Middletown Pet Lodge and Learn

Make your dog's stay extra special with a one-two combo that includes an extended stay and daily classes. Your dog will thrive in a highly structured and stimulating learning environment. From addressing behaviors to building a solid foundation of basic commands, there are plenty of opportunities to make their stay rewarding for both dog and owner.

Send Your Dog to the Obedience Boarding School That's Paws Above the Rest

We want the absolute best for our dogs, including giving them an education that benefits them in everyday life. From gaining a better understanding of behavioral expectations to mastering advanced commands and tricks, every bit of knowledge allows them to have a better relationship with owners and a more fulfilling life.

That philosophy guided us to create our intensive Lodge and Learn program at Greenlin. Available as a 10-day stay to 20-day stay, or customizable package, your dog will wake up every morning to a fresh set of engaging challenges and rewarding activities. Your own goals will shape their learning experience, and there's even an opportunity for the whole family to join in.

Find out more about how to get your dog out of their element and into a better state of mind when you contact us for more details. Get the ball rolling when you call one of our six locations or contact us online.

Lodge and Learn Dog Training Pulls Out All the Stops to Better Instruction

Our lodge and learn program is an excellent addition to your dog's stay when you are already planning to board them at Greenlin.

At the same time, many of our guests elect to enroll their pets in our dog boot camp training precisely because the highly structured environment is well-suited to rapid learning and progress.

Think about it: what better way to gain a new set of skills than within a new environment? A change of scenery can often jolt us into new ways of thinking and understanding. Habits engrained in the home setting can be broken away from that context. Suddenly, the dog is exposed to new ways of spending its day in a highly regimented setting. This experience is often highly engaging for dogs, as they get more activity, more exercise, and more interaction than they might in a household with a typically busy schedule.

When guests come to stay and learn at our boot camp for dogs, they are primed for quick learning as they adjust to their new schedule. Every day is filled with consistent reinforcement, as well as new discoveries. Together, our certified trainers and your dog will blaze new trails and uncover the underlying motivators to help correct unwanted behaviors and foster new positive ones.

A Proven Learning Process, Tailored to Your Goals and Your Unique Dog

At Greenlin, our experienced and certified trainers know that there's no such thing as a one-size-fits-all approach. Each dog has different motivators that drive them to think and act the way they do. Similarly, each owner has a different home situation and different goals in mind in order to improve their relationship with their dog.

After listening carefully to your goals and your experiences both at home and in public, our instructors set to work on developing the perfect program for your dog to thrive. Most programs will go through the following five steps:

1. Evaluation — Every training engagement starts with an evaluation phase. This time helps the instructor get to know the dog, the owner, and the unique aspects of each one's routine and lifestyle. We will observe the dog in a few different environments while undertaking activities like walking or resting. Once we have a preliminary impression of your dog's current training and behavior, we develop a custom program designed to help everyone reach their goals one day at a time.

2. Behavior Shaping — The technique of behavior shaping recognizes that at the heart of every command and every expectation is a series of discrete actions the dog must take. A seemingly simple process like leaving the house on a leash or getting ready for meal time can be broken up into many steps. Behavior shaping helps the dog to understand each of these steps, and to feel rewarded every time they edge closer to their goal. A behavior shaping approach also teaches the foundations of behavioral expectations, such as sitting at attention or not approaching other animals or objects until permission has been given.

3. Teaching Commands (Imprinting) — Commands are taught through a process known to training experts as imprinting. The animal must connect the command to the series of expected actions. Getting confused or accomplishing only half the steps is common as commands are beginning to be taught. But over time, through recognition and reinforcement, the dog can be taught to reliably perform each step in the command through a deliberate and structured process.

4. Proofing — The best-laid plans often go awry, and the same is with the best-taught commands when the dog has not been introduced to them in a variety of settings. The proofing step establishes that all commands and foundational behaviors are expected in all settings and contexts. To test and push past the dog's limits, our trainers introduce complicating factors like distance, duration, and distraction to solidify the expected behavior across the board.

5. Maintenance — The maintenance phase involves solidifying the commands further in different contexts. Often, when a dog is approached by a new situation, they may process commands differently or demonstrate novel behaviors that pose unique challenges to both dog and owner. Maintenance training is about giving pets and their owners tools to continue training in the home setting and across various novel environments, helping everyone learn and grow together.

This Bootcamp for Dogs Provides a Luxurious Stay

You won't find any lumpy bunk beds or cold dorms at our boot camp! Instead, your dog is treated to the same top-rated facilities provided to our other guests.

• Private Boarding — Each dog receives its own private room. Bedding is laundered and refreshed daily, and they'll be provided with plenty of fresh, clean, filtered water to lap up when they're in their quarters.
• Fresh Air at a Comfortable Temperature — Our facilities feature air scrubbed of impurities thanks to our state-of-the-art air filtration systems. Guests are kept at a comfortable temperature in all seasons.
• Daily Wellness Exams — Every day, we evaluate each guest twice according to a five-point wellness rubric. Staff checks animals daily to monitor their health and enjoyment in the boarding setting.
• Meals Delivered on-Schedule — Lodge and Learn guests will enjoy their familiar routine of meals, which can include their own diet brought from home.
• Trusted by Locals and Vets — We've been given Harrisburg's "Simply the Best" Decade Award, and our facilities have ongoing relationships with vets and medical clinics in our area as a highly recommended provider of boarding and training services for dogs.
• Squeaky Clean Facilities — We sanitize common areas daily, and each guest room is thoroughly cleaned between stays as well as several times throughout extended stays. Our staff only use pet-safe products approved by vets and animal health experts.
• Safety Is the Name of the Game — All of our practices and procedures are built around a safe stay for every guest. Each staff member has been trained in Pet First-Aid and CPR and knows how to observe behaviors during group settings and other situations.
• Immunizations Required for Guest Safety — We ensure that each guest is current on their vaccines for rabies, distemper, and Bordetella.

There's No Limit to What Your Pet Can Learn!

Greenlin offers several structured programs, including our American Kennel Club Canine Good Citizen Program.

However, there's no such thing as a set package or a pre-built curriculum for our dog boot camp enrollees. Instead, we tailor their training to their baseline behaviors when they arrive, and we customize the lessons based on how they grow and learn each day.

Dogs staying at our lodge and learn program will build a solid foundation of behavioral expectations suited to a wide variety of environments. We also provide you and your family members with the tools to ensure the instruction sticks, including a group lesson and demonstration at the end of their stay.

Want your dog to learn specific commands or master a specific routine, such as being extra good on walks? We can work on that, too. Speak with our training staff and participate in our evaluation phase to set the perfect goals to make your and your dog's relationship together better than ever before!

Enroll Your Precocious Pup Lodge and Learn Now

There's no better time to start improving your relationship with your dog than right now! Guests who come to stay at our lodge and learn dog training program act better behaved and often feel better thanks to their newfound confidence and understanding.

Get started building your own custom dog boarding school training program today when you call one of our six locations or contact us online.