Residential Dog Training Information
Here at Royvon, our residential training programmes are popular among our customers! We’ve worked with hundreds of dogs over the years to help them with any behavioural issues they may have, including severe anxiety and aggression, helping to transform them into pets to be proud of. If you want to learn more about our residential programmes and what they entail, this page covers everything that you need to know, all in one place!
Watch Darren Explain Our Residential Dog Training Esher Services
How We Train Dogs On A Residential Programme
Method
If you want your dog turned into a remote-controlled robot, then this is perhaps not the best route for you. We work with each trainee as an individual and precious family pet, as well as working with their owners to make sure that everyone is on the same page. Our methods are positive and science-based, helping your dog to make the choices that you want them to make by motivating them to do so in a positive way. Our opinion is that dogs do not want to dominate us, they just crave what they want. And sometimes, they will resort to undesirable behaviours to gain these things. We work with our trainees to show them that it can instead be rewarding to focus and pay attention to their owners, which also has the benefit of improving the relationship with their family! This method has really positive results, but it does mean that owners need to be committed to their own learning to ensure that they get the best outcomes. However, we have plenty of support in place to help you do so, ensuring that you and your dog get the most out of this programme.
Timeframe
Our four-month residential programme consists of two phases. Firstly, phase one is the formal training for your dog. Here, they will be trained on a residential basis with Royvon for 21 days. These days are consecutive and include the weekends. Throughout this period, the dogs are trained consistently every day by one of our expert trainers who will focus on their individual needs and what they need to learn to overcome any issues. At the end of their stay with us, you will receive a handover training session. Here, you will learn the basics to carry on your dog’s great work at home. However, please note that, while this is a great opportunity to learn the basics, this is not enough time to learn everything you need to know, so most of your training will take place during phase two.
Phase two is where you will gain a deeper understanding of our method and how to use it yourself! You’ll learn how to handle and continue the training of your dog around normal day to day distractions in a public environment. These sessions with your dog do take place irrespective of you being there or not. However, we really encourage you to attend as often as possible. Royvon is unique because you have unlimited access to these owner training sessions for three months and one week after phase one is completed. We use these sessions to set up ‘real-life’ situations so that you and your dog know what to do in the various situations and environments that you will encounter at home and out and about.
Some customers take advantage of this offer and attend regularly for three months, which we encourage. But, other customers simply attend for a shorter time, depending on what they need. We strongly recommend that you attend regularly during the first month and then decide what you need going forward in month two and three. We are here to support you, no matter what your needs are. Training your dog and building a positive relationship with them is a lifelong process that is fun and rewarding! We’re just here to help you with that, and shape your dog into the pet of your dreams.
The Structure Of Your Dog’s Day
Your dog will be accommodated in one of our clean, spacious standard rooms, unless you choose to upgrade their room type to better suit their needs or preferences. All of our accommodation options have two areas. These are a sleeping area which your dog will have access to 24 hours a day (with the exception of short periods for cleaning), and also an exercise area which they can access during the day time. Your dog will be taken out for play activities and exercise by our animal care team once per day for fun exercise and stimulation. Your trainer will train your dog for one hour per day, usually broken into 20 or 30-minute sessions. Plus, they’ll keep in regular contact with you so you know what’s going on.
Communication
Before your dog arrives for their residential stay with us, your trainer will have comprehensive information about your unique circumstances. However, we will go over these aspects with you in the handover session on Day 1. During this one hour session, your circumstances will be discussed and goals agreed for the programme, based on your dog’s individual needs and challenges.
We will create a WhatsApp group between you, your family and a few of our team here at Royvon. This will include your trainer, who will send over videos throughout the length of your dog’s stay, so that you can catch up on their wellbeing and progress. You will also be able to view pictures of your dog daily when we upload them to our Facebook page! If you’d like to know about the level of communication you can expect when your dog is training with us, you can check out our Facebook page ahead of time to see the sort of thing that we tend to share. We also share lots of content daily in our social media stories that your dog may star in, so don’t forget to follow us to make sure you don’t miss anything!
Meet Our Lovely Trainees
The Success Of Our Programme
As we hope you’ve seen in our 1000s of positive online reviews, our previous customers are very happy with the results we’ve achieved with our residential training programmes. The only time problems occur is when the owners unfortunately aren’t prepared or can’t be involved in their owner training. We stress at every point that you must be committed to learning the skills needed to continue your training journey with your dog. However, there is no need to worry about this, you are not alone! We will support and encourage you at every step of the way to help you get the results you desire for you, your dog, and your family.
The Royvon Story
It’s not uncommon for sons to follow in their father’s footsteps. Here’s the story of a family who has established a great reputation as experts in the dog training and boarding world!
From 1954 Will John taught his son Roy all there was to know about German Shepherds. In the early days, it was a hobby, but after Roy met his wife-to-be Yvonne, they decided to turn their hobby into a business. In 1959 Royvon was born! They both shared the love and admiration of the German Shepherd breed, judging all over the world. Together they developed the facility in the South Wales valleys that was Royvon’s founding location.
The Royvon Story Tragedy
The Royvon story isn’t all joy and triumph, as in 1981 there was a tragic car accident where Yvonne and son Darren were seriously injured and Roy lost his life at just 43 years of age. The years that followed were understandably extremely hard for the family and the Royvon business suffered as a result. The extent nearly led to bankruptcy but the family’s love of passion for each other and their dogs was the saviour and Royvon was to triumph once again.
Darren was only 9 when the accident happened. However, his father instilled the passion for the business in him. As a result, Roy’s legacy lived on through Darren, Yvonne, and many associates that held Roy in such high regard. Darren often talks about the support he received from ‘dog people’ who constantly told him stories about how respected his father was and how great a ‘dog man’ he was.
Meet Merry
A child being responsible for a German Shepherd is a big deal but Darren’s mum was sure that Darren was responsible enough to get his very own at 10 years old! On 25th December 1982, a puppy who’s name turned out to be ‘Merry’ (Merry Christmas) ran through the Royvon house straight to Darren and from that day onwards they were best friends.
Merry wasn’t a regular German Shepherd puppy she had the best German lines as Roy & Yvonne importing the best Germany had to offer and went to win top honours in both the show ring and obedience competitions. The two were inseparable, only by school – but all other times were playing together and learning in preparation for the weekend’s competitions. Who was to know that these events were the basis for Darren’s lifetime successful career in dog training?
Developing the Royvon Story
The entrepreneur in Roy was embedded in his son Darren. Every aspect of Royvon life excited him, and he had the drive to push the business to become as successful as possible. In this case, success means helping as many dog owners as possible to resolve the challenges they face with their dogs behaviours! Darren made a conscious effort in his 20s to develop the business and employ trainers at his level so that more people can learn of the knowledge that had been gained from his father and his father before him.
Darren started off by practicing his dog training skills as a teenage boy on dogs staying at Royvon’s boarding kennels. It turned out that owners were literally ‘over the moon’ about what a young lad could do to turn their dog into a fully trained pooch while they were away on holiday!
It was soon established by Darren that it was owner training that was really needed for well-trained dogs, so that’s where his efforts were diverted so that the programme could be as helpful as possible to Royvon’s customers. Darren’s drive was even more fueled by large numbers of dog owners travelling the length and breadth of the country so that their dogs could go through the Royvon programme.
Royvon Today
Nowadays, Royvon has expanded from the first location in Merthyr Tydfil, to include a site in and Surrey. And now, technology allows owners to have a totally transparent experience. All the work we do with our guests is online and available for owners to see their dog’s progress. Online training is also available for owners to learn virtually while our expert trainers work with their dogs, opening our method up to even more people.
Although tragedy had such an impact in the Royvon story, the story is a happy one with much love and passion to the life that we have been given. Dogs make many families happy and the Royvon family is one that will always be indebted to the love that has been received by our dogs over the years.
THE ROYVON STORY
A TRUE FAMILY BUSINESS
It’s not uncommon for sons to follow in their father’s footsteps. Here’s the story of a family who has established a great reputation as experts in the dog training and boarding world!
From 1954 Will John taught his son Roy all there was to know about German Shepherds. In the early days, it was a hobby, but after Roy met his wife-to-be Yvonne, they decided to turn their hobby into a business. In 1959 Royvon was born! They both shared the love and admiration of the German Shepherd breed, judging all over the world. Together they developed the facility in the South Wales valleys that was Royvon’s founding location.
The Royvon story isn’t all joy and triumph, as in 1981 there was a tragic car accident where Yvonne and son Darren were seriously injured and Roy lost his life at just 43 years of age. The years that followed were understandably extremely hard for the family and the Royvon business suffered as a result. The extent nearly led to bankruptcy but the family’s love of passion for each other and their dogs was the saviour and Royvon was to triumph once again.
Darren was only 9 when the accident happened. However, his father instilled the passion for the business in him. As a result, Roy’s legacy lived on through Darren, Yvonne, and many associates that held Roy in such high regard. Darren often talks about the support he received from ‘dog people’ who constantly told him stories about how respected his father was and how great a ‘dog man’ he was.
A child being responsible for a German Shepherd is a big deal but Darren’s mam was sure that Darren was responsible enough to get his very own at 10 years old! On 25th December 1982, a puppy who’s name turned out to be ‘Merry’ (Merry Christmas) ran through the Royvon house straight to Darren and from that day onwards they were best friends.
Merry wasn’t a regular German Shepherd puppy she had the best German lines as Roy & Yvonne importing the best Germany had to offer and went to win top honours in both the show ring and obedience competitions. The two were inseparable, only by school – but all other times were playing together and learning in preparation for the weekend’s competitions. Who was to know that these events were the basis for Darren’s lifetime successful career in dog training?
Developing the business
The entrepreneur in Roy was embedded in his son Darren. Every aspect of Royvon life excited him, and he had the drive to push the business to become as successful as possible. In this case, success means helping as many dog owners as possible to resolve the challenges they face with their dogs behaviours! Darren made a conscious effort in his 20s to develop the business and employ trainers at his level so that more people can learn of the knowledge that had been gained from his father and his father before him.
Darren started off by practicing his dog training skills as a teenage boy on dogs staying at Royvon’s boarding kennels. It turned out that owners were literally ‘over the moon’ about what a young lad could do to turn their dog into a fully trained pooch while they were away on holiday!
It was soon established by Darren that it was owner training that was really needed for well-trained dogs, so that’s where his efforts were diverted so that the programme could be as helpful as possible to Royvon’s customers. Darren’s drive was even more fueled by large numbers of dog owners travelling the length and breadth of the country so that their dogs could go through the Royvon programme.
Royvon Today
Nowadays, Royvon has expanded from the first location in Merthyr Tydfil, to include a site in Surrey. And now, technology allows owners to have a totally transparent experience. All the work we do with our guests is online and available for owners to see their dog’s progress. Online training is also available for owners to learn virtually while our expert trainers work with their dogs, opening our method up to even more people.
Although tragedy had such an impact in the Royvon story, the story is a happy one with much love and passion to the life that we have been given. Dogs make many families happy and the Royvon family is one that will always be indebted to the love that has been received by our dogs over the years.
