Worried about your pet’s behaviour? Want to establish the right habits? You’ve come to the perfect place. Since 1996, Alpha Boarding School For Dogs has trained over 10,000 dogs for pet owners across Victoria.
During their 20-day boarding school stay, every canine guest takes part in a structured, full-time course designed to reshape behaviour and teach practical obedience skills that they will reliably demonstrate both at home and in real-life situations.
If you need support from dog trainers and live in Geelong or other areas of regional Victoria, we’re ready to lend a helping hand! Contact us and speak with our friendly team today.
The trainers here are working boarding school dogs within close proximity to their own dogs who are all in off lead drop stay. These boarding school dogs all began their courses with different behaviours issues & goals. Ranging from fear based aggression, anxiety around new people and dogs, aggressive behaviour towards other dogs on lead, to over excitement and uncontrollable behaviour when there was something more interesting to do than listen to their owners.
Dedicated Dog Trainers for Geelong Pet Owners – Get Real Behavioural Results
At Alpha, we believe training is more than commands. We tackle issues such as aggression, anxiety, over-excitability, fear, and poor manners, providing personalised training that doesn’t rely on impractical food rewards. Instead, we use proven techniques like Pattern Learning and Canine Good Behaviour Shaping to develop genuine understanding between you and your dog.
Every dog that stays with us benefits from:
- MORE full-time trainers providing continuous supervision and guidance
- MORE hands-on training hours across the 20-day course
- FUN and play time to encourage engagement and reduce stress
- HIGHER training standards across obedience and behaviour shaping
- PROVEN, effective techniques that produce practical and positive outcomes in real-world settings
Dogs work in controlled yet stimulating environments at the Alpha boarding school, as well as activities designed to simulate everyday distractions such as other animals, social gatherings, and more.
In our purpose built manners room – learning to wait for an invitation though a doorway
“Every interaction with your dog is important so the methods used to teach them must be practical, positive and relevant to all real-life scenarios”.
Effective Behavioural Rehabilitation
Our course is highly effective for dogs with serious behavioural challenges, including:
- Aggression & Reactivity: Food guarding, dog-to-dog aggression, territorial behaviour
- Anxiety & Fear Responses: Separation anxiety, noise phobias, and stress-induced reactions
- Over-Excitability & Hyperactivity: Teaching calm, focused responses under any situation
- Everyday Manners: Door boundaries, calm social interactions and good behaviour inside the house
We structure behavioural shaping exercises during the 20-day stay, preparing dogs for controlled challenges that mirror real-life situations. This includes drop-step stays under distraction, off-lead exercises, and calm responses to triggers; all of which are taught during the handback session.
These dogs are waiting to be invited through the gate. Once individually invited they come through on command.
The 20-Day Boarding School Experience – What to Expect from Our Dog Trainers
Our boarding school in Melbourne is a full-time, purpose-built facility designed for effective learning:
- Comfortable, secure accommodation
- Daily training sessions with individualised focus
- Controlled socialisation with other dogs
- Pre-teaching of Canine Good Behaviour Shaping skills
- Regular fun, exercise, and play sessions
- Basic grooming including brushing, ear cleaning, and hydrobath before handover
- Professional equipment provided: Blackdog leads, training halters, and off-lead collars
What to Expect on Pickup Day
The course culminates in a three-hour handback session, where trainers demonstrate all your dog’s new skills. You’ll learn practical handling techniques, behavioural strategies, and reinforcement methods designed specifically for your home environment. Trainers guide you step by step on how to:
- Maintain obedience under real-world distractions
- Implement rules for calm door greetings, polite walks, and off-lead control
- Reinforce new behaviours consistently to prevent regression
- Handle unexpected challenges using our practical approach
You also receive:
- A digital handback reference manual
- Professional photos of your dog in timber and magnetic frames
- Access to the Boarding School phone support line
Optional discounted future training sessions to maintain progress
This dog is working on her off lead manners and obedience in our manners room – under the distraction of one of our resident Kitty Cats Jensen.
These dogs live in an apartment so their owner is using boundary training to assist with safely traveling in the elevator.
This dog is learning self control & overall manners around food on a coffee table.
Dogs of all ages can learn not to barge out an open gate – in this picture the Beagle is 3 months old, the Kelpie is 1 year old and the Rottweiler at 10 years old.
The trainers dogs are waiting at the gate for their turn to be invited through. They help the trainers throughout the day teach the other dogs to listen under distraction.
Dog Trainers Servicing Geelong Pet Owners
We are leaders in dog training because we combine expertise, effective courses, and owner education. Our dog trainers help Geelong pet owners in a variety of different ways. These include:
- Tailored courses: Every dog is assessed and trained according to its individual behaviour, temperament, and the owner’s lifestyle
- Proven Methods: Over 28 years refining our Canine Leadership System and Good Behaviour Shaping techniques
- Safe, Stimulating Environment: Purpose-built facilities and graded distractions support learning and confidence-building
- Owner Empowerment: Our handback session equips you with the skills to reinforce training at home
- Practical Results: Dogs leave the course with the skills needed to respond under distraction, manage impulses, and demonstrate calm, controlled behaviour in daily life
Dog Trainers Helping Geelong Families
Our 20-day boarding school provides a structured environment where dogs develop reliable obedience, improved manners, and behaviour that transfers to real-life situations.
Call (03) 8756 8900 (option 2) to discuss your dog’s individual needs and to explain the course and methods in detail.
Your dog’s course concludes with a three-hour handback session at our purpose-built facility, where our trainers demonstrate all newly taught skills and show you how to maintain them at home. You’ll also receive a digital reference manual, professional photos, and ongoing phone support to ensure lasting results.
This dog is demonstrating calm controlled behaviour and manners under high distraction of both the cat wandering past and the child having a meal nearby.
She is also demonstrating a calm wait for permission to enter the lounge area (internal house boundary) without the need for a commonly used “baby gate” room divider.
This dog is also demonstrating calm controlled behaviour inside the home whilst the baby is playing nearby.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
We have trained well over 10,000 dogs over the last 25 years – we receive so many referrals from those who have already successfully used our methods. Our services are in high demand and we are inundated with enquiries, and we take the time to discuss everything in detail with each and every dog owner needing our help.
To that end, you will probably need to leave us a message when you call as we are on the phone helping owners all day long. We will generally have spaces to get your dogs in relatively quickly, and will call you back as soon as we can.
Proudly Serving Dog Owners Across Victoria from Our Macclesfield Location
- Dog Trainers Bendigo
- Dog Trainers Geelong
- Dog Trainers Victoria
Other Service Available in Geelong
Frequently Asked Questions
The 20-day course is essential to build a strong foundation, teach new behaviours reliably, and ensure your dog generalises learning to home and everyday environments.
All dogs must be at least 20 weeks old to enrol.
No. Our methods — including Pattern Learning and Canine Good Behaviour Shaping — create genuine learning and listening without relying on treats, ensuring skills work in real-life distractions.
Absolutely not. Dogs remember their owners. The 20-day stay allows them to focus on learning and behaviour shaping without emotional disruption.
Your dog’s course concludes with a three-hour handback session. Here, trainers demonstrate all new skills and teach you step-by-step how to maintain and extend them at home. You’ll learn to apply techniques to:
- Reinforce calm greetings and polite lead walking
- Maintain recall and drop-stay commands
Implement Canine Good Behaviour Shaping in everyday life
Yes. We specialise in rehabilitating aggressive, obsessive, anxious, or destructive dogs using controlled, graded scenarios. We then teach you the skills and strategies for rehabilitation at home.
Yes. Trainers remain available for advice and optional future training sessions are offered to maintain and improve your dog’s skills.