Board and Train Welcome Letter

s tone oHello and thank you for choosing West Tennessee K9 for your board and train. Here are just a few things to know about your upcoming training.

Board and Train

Our board and train program runs between 7 and 21 days, depending on the program you chose.

Drop Off

Drop off is between 9:00 and 10:00am, Monday – Saturday. Drop off is early, so we have time to monitor the dog’s behavior. We want to be sure your pup acclimates properly and isn’t in distress. If there are any issues with your pup, we will contact you, immediately. 

We do offer drop off prior to your scheduled training day, as long as we have room. If your schedule requires an early drop off, please schedule it well in advance. Please keep in mind that there is an additional charge per additional night.

At drop off, one of our staff members will go over feeding times and amounts, your pup’s kennel needs, (blankets etc.) daily medical needs, and any other direction you would like to give us, in regard to your pup’s care.

We do understand how precious your pup is to you. If you have any reservations about drop off, please do not hesitate to give us a call. We want to make the drop off process as smooth and easy for you as possible. 

Drop Off Location 

West Tennessee K9  – 5331 Pleasant View Rd.  Memphis TN 38134

Shot Records

Please email a copy of your dog’s shot records in advance to, westtnk9.gingr@gmail.com. Please include your name, as well as your pet’s name, on the title line.

All dogs must be current on all vaccines, including Bordetella (Kennel Cough). If your pup is not up to date on vaccines, we will not be able to keep your pup. We will do our best to reschedule your training, but keep in mind, you will be taking another spot in the future that we will not be able to book another dog.

Food

Please bring just enough food to last the entire stay. We ask that you do not bring the entire food container, if your dog will not finish it. We have limited storage space. It is not required, but very helpful during stays two weeks or less, if the food is separated into individual servings and placed in ziplock bags. Upon check in, we will ask you about your feeding schedule, how much, frequency, etc. We want to keep your pup consistent, so when they get home, they are not on a different schedule. Please let us know of any food allergies. We don’t want any upset bellies.

Collars and Leashes

Please have your pup on a standard leash before entering the building. If you are using a retractable leash or harness, please come inside and ask for a slip lead. We will gladly loan you one. We don’t want your pup to slip their collar or yank the retractable leash out of your hands. We haven’t lost a pup yet, and don’t want yours to be the first. 

When dropping off your pup, we will ask you to keep the collar on your dog and the leash in your hand, at all times. One of staff members will have a slip lead. You will be asked to leave your leash and collar while slipping our slip leash over your pup’s head. Please put the slip lead around your dog’s neck, without removing the collar and leash they came in on. After you have done this, a staff member will take both leashes from you.

For safety reasons, your dog’s collars are removed and stored, while they are in a run or kennel.

Aggressive Dog Drop Off

Prior to dropping off your aggressive pup, you will be sent a video on how to muzzle train. If your dog has a bite history, it has to be muzzled, before our staff can take it from you. This is for everyone’s safety. If you aren’t sure if your dog should be muzzled, please contact us at least two weeks prior to drop off, so we can get it worked out. We handle a lot of biting dogs, so please don’t apologize, or think you will get kicked out of the program. Training bad dogs is what we do.

The Handoff

The handoff is where things can go terribly wrong. Please remember that the drop off can be as stressful for the dog, as it is for you. It is very important, once you hand the leash to a staff member, allow us to immediately take the dog back to the kennel / let out area. The longer you stay, the more the dog will get worked up. We are happy to answer all of your questions, after we take the dog back. We begin training the moment we take the leash from you. Dropping your pup off can be emotional, but we will help you work through it. The longer the good bye, the more stressful it is for you and your pup. 

Where will your pup be kept?

Every dog is housed indoors, in a private kennel. These kennels vary in size, but every dog is housed in a kennel that will give them plenty of room to move around and stretch out. The building and kennel area are heated and cooled around the clock. Your pup is let outside every couple of hours, when not training, into a covered 5’x10’ let out area. The dogs are continually monitored and are not left alone for long periods of time. In periods of extreme hot or cold, they are only left out for five minutes.

Care

We have a full-time staff that will take care of all your pup’s needs. Each dog is monitored by our staff. Each pup has a detailed kennel card that lists the Name, Breed, Items checked in with the dog, feeding schedule, and discharge date. The kennel card is also used to log feeding times, amount fed, and amount eaten. In addition, the staff also logs each time the dog goes to the bathroom, and if it was normal.

Weight Gain/Loss

During training, your pup will get much more activity than it gets at home. Our days are packed full of training, socialization, and just overall activity. It is very common for a dog to lose a few pounds during training. We carefully monitor and log their food intake. If your pup isn’t eating, we use additives like canned chicken or broth, to encourage them to eat. The pups are weighed daily. If we see a significant loss of weight, or you pup isn’t eating, we will contact you to get the ok to increase your pup’s calories or add something to their food.

Additional Care

Each dog is visually checked daily. We want to assure the dog remains in good health for its entire stay. If for any reason something abnormal is found, we will take your pup to the vet and you are contacted, immediately. We will go over what the vet found, as well as treatment recommendations and cost, if any is needed.  You will have the option for one of our trusted vets to treat your pup, or you can take your pup to its regular vet. However, if it is an emergency, care will be provided immediately. One of our trusted vets will, to the minimum necessary, treat your pet until you can be reached. 

Medications

Many dogs come to us already taking medications. If this is the case, there may be an additional charge. The reason for this charge is because a lead staff member will administer and record all meds. Each time the meds are given, it is logged and kept on record.

Training Frequency

Your pup will be trained on a rotation schedule from 9:00 am to 4:30 pm. Training is done at our facility, as well as all around the city. We do take care to assure your pup isn’t exposed to extreme temperatures for long periods of time. You pup will be in training 7 days a week.

Photos, Videos and Social Media

We keep you updated during your dog’s stay with us through our report card system that is sent out Monday – Friday. At the start of training you will receive an email from your specific trainer to help with communication. During your dog’s stay, we will take videos and photos. Often times, we will use these photos on social media. If you do not want us to post any pictures or videos, please let us know ahead of time.  Posting on social is an important part of our communication with clients, but the dogs still come first. The frequency and number of posts will vary based on our training schedule. With a full schedule, it’s incredibly important that we don’t lose focus. I promise, we will do our best!

Calls, Texts, Emails, Instagram Messages, Facebook Messages, Etc.

We want you to know how your pup is doing. There are so many different forms of contact in life today that it can get very confusing and distracting. We live in an amazing time, where nearly all communication is done via our cell phones. We track our screen time weekly to see what we are spending the most time doing. We are always trying to improve the way we use our time. The better we can control our time, the better the dogs and owners are trained.

At this point, email is the best form of contact. (westtnk9.gingr@gmail.com) We schedule times daily, to get back with everyone. In regard to using our time best, email is the easiest thing to schedule specific time to do. When you send an email, please include your name, as well as your pup’s name, in the subject line.

We do our best to answer calls, 8:30am – 5pm, M-F. If there is no answer, please leave us a message, so we know you have called. We will get back to you as soon as we can. It’s almost always the same day, even if it’s just leaving you a message telling you how your pup is coming along. After saying all of this, let me also say, if you are worried and stressing over your dog’s stay, please do not hesitate to give us a call. I 100% understand how important your pup is in your life.

Go home appointments

Please make sure that when you drop off, you schedule your go home appointment. Go home sessions are done at the training center. When making the appointment, please keep in mind go home sessions are scheduled between 10am – 3pm. The last go home session can’t start after 3.  Please allow 1 hour for your session.

It is important for everyone who is going to handle the dog is present for the go home session. If everyone in the home gets instruction and is on the same page, the dog has a much greater chance of success. Everyone being present, also makes training easier on everyone in the home. You will all remember different parts of the go home session. Something different stands out to everyone. Everything done, is done better, together.

We do our best, not to do go home sessions on Saturdays. Saturdays are a very busy training day. If we have scheduled your go home session on a Saturday, there will be limited times available for sessions.  

No go home sessions are done on Sundays.

What to expect at your go home appointment

Your go home appointment will last approximately 1 hour. The goal of the go home session is to teach you how your pup learns. Another goal is to teach you how to work with your pup now, and for the remainder of its life.

We want the go home session to be very interactive. If you don’t understand something, please speak up. We want to make sure you are getting everything out of the training you can. It is a lot of information to go over in an hour. Please feel free to bring something to take notes on.

When your pup sees you, he/she will be very excited. This is expected, as they haven’t seen you in a while. As hard as it will be, please don’t touch or speak to your pup. I will use your petting them as a reward, later in the appointment.

The first half of the session will be teaching the basic fundamentals of training, using your pup as an example. The second half will be hands on with your pup. Please remember, we don’t expect you to know what you are doing. Just relax and we will lead you through it. You are here to learn. 

Training tools

During the length of your pup’s stay, several training tools will be used. We want to make certain that you know exactly how, and with what tools, your dog will be trained. 

All programs will be trained with a Herm Sprenger prong collar, E-Collar Technologies Mini Educator (electronic collar) and slip lead. We will use food as a reward for your pup.

If you have any questions about the collars, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Muzzles – We recommend Baskerville Muzzles. 

Refunds – All training is non-refundable.

Payment – a  Deposit is required to hold your spot. Final payment is due prior to your pup’s stay.