Makes it easier for you to enforce the training
If your dog is with a trainer for 8-weeks or more, your dog learns to be consistent on obedience and other training. This is one reason why training programs need to be so long. Shorter programs often lack the time necessary to get the dog consistent. Consistency at the training location means your dog understands the rules of behavior. So, while this doesn’t mean your dog won’t test you when you get home, it does mean that your dog will likely conform quickly when you enforce the commands.
Will the training stick after he/she comes home?
There is really no purpose in sending your dog to training if the training will not stick after he/she comes home. But the reality is, if you, the dog owner, do not enforce the training at home, then, no, the training will not stick, and the time spent away from you will be a complete loss.
You will need to maintain the training once the dog gets home. But the good news is that maintenance does not take nearly the time or energy that the actual training requires. You can often maintain a dogs training in only a few minutes of obedience work each day. But you do have to be willing to enforce the training.
Learn more in How to maintain my dog’s professional training.
Sending your dog away for training will not work if you are not willing to learn how to maintain the training. If you refuse to enforce commands or believe that it is not right to enforce a command, then no training will work for your dog.
Dogs are not robots. You cannot program them to be a perfect, obedient dog and then expect that everyday they will be that perfect dog. It doesn’t work that way. Dogs are living, breathing animals. They think, test, and challenge you each day. This is what makes them so special, but it is also what makes it necessary to set up boundaries and rules and enforce those rules. If you are not willing to say NO, or make your dog SIT when you say SIT, or teach your dog to not jump on you and enforce that, then no amount of training will help you.
Residential dog training doesn’t train YOU
This is a key disadvantage of sending a dog away for training. You don’t learn anything. You won’t learn how to teach your dog new skills. And you won’t learn how to proof your dog’s cues against distractions. Okay, let’s sum up the pros and cons of residential training.
Teach Your DOG the Go OUT / Send Away – Dog Training Video
It may seem that sending your dog away for training will help them learn new things, but this is not always the case. Some dogs will never be comfortable leaving their home, or may have a bad temperament that is not due to lack of training. This may not mean that sending your dog to a trainer will do much to improve its temperament, but you should consider your dog’s temperament before deciding to send him to a trainer.