a house and you never were exposed to factors outside. The first time you saw a mailman, you would freak out too. The vicious cycle of reactivity is that dogs are poorly behaved so their owners stop taking them places because who wants to deal with a crazy dog out in public? Then they become more reactive/pent up/confused about how they should behave. The cycle continues, and thus reactivity festers.
So many dogs have reactivity issues and by using dog trainer’s stable dogs, it can help rehab these dogs quickly by showing them that their crazy barking or reactive behavior does not have an effect. They also are shown that not all dogs want to be up in their space and bother them: there is a way to be neutral and happy.
Niko got to practice being handled by many different people and gained confidence around other dogs by living at the facility for a month. Every day we took him out to new environments and strengthened his obedience with various distractions.
Niko came to the facility in a muzzle and left a month later without one, tail wagging and much happier to have a better understanding about where he fits into the world.