About The Cottages

The Cottages is a boarding business first, and says so in its own strapline: "Why board in a kennel when you can vacation in a cottage".

The training that is actually offered

One training product is published, and it is a private lesson: "We are excited to offer Basic Manners lessons: $70 for a 1 hour private lesson for dog and human or $35 for 1/2 hour for dog only with Talya Vardimon, CPDT-KA." The published scope is foundation work – "recall, sit, stay, down, walk nicely on the leash and other behaviors" – or, as the site puts it, if your dog "just need some polishing up on his/her skills". The business suggests booking the lesson for owner and dog together at pickup: "schedule a training session for both you and you pup when you return!"

What this is not

It is not a board-and-train program. Dogs board here and a lesson can be added; the training is not an immersion course, and it is not recorded as one.

The boarding itself

Two room types are published with prices – a Classic Cottage at "$75" a night for one dog and a Cottage With a Yard at "$95" – and each dog gets "at least 45 minutes" a day one-to-one with a person. Add-ons include a "45 Minute Adventure Walk: $45" the site calls a "Sniffari". Fencing is described in detail, down to a perimeter that is "6' with another foot extender leaning inwards to help prevent climbing".

Who is on staff

The owner, Sarah Chapin Strentz, worked at the Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA for four years before opening the property. The trainer, Talya Vardimon, is published as a CPDT-KA and a former Dog Behavior Specialist at the same SPCA.