Day Camp
A focused stretch of structured days — then a full handoff back to you.
The Jingo Dog Training Cooperative runs Day Camp out of Columbia, TN, serving Maury County and the wider Middle Tennessee corridor. The dog stays for the day, the work is layered in a rhythm that fits the dog they are, and at pickup the household gets a written handoff so the progress holds once the dog is home.
What it is
Board-and-train-style days, written handoff at pickup.
Day Camp is the cooperative’s board-and-train-style offering: drop your dog off in the morning, pick them up in the afternoon, and the work continues in between on a rhythm that fits the dog they are. Most families book a 5-day stretch; longer stays are quoted per pup after the Meet & Greet.
The point is not a polished dog at pickup. The point is a dog whose next week at home is calmer than this one was — and a household that knows, in plain language, what to keep doing and what to back off on. The written handoff at pickup is the document that makes that work between visits, and it is the part that holds the progress once the dog is home.
“Dogs learn faster when the work feels safe.”— from the cooperative’s force-free philosophy. Nothing in the Day Camp toolkit involves a choke chain, a prong, a shock, or a yell. Pace is the dog’s pace.
Brandon runs the days himself — the same trainer who reads the intake is the trainer holding the leash on the structured walk. There is no handoff between Day Camp and AdventureWalks staff, no shift change, no dog-on-the-line that the household has not met.
Rhythm of a typical day
Drop-off, enrichment, structured walk, decompression.
Four beats to the day, in order. Every dog goes through the same rhythm — the time spent on each beat changes, the order doesn’t. The rhythm is what turns the morning into something the dog can actually use at home.
Drop-off
A calm handoff at the door. Leash goes on, treats come out, the first ten minutes are about getting comfortable — not about jumping into work. Brandon reads the dog before the dog is asked to do anything, and the day is set around what he sees.
Enrichment
Lick mats, frozen Kongs, scatter-feeding in a pen. The body settles while the brain works on something other than the household. This is the part that takes the edge off the next stretch, and it is the part reactive dogs need before a structured walk — not after.
Structured walk
Real sidewalk, real trails, real distractions at a distance the dog can succeed at. Loose-leash mechanics, sits at the corner, eye contact when a dog passes — layered in small reps so the work builds rather than collapses. The pace is the dog's pace, not a curriculum's pace.
Decompression
A crate, a mat, a quiet room. Twenty to forty minutes of doing nothing is what turns the morning into something the dog can generalise at home. Pushed past this window, the day goes grey — too much input, not enough processing.
At pickup
The written handoff.
Pickup is not the end of the day — it is the part the household runs on for the next week. At pickup, Brandon walks the parent through what the dog did, what the dog struggled with, and what was working when the dog left. The handoff lands as a short written note (email or printed, whichever the household prefers), naming the next two or three things to keep doing and the one or two things to back off on until the next session.
The note is the document that holds the progress between Day Camp days. The work Brandon does in the morning does not transfer to the household by itself — the household needs to know what to reinforce at home, and the note is the bridge.
Day profiles
Three dogs the rhythm is built for.
The four-beat rhythm is the same for every dog. What changes is the slice of the rhythm that gets the most time — and what “success” looks like at pickup. Three common profiles, plain language.
The dog who barks at other dogs from across the street.
Counter-conditioning is the heart of the day. Decompression and enrichment come first so the walk lands on a dog who can succeed; distance is set wider than the household expects and trimmed one step at a time as the dog proves it. The structured walk is the smallest slice of the day for this dog — by design.
What to expect at pickup — A household that can walk past another dog on a sidewalk without the surge, and a plan written for the parents to keep that distance honest at home.
The shelter dog still figuring out the house rules.
Decompression runs longer here than anywhere else. Two or three days of the rhythm alone — drop-off, enrichment, walk, decompression, pickup — usually tells Brandon what the dog brought with them and what the dog needs first. New skills layer in once the dog is settled rather than on day one, when the dog is still reading the room.
What to expect at pickup — A dog who knows this household is the home now, a brief handoff language the parents can use across weeks two and three, and a follow-up plan if anything regresses when the novelty wears off.
The new pup whose first month is the most important month.
Enrichment and the structured walk get most of the day. Crate comfort, name recognition, sit for attention, recall from a short distance, handling practice — the small reps that turn into the next six months of foundation. Most puppies get a 5-day stretch, which is what the rate card already quotes.
What to expect at pickup — A puppy who has done fifty sits, twenty recalls, and a handful of crate naps before the first set of vaccines is even due — the meat of the foundation work without a single correction in it.
If your dog fits closer to one profile than another, the Meet & Greet will name which one — Brandon reads every intake personally, and the day is set around the dog in front of him, not the profile on the page.
What to bring
Five things, no surprises on day one.
The equipment that goes into Day Camp is the equipment the work happens on. Every item on this list is part of how the day runs — not optional, not interchangeable.
Day Camp checklist
What goes in the bag on day one.
Flat collar and 6 ft standard lead (no flexi, no prong, no choke)
A standard 6-foot lead is the only lead the cooperative uses during the structured walk. Anything that tightens on a pull sharpens reactivity instead of settling it.
Current Bordetella, DHLPP, and rabies
Day Camp puts dogs in close quarters with dogs from other households. The three shots cover the pathogens that turn group outings into exposure events — proof is on file once the dates are set.
See the vaccine requirements →High-value treats your dog does not get at home
Real chicken, cheese, freeze-dried liver — whatever the dog loses their mind over at home, but more of it. The novel-by-household-standards reward is what makes the structured walk load.
A familiar mat or towel
A piece of home that smells like the household. It goes in the crate during decompression and travels home at pickup — small detail, meaningful for a recently-adopted dog.
A photo of the most recent vaccine certificate
Sent to the cooperative inbox at booking, or in the intake notes.
Email proof →
The cooperative keeps the mat and lead notes on file once and only asks for re-send if something expires.
Rate & deposit
Hold the booking with a nonrefundable Day Camp deposit.
Most families book a 5-day stretch; longer stays are quoted per pup after the Meet & Greet. The deposit holds the booking — that is its only job.
Loading deposit details…
Day Camp runs on a held block of mornings. Once your dates are booked and the deposit has cleared, that block is taken off the calendar — no other family can be quoted for it, and the cooperative cannot refill the slot at short notice. That is the rule, and it is the reason the deposit is nonrefundable — even when the booked Day Camp sessions go unused. See the refund policy →
The rest of the invoice lands after the Meet & Greet, once the day count is confirmed and the plan is written. Brandon sees the deposit the moment Stripe clears it and the booking goes on the calendar from there — no second email, no manual confirmation step on your side.
See refund policy →Skip the card — send the deposit directly.
Both @Brandon-Kabel on Venmo and $kabelbox on Cash App accept manual deposits. Include your dog’s name in the payment note so Brandon can match it to your booking — he confirms by email the moment the funds arrive.
Ready when you are
Start with a short Meet & Greet — Brandon will quote the work after he meets the dog.
No charge to talk, no obligation to book. Brandon watches the dog move, asks about the home routine, and scopes the work before any invoice lands.