Puppy Board & Train Chicago | 10-Day Immersive Puppy Training Program

K9 University Chicago offers a 10-day Puppy Board & Train program designed for puppies who need focused socialization, obedience foundations, and confidence-building in a structured Chicago training environment. The program includes a free bath at exit. Puppies stay on-site with certified trainers and graduate with better manners, calmer behavior, and a reduced risk of reactivity as adult dogs. This is Chicago’s only specialist puppy board and train program offered by a facility with over 15 years of hands-on experience.

The first few months of your puppy’s life shape everything that follows. K9 University Chicago’s Puppy Board & Train program gives your puppy 10 focused days of socialization, obedience training, and confidence building in a structured, professional environment. Your puppy stays with our certified trainers, gets daily group play sessions, and builds the behavioral foundation that prevents reactivity, anxiety, and difficult habits before they start.

What Is the Puppy Board & Train Program?

This is an immersive 10-day residential training program exclusively for puppies. Unlike adult board and train programs, the puppy version is shorter because puppies have limited attention spans and need frequent rest. The focus is on laying the right behavioral foundation early, not rushing advanced commands.

Every day, your puppy works with an experienced K9U trainer using positive, reward-based methods. The program covers:

Basic obedience: sit, stay, come, down, place
Leash manners and walking in position
Socialization with people, other dogs, and the Chicago environments
Impulse control and calm behavior
Managing jumping, barking, and demanding behaviors
Building confidence to reduce long-term reactivity risk

Who Is This Program For?

Best Suited For	Details
Age range	Puppies 8 weeks to 5 months old
Owners who are busy	Limited time for daily training sessions
First-time dog owners	Need expert guidance during the critical socialization window
City-based puppies	Exposure to Chicago distractions, sounds, and environments
Puppies showing early anxiety	Fearfulness, hesitation, or avoidance of new situations

What to Expect: Program Outcomes

When your puppy completes the 10-day program, you can expect:

A puppy that responds to basic commands reliably
Calmer greeting behavior with people and other dogs
Reduced jumping, biting, and demand barking
Better confidence in new environments
A handover session where your trainer walks you through everything your puppy learned and how to continue at home

Puppy Board & Train Price

Board and Train @ K9 Chicago * - Free Bath @ Exit
Board & Train for Puppies	10 days	$1,500

Why Chicago Puppies Need Specialized Training

Chicago is a demanding environment for a young dog. Loud traffic, crowded sidewalks, skateboards, other dogs, and unpredictable city situations can overwhelm puppies who have not been properly exposed and guided. A puppy who does not receive structured socialization during the critical window between 8 and 16 weeks is significantly more likely to develop reactive behavior, anxiety, or aggression as an adult.

K9U’s Puppy Board & Train is structured specifically around Chicago city life. Trainers expose puppies to the stimuli they will encounter daily and teach them how to respond calmly and confidently.

What We Need to Get Started

Vaccinations Required:

Distemper, Parvo, Rabies, Bordetella, H3N2, Lepto
Up-to-date Fecal Test

What to Bring:

Your puppy’s regular food (we provide everything else)

Steps to Enroll:

Register online and create a profile for you and your puppy
Review the K9U Waiver Form here. You will sign the form electronically when you register online.
Upload vaccination records to your online profile
Place your reservation online to discuss your puppy’s needs

Pablo Maldonado

Pablo is an established trainer and business founder of multiple dog care companies with specialties in training, boarding and canine nutrition.

As a participant in several highly regarded training seminars, Pablo enjoys working with all dog breeds including high energy dogs where he uses soft sports, such as Agility Training, to provide these active dogs with a positive way to focus their energy and modify unwanted behaviors. Along with his customized approach to training based on each dog’s individual needs, Pablo creates a unique comprehensive training environment for every client.

Born and raised in Monterrey, Mexico, Pablo offers Private Training and all levels of Group Obedience Training in Spanish. He is also very active with Board and Train camps providing Spanish commands for dogs as needed for those clients who prefer to speak Spanish at home.

Jonathan Polich

Jon has been in the dog industry in Chicago for 13 years. He started off running his own dog walking company and made his way into dog training close to 10 years ago. He has been training dogs in the Chicago land area for around 10 years in doggy daycares and also privately. Jon believes training dogs is not only about working with your dog and their needs, but also being able to properly communicate dog behavior so you the dog owner can better connect with trust and understand how to work with your dog throughout its life.

Jon is a believer in the humane hierarchy of dog training and working with positive reinforcement-based training. Jon works with most behavioral needs such as puppy training, basic obedience, loose leash walking training, impulse control, relaxation protocol, dog reactive/people reactive training, as well as socialization training in small and large dog groups

Joshua D. Johnson

Joshua D. Johnson is a seasoned dog trainer with over nine years of professional experience, specializing in obedience, behavior modification, and high-drive working dogs. He holds multiple industry certifications, including Animal Behavior College Dog Training Certification, and police and sport dog decoy certification. His skillset spans from foundational pet obedience to advanced working dog applications, with a proven ability to bring out the best in each dog through a balanced, results-driven approach.

In addition to his individual accomplishments, Joshua played a key role in developing and launching Canine Kingdom, a successful dog daycare and training business. His hands-on expertise extends to creating training programs, managing client relations, and building a thriving canine community. Whether working with family companions, service dogs, or sport competitors, Joshua’s training philosophy blends precision, clarity, and strong handler communication to ensure lasting results.

Joshua’s foundation in discipline and performance comes from his military background, where he served as an infantryman and worked alongside military working dogs. This experience instilled a deep understanding of canine capability, drive, and teamwork under pressure. Today, he continues to combine his military precision with a passion for helping dogs and handlers succeed, making him a trusted figure in both pet and professional working dog circles.

Book Your FREE Boarding and Training Evaluation!

As Chicago’s largest training camp resort, at K9 University, we combine excellent dog boarding with professional dog training. You could call it a sort of luxury dog boot camp!

Designed specifically for dogs with special behavioral issues, or for busy people who can’t make it to regular training sessions, ‘Boarding and Training’ offers a personalized solution for the dog and owner. Your dog will enjoy all our boarding perks, group play, as well as the positive behavioral training you arrange according to your affordability or your dog’s needs.