Board & train

Sold by the programme, not the night

A dog arrives for a fortnight, a month, sometimes longer, and goes home trained. Nobody is buying nights — they're buying the outcome. Board & train is priced and booked that way.

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Package pricing · Checkout date derived · Deposits · Its own rates

Puppy Foundation — 4 weeks

Board & train package

Drop off

Mon 3 Mar

Collect

Mon 31 Mar

Package price

£2,400

Nightly rate

not used

Deposit taken

£600

Checkout date set automatically from the package length

Illustration of a board & train booking

How it differs from a boarding stay

Same building, same kennel, completely different sale.

A boarding stay

— The customer picks the dates, because the holiday decides them
— Priced per night, so eight nights costs more than seven
— You're selling care and a safe place to stay
— Success is a happy dog going home the same as it arrived

A board & train

✓ You set the length, because the programme decides it
✓ Priced as a package — one number for the whole stay
✓ You're selling a result, with board included
✓ Success is a dog going home noticeably different

Why it needs its own booking type: if you sell a four-week puppy programme as twenty-eight nights of boarding, every conversation afterwards is about nights — refunds for early collection, extra charges for a late one. Sold as a package, the stay is the product and the dates are just how long it takes.

How it works

Four steps, and the arithmetic isn't one of them.

Build your programmes

Set up each package you sell as a rate with a length and a price — a two-week refresher, a four-week foundation, an eight-week intensive.

Book the dog in

Pick the programme and the drop-off date. The collection date is worked out from the package length rather than typed in and got wrong.

Take the money properly

Deposits or payment up front, on a package price rather than a nightly total.

Run the stay

It sits in your boarding diary with everything else — same kennels, same feeding, same medication, same daily routine.

What comes with it

Everything boarding gives you, priced as a programme.

Package-length rates

Each programme carries its own duration and price, so the length of the stay comes from what was sold.

Checkout date derived

Set the drop-off and the collection date follows from the package — no counting weeks on a calendar.

Or let them choose

If you'd rather customers pick their own collection date when booking online, that's a setting you can switch on.

Its own rate table

Board & train prices are kept separate from your nightly boarding rates, so raising one doesn't disturb the other.

Deposits and payments

Take a deposit or the full package price up front, with the same online payment options as your other services.

Runs in your boarding diary

The dog occupies a real kennel and appears on the same run sheets and daily lists as every other stay.

Cancellation fees

Charge when a programme is cancelled inside your notice window — more important here than anywhere, given the sums.

PawCheck and vaccinations

The same pre-check-in and vaccination requirements apply, which matters for a dog staying a month.

Call it what you call it

Rename it to whatever you sell — Training Academy, Residential Training, Puppy Bootcamp.

Frequently asked questions

What is a board & train booking?

It's a stay where the dog boards with you for a set period and is trained during it — typically a few weeks to a couple of months. Unlike ordinary boarding it's sold as a package at a package price, rather than by the night.

How is it different from a normal boarding booking?

Mainly how it's priced and how the dates are decided. A boarding stay is priced per night for dates the customer chooses. A board & train is priced as a whole programme, and the length comes from the package you sold, so the collection date follows from it.

Do I set the collection date myself?

By default it's worked out from the length of the package, so you set the drop-off date and the rest follows. If you'd rather customers choose their own collection date when booking online, you can enable that.

Can I take a deposit on a board & train?

Yes. Deposits and up-front payments work the same as any other service, taken against the package price.

Does the dog still appear in my boarding diary?

Yes. It occupies a real kennel and shows on the same run sheets, feeding lists and daily routines as every other stay. It's a different kind of sale, not a separate building.

Can I have different packages at different prices?

Yes. Set up as many as you sell — a two-week refresher, a four-week foundation, an eight-week intensive — each with its own length and price, kept separate from your nightly boarding rates.

Sell the programme, not the paperwork

Try KennelBooker free for 14 days — no credit card, no contracts — and stop pricing training stays a night at a time.

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