Foundation Board & Train
3 Weeks $4,200
For dogs who need reliable on- and off-leash obedience, better manners, improved impulse control, and a strong foundation for greater freedom at home and in public.
Board & Train Programs
Oliver’s Travels Dog Training and Behavioral Rehabilitation
Helping dogs develop impulse control skills and a calmer state of mind so they can successfully navigate everyday life. Helping their owners build the leadership foundation needed to sustain those changes at home.
Lasting change depends not only on what your dog learns, but on the relationship you build with him.
Serving the San Francisco Bay Area and Northern California
Board & Train Programs
Different programs for different training needs.
Whether you’re starting with basic obedience or your dog is struggling with behavioral issues that are limiting the scope of her life, Oliver’s Travels Dog Training (OTDT) offers two board-and-train programs designed to meet those different needs: Foundation Board & Train and Behavioral Rehabilitation Board & Train.
Behavioral Rehabilitation Board & Train
5 Weeks $6,000
For dogs struggling with aggression, reactivity, anxiety, separation anxiety, resource guarding, bite histories, or other behavioral challenges.
A Different Kind of Board & Train
Because training your dog is only half the process.
My two-stage approach is designed to create change that lasts.
Stage 1 — Training With Me
I establish your dog’s foundation of obedience, impulse control, respect for boundaries, calmer behavior, and better decision-making.
Before your dog goes home, you’ll see what that foundation makes possible: reliable off-leash recall, calm behavior in the house even amid distractions, and, for dogs with serious behavioral challenges, clear evidence of meaningful behavioral change.
Stage 2 — Guided Home Leadership With You
When your dog returns home, I remain closely involved as you establish your leadership and build a new relationship with your dog. Your new leadership role, combined with your dog’s new skills, creates the foundation for a lifetime of new, joyful experiences together.
Home Environment.
Individual attention for your dog — and you.
One trainer from start to finish.
OTDT is intentionally small, allowing me to provide a highly individualized training experience.
I am the person you’ll speak with during your initial consultation, the person who trains your dog, and the person who works with you after your dog returns home.
Training in a real home — and the real world.
Your dog lives and trains with me in my home. Here, your dog not only learns new skills but practices them throughout each day in an environment that resembles everyday life.
Training also extends beyond my home into public settings, where your dog practices his new skills around real-world distractions and the very situations and triggers that were difficult before training.
A carefully managed population of dogs.
Your dog also becomes part of a carefully managed population of dogs with different ages, sizes, personalities, and temperaments. This provides valuable opportunities for social exposure, calm coexistence, impulse control, and learning how to make better decisions around other dogs.
From Structure to Freedom
Build the foundation. Then expand what’s possible.
The beauty of a strong foundation is that it gives even dogs with the most challenging behavioral issues the ability to lead a life full of adventure and inclusion.
Whether that means going camping with friends and their dogs or hanging out at an outdoor café during a busy Sunday brunch, if that’s where you are, that’s where your dog wants to be.
The structure of the training process is what ultimately gives your dog the freedom to go anywhere with you.
Real Dogs. Real Change.
Success is measured in years after training
Dogs come to OTDT with challenges ranging from aggression and reactivity to anxiety, insecurity and a lack of reliable training.
Success isn’t measured only by what changes during training. It’s measured by what life looks like afterward — and whether those results last.
Each of these owners established a new leadership relationship with their dog — one that has supported lasting change for years after training.
Human Aggression
Kuma
4½ Years of Lasting Change — and Counting.
No longer tries to bite his family; now calmly shares his world with his young sister and her friends.
Dog Aggression
Bagel
3½ Years of Lasting Change — and Counting.
Now camps and works around other dogs and enjoys walks without the reactive and aggressive outbursts that once limited his life.
Human Aggression
Seal
2 Years of Lasting Change — and Counting.
Now Seal can enjoy everything from house guests to traveling with her mom aggression-free.
Nervous & Insecure
Frankie
4 Years of Lasting Change — and Counting.
Now confidently participates in family life with the two young children who joined her family after her behavioral rehabilitation.
Fear Aggression & Leash Reactivity
Henry
4½ Years of Lasting Change — and Counting.
Once so reactive that walks were extremely difficult for his mom, Henry now enjoys family walks alongside the stroller and off-leash adventures with his dad.
Foundation Board & Train
Rocky & Bear
2 years of lasting change — and counting.
Rocky, trained at 10 years old, and Bear, trained at 4 months old, with the Foundation Board & Train.
Dog Reactivity & Aggression
Mac & Sadie
8 Years of Lasting Change — and Counting.
A decade ago, Mac and Sadie attacked an off-leash neighbor dog who ran up to them. For the last eight years, their owners have been able to walk them confidently, knowing they can control them even in the least desirable situations.
Dog Aggression for Rae → Foundation Training for Arlo
Rae & Arlo
Lasting Change Created a Lifetime of Memories
Rae enjoyed seven beautiful years after her behavioral rehabilitation: public outings around other dogs, off-leash adventures full of fun and play, and easy family time with human and dog relatives — including welcoming a human sister! She starred in her role as her sister's first dog and will be remembered forever.
When Arlo joined the family, this five-month-old puppy headed straight to OTDT. Rae's owners wanted to give young Arlo the benefit of what they'd learned with Rae — without the challenging years she'd experienced before training.
Meet Virginia
A personal approach, shaped by Oliver.
I founded OTDT in 2013 after my experience with my challenging dog, Oliver, changed the direction of my life.
That experience taught me the invaluable difference between what a dog understands intellectually and how she feels emotionally — an insight that continues to shape the way I approach training and behavioral rehabilitation today.
OTDT remains intentionally small. I work directly with every dog and every owner, from the initial consultation through training and the Guided Home Leadership stage.
More About Virginia →Ready to talk about your dog?