Board & train · Hastings, East Sussex

Residential dog training in the Sussex countryside

Your dog boards and trains with us — we do the hard work, and you get back a dog you can take anywhere, and the calm, joyful walks you've been dreaming of.

Send an enquiry Book a free phone consult
  • 5-star council-licensed premises
  • Visit your dog anytime
  • Daily reports + body-cam video of every session
  • No kennels — your dog lives with us

Does this sound like your dog?

You love them to bits — but the pulling, the barking, the lunging at other dogs… it's exhausting. You're not a bad owner, and your dog isn't a bad dog. These are the issues we deal with day in, day out:

  • Pulling on the lead
  • Toilet training
  • Social skills
  • Reactivity
  • Barking at the door
  • General or trigger based anxiety
  • Excessive play biting
  • Growling or biting
  • Crate training
  • Prey drive
  • Hyperactivity
  • Other forms of issues

If your dog's problem isn't listed here, please ask us — we may well be able to help.

Puppy in training at The Fairy Tails
School in session

5 STAR RATED

By Hastings Borough Council for dog care

Licensed premises · Licence No. WK/202503477

Care within a regulated framework

Board & Train means your dog boards with us — and boarding dogs is a licensed activity, not something anyone can simply set up and offer. We are a premises licensed and inspected by Hastings Borough Council, operating under the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) Regulations 2018 and government welfare guidance. Council inspectors visit, assess and award every licensed premises a star rating — and we hold the highest one there is: 5 stars.

That means the standards behind your dog's stay — housing, supervision, records, enrichment and welfare — are independently checked, not just promised.

The programme

A boarding school for dogs and puppies

At The Fairy Tails we offer intensive dog training in the form of a training boot camp: your dog boards and trains with us for assured results. We take the stress out of training by doing it for you — giving your dog the greatest possible start, then handing you a simple training schedule so you can spend more time enjoying your dog, comfortable taking them wherever you go.

A positive environment

Your dog lives with us in our house and at our daycare while undergoing daily training — a totally customised routine that can greatly impact behaviour in as little as three to four weeks. It's hard to choose who to trust with your cherished family dog: our knowledgeable trainers use positive techniques in a loving, safe and secure environment.

We do the hard work

The key to dog training is consistency, regularity, and a controlled, supervised environment — difficult for busy families. If your schedule doesn't allow for training, if past attempts or other trainers haven't worked, or if you simply don't want to do it yourself, this is your programme.

Your dog stays with us

There are no kennels at our house. Your dog is evaluated, given time to adjust, and lives here with us — becoming our pet for a period agreed between you and the trainer, based on your dog's issues and your wishes. Our clients come from all over the UK and trust us with their fur children.

All breeds are welcome, and we train pups from as young as twelve weeks — as long as they've had their second set of vaccinations. There is never a wrong time!

The puppy tier

Puppy boarding and training — puppies 12–16 weeks old

Our residential range takes puppies as well as adult dogs. Boarding School for Puppies is the puppy course: £1,200 for 4 weeks, and puppies need their second set of vaccinations before they can join. Your puppy spends their days with our trainers, at the age when the habits you want are easiest to lay down and there is least to un-teach later.

  • Toilet training
  • Obedience foundations
  • Problem prevention
  • Structured socialisation
  • Daily reports + body-cam session videos

Where your puppy sleeps depends on where you are

Boarding optional

Local to Hastings

Boarding is available but optional — the arrangement stays flexible.

  • Home with you each evening
  • With us during the week, home at weekends
  • Boarding with us for the full four weeks

Boarding included

Travelling to us from London and beyond

Puppies travelling to us board with us for the four-week course.

  • Home at weekends, if you would prefer that
  • With us right through until the course ends

Travelling to us? Puppies use exactly the same door-to-door pick-up and drop-off as our adult programmes.

Do you take puppies, or only older dogs?

We take both. Board & Train is our residential range: it runs from puppies through to adult dogs, at different lengths and with different entry criteria. Boarding School for Puppies is the puppy course — £1,200 for 4 weeks, for puppies 12–16 weeks old. Our trainers do the day-in, day-out work at the age when good habits are easiest to lay down, and you get daily reports and body-cam video of every session.

See the full Puppy School programme

The line we won’t cross

Pain-free dog training — and exactly what that rules out

We are pain-free dog trainers. Nothing we put on your dog, and nothing we do with your dog, is designed to work by hurting them — no choke chain, no prong collar, no electric collar, not on the toughest case, not on the worst day.

  • We never use: Choke chains

    A sliding metal loop that tightens around your dog’s neck whenever the lead goes tight, and only loosens when the pressure comes off. Repeated use can damage the windpipe, and a sudden jerk can strain the neck or spine.

  • We never use: Prong collars

    Metal links with inward-facing points that press into the skin around your dog’s neck every time the lead tightens. Repeated use can bruise, break the skin and damage the nerves underneath.

  • We never use: Electric collars (e-collars, shock collars)

    Contact points on your dog’s neck that deliver an electric shock by remote control. Even on “low”, it works by being unpleasant enough to stop the dog — who may link that to whatever they were looking at, often the other dog.

What we use instead

Positive reinforcement dog training, applied properly — and it works on the hard cases too, not only the easy ones.

Read what choke chains, prong collars and e-collars actually do to a dog →

  • Positive reinforcement. We pay for the behaviour we want with food your dog will actually work for, plus toys and play — so they learn what to do, not only what to avoid.
  • Work kept below your dog’s threshold. We set the distance and duration your dog can cope with, then close the gap as they steady, rather than correcting them for not coping.
  • Counter-conditioning. We change how your dog feels about the thing they react to, rather than suppressing the reaction and leaving the feeling underneath. On our training programmes that work happens where the problem does: the high street, cafés, traffic, the seafront.
  • Ordinary, well-fitted kit. A well-fitted harness, a non-retractable lead, a collar with an ID tag — ordinary kit, nothing corrective. Your programme’s own kit list is the one to pack from.

Why we say pain-free, not force-free: a lead, a collar, a harness, a muzzle where safety requires one, a nail trim, grooming restraints, a bathing noose, holding a dog steady in a busy street — every one of those applies a degree of force, and not one of them is there to cause pain. Force-free isn’t a promise any trainer can honestly keep. Pain-free is.

Proof, not promises

We'll never sell you a guaranteed fix

No honest trainer can. What we can show you is how we actually work, every single day.

Archie's story

Why we'll never promise you a quick fix

Archie, a young Labradoodle with severe separation anxiety and big feelings around other dogs, responded beautifully to positive reinforcement training. His story is also an honest lesson in why a family's follow-through matters as much as ours — and why "guaranteed results" from any trainer should be a red flag. Read it before choosing a trainer. Including us.

Read Archie's full story

Watch us work

A real training session, start to finish — through the streets, seafront and cafés of Hastings. Busy pavements, traffic, other dogs: this is exactly the real world your dog learns to be calm in. Press play — this is the proof.

Just some of our lovely doggy clients

Drag to explore

Residential Puppy Training
Residential Puppy Training
In town training
In town training
All breeds welcome
All breeds welcome
It's not all hard work!
It's not all hard work!
Focus, even mid-adventure
Focus, even mid-adventure
Start them young
Start them young
Max, a steady sit on the high street
Max, a steady sit on the high street
Neo, calm on a busy street
Neo, calm on a busy street
April, settled at the café
April, settled at the café
Rigsby, focused in town
Rigsby, focused in town
Diego, relaxed by the seafront
Diego, relaxed by the seafront
Bay, settled as a runner passes
Bay, settled as a runner passes

What our families say

Real words from board-and-train families are coming here.

Before & after

Side-by-side transformations — reactive on lead to calm in town — are coming here.

The journey

What the weeks look like

Every dog's plan is tailored with you before they arrive — but here's the typical shape of a full course for an adult dog.

  1. Week 1

    Settling in

    Your dog moves in, meets the household and our daycare crew, and builds a routine. Integration comes first — a relaxed dog is a dog who can learn.

  2. Week 2

    Back to basics

    Essential commands and calm behaviours, taught in the quiet around the barn — space and tranquillity, no distractions.

  3. Weeks 3–4

    Building up — and parent training begins

    Skills get stronger and real-life situations are layered in. From week 4, parent training starts: Friday sessions where you learn to speak your dog’s new language (pick-up between 11am and 2pm).

  4. Mid-course

    A week off at home

    Dogs must have a week off — rest is part of learning. Your dog comes home, practises living with you, and you see the progress first-hand. Where logistics allow, dogs also benefit from weekends at home.

  5. Weeks 5–7

    Specialised training

    Out into the real world: on-lead at local dog parks, along the seafront promenade and through busy high streets — wherever your dog’s plan needs us to be.

  6. Weeks 8–9

    Individual training & handover

    The last pieces are tightened up one-to-one, and we transition your dog back to you — with mid-course and end-of-course parent sessions so you’re confident carrying it on.

Puppies are different: pups aged 12–16 weeks run a shorter 4-week course (with a transition week after) — at that age they're a blank canvas, and four weeks sets a great foundation.

The Fairy Tails boarding dog training cycle — in-facility environments
The boarding training cycle
The Fairy Tails boarding dog training cycle — outside areas and real-world environments
Outside-areas training cycle
Parents learning the ropes at handover

Please note — your involvement is the most important part

We can lay the strongest possible foundation, but lasting change is a partnership. Your dog comes home with new skills and a simple schedule to keep them — and the families who follow through are the ones whose dogs keep blossoming.

It's why parent training is built into the course from week 4, why we recommend the mid-course and end-of-course sessions, and why we published Archie's story for every prospective client to read.

The holiday tier

Going away? Your dog can come home better than they left

Most boarding hands your dog back exactly as you dropped them off. Holiday Board & Train is our third residential tier — £1,500 for 4 weeks, for dogs boarding while you're away — and it does the opposite. Your dog settles into the barn, then spends their days working with our trainers: daily training sessions, structured day care, and a video report home every day so you can watch it happening from wherever you are.

  • Boarding + training + structured day care
  • Daily training sessions
  • Daily video reports

It suits the trip that is long enough to be a wasted month otherwise — a secondment, an extended holiday, a house move. Larger dogs are £300 more.

To be plain about what this is not. We do not offer boarding on its own. Every dog who stays here is here to train — that is what our staffing and our day are built around. If you just need somewhere safe for your dog to wait until you are home, a boarding kennel is the better fit, and we would rather tell you that than take the booking.

Talk to us about dates

Investment

Programmes & pricing

Boarding School for Puppies

£1,200 for 4 weeks

Puppies 12–16 weeks old

  • Toilet training
  • Obedience foundations
  • Problem prevention
  • Structured socialisation
  • Daily reports + body-cam session videos
Enquire about this programme

Our flagship programme

Boarding School for Dogs

£2,500 for 8–10 weeks

+£300 for large dogs

Adult dogs 16 weeks and over; rescue dogs assessed case-by-case

  • Behaviour-modification coaching and strategy
  • Real-world environment training
  • Parent training Fridays from week 4
  • Daily reports + body-cam session videos
  • Open visits welcome anytime
Enquire about this programme

Holiday Board & Train

£1,500 for 4 weeks

+£300 for large dogs

Dogs boarding while you're away

  • Boarding + training + structured day care
  • Daily training sessions
  • Daily video reports
Enquire about this programme

Local, and happy to bring your dog in each day? The same training without overnight boarding is our Intensive Dog Training.

From further afield

Coming from London? We'll come to you

Board & Train families join us from right across London and the South of England — and you don't need to do the motorway runs. We offer door-to-door pick-up and drop-off for boarding dogs: we collect your dog from your home at the start of the course, and bring them back to you when they graduate.

  1. Tell us your postcode

    We'll send your exact door-to-door figure along with your dog's programme plan.

  2. We collect your dog

    Your dog travels door to door with our own team — from your home straight to the barn.

  3. Home again at graduation

    When the course wraps up, we bring them back to your door — ready to show you what they've learned.

Straight talk

Our limitations — we'll always be straight with you

We cannot change your dog's character. When it comes to learning, dogs are similar to human children: we can teach anxious dogs numerous coping skills and resilience techniques, but a naturally reserved or shy dog will always be naturally reserved or shy. It's impossible to transform a frightened dog into a joyful, bouncy one in eight weeks — promising that would be unrealistic, so we won't. What we can do is help with the long list of behavioural issues above, and be honest with you about everything else.

Is it suitable for all dogs? Almost!

Puppies

Puppies between twelve and sixteen weeks can do less than eight weeks — they're a blank canvas for learning. A four-week course is plenty to set a great foundation.

Adult dogs

Dogs older than sixteen weeks must do the full eight-week course, with one week's break. We can't train in less than eight weeks due to latent inhibition. We train on positive reinforcement and never use aversive tools — no choke chain, no prong collar, no e-collar.

Rescue dogs

Due to complex histories and often deeply ingrained survival behaviours, boarding training is only suitable in limited cases. Please call us to confirm.

Open doors

An open door — and proof of progress every day

You are welcome to visit your dog whenever you like. No appointments, no awkwardness — they're your family.

Each dog's parent receives daily training feedback to ensure the plan is working. All our training sessions are recorded on the body cam, so you'll also receive the recordings of each session with your daily reports. Videos are stored on OneDrive and you'll have access to the link throughout.

Example of a daily training report sent to parents
A real daily report, exactly as parents receive it
What your dog needs to bring — the kit list

Here are the items your dog will need when he or she starts at the boarding school:

  • Puppy crate/dog crate – if your dog is trained to sleep in it or if required for training
  • Puppy toys/dog toys (which can be destroyed by the dog) – chew toys
  • Yaks Milk Chew
  • Pizzle sticks or other chews – such as cows' ear, pigs ear, beef tendon, chicken necks, etc.
  • Puppy food/dog food – with instructions
  • Puppy/dog bedding
  • Puppy/dog harness – Perfect Fit or any snug, comfortable Y-shaped harness with a front loop plus a handle on top (Ancol, Truedog, Rabbitgoo, Hurtta). Hurtta is our favourite
  • Walking lead – Halti lead with double clips (a normal lead with clips at either end)
  • 3-inch carabiner pack
  • 20 ft training lead
  • Vet bed
  • High cartilage-based chew
  • Prebiotic: Purina Fortiflora
  • Multivitamin tablets (Purina only)
  • Nutri Calm tablets or a prescription from your vet if your dog is nervous
  • Adaptil plug-in
  • Dog snood – for nervous dogs
  • Jumper – for cold weather

Any exception to the kit list must be agreed in advance with the school.

Getting started

How to book your dog in — four simple steps

  1. 1

    Contact us

    Send us the list of issues you’re facing — or the single biggest one you’d like us to focus on.

  2. 2

    Prioritise

    We put your list into priority order and send it back so we can agree what matters most, together.

  3. 3

    Contract

    A service contract sets out our obligations to you, and yours to us. Your dog’s issues are trained holistically and at the same time — training can’t work in isolation — while keeping the main issue in focus.

  4. 4

    Agreement

    You return the signed contract with the fees and registration form, and training starts on our mutually agreed date.

Let's talk

Tell us about your dog

Send us the issues you're facing — or the one big thing you'd most like us to crack — and we'll come back to you with an honest plan.

What would you like help with? (tick any)

Prefer to talk it through first? Book a free phone consultation or WhatsApp us on 01424 300668

This page was last reviewed and updated .