About Barkefellers – Columbus

Overview

Barkefellers Columbus is the Columbus, Indiana branch of Barkefellers, a family-owned pet resort group with locations across central Indiana. The Columbus site is at 84 Linden Park Place and describes itself as a "Family-owned and operated luxurious pet resort providing lavish overnight accommodations, a salon spa, spacious doggie daycare, and obedience training."

Training here is one of four service lines rather than the whole business, which shapes what it is good at. Barkefellers is a full-service resort first, and its training product is built to fit that: programs are structured around the dog already being on site for the day or the week, rather than around a weekly evening class the owner attends. For households that already board or use daycare, the training slots in without adding a separate provider or a separate trip.

Training Approach

The method is stated plainly. Barkefellers uses "positive behavior reinforcement, which uses a positive reward (treat, toy, ball, praise, etc.) for desired behaviors." The stated equipment policy follows the same logic: gentle leaders and easy-walk harnesses are used for appropriate dogs rather than applying chain collars universally.

The daily structure is the more distinctive part. Both training formats run the same rhythm — "3 learning sessions throughout the day" plus "2 group or private play sessions." Splitting instruction into three short sessions with play between them is a sensible design for canine attention spans and retention, and it means a dog in a one-week program accumulates far more repetitions than a dog in a six-week evening class.

The company's general operating principle, stated on its About page, is "We treat our guests with the same affection and care that we would want our own pets to receive."

Programs & Services

Training is organised into two delivery formats across matching curriculum levels.

**Day School** runs Monday through Friday, with drop-off by 9 a.m. and pickup after 4 p.m. The dog trains during the day and goes home each night. Offerings are:

– *Puppy Prep Day School* — a four-week program covering foundational obedience, handling and resource guarding. The inclusion of handling and resource guarding at the puppy stage is preventive work, not remedial, and is a genuinely useful curriculum choice.

– *Level 1 Day School* — a one-week core obedience program focused on basic commands.

– *Level 2 Day School* — a one-week advanced program building on Level 1.

– *Level 1 & 2 Day School* — the two combined as a two-week program.

**Stay School** is the same curriculum with the dog boarding overnight through the weekday sessions rather than going home — a board-and-train format. Puppy Prep, Level 1, and combined Level 1 & 2 are all available in this format.

Alongside training, the Columbus location offers lodging (marketed as "More than just a kennel"), daycare ("The social attention they crave"), and grooming ("Ultimate spa pampering"). Amenities described include private outdoor potty yards, twice-daily room service, exercise play, cuddle time and bedtime tuck-in, and there is a pet cam for owners.

Location & Setting

The Columbus, Indiana resort is at 84 Linden Park Place, Columbus, IN 47201. Barkefellers operates additional locations in the Indianapolis area — Indy Northeast, Indy South, Indy West and Westfield — so the Columbus site is a branch of a multi-location operation rather than an independent business. Owners should use the Columbus-specific site and phone line when booking, since programs and schedules are managed per location.

Everything happens on site. There are no in-home lessons in this model, and training is not offered as owner-attended weekly group classes — the dog is dropped off or boarded.

What Sets Them Apart

The clearest advantage is integration. A dog can board, be groomed, attend daycare and complete a structured obedience level in the same building with staff who see it regularly. For owners who travel, the Stay School format converts a boarding week that would otherwise be idle into a training week — the single most efficient use of time on this list of providers.

The second is program clarity. Named levels, fixed durations, a published daily structure and a stated reinforcement method make the product easy to evaluate before booking. An owner can see exactly what a week involves.

The third is the family-ownership continuity. The About page says siblings Jordan and Krista Coffey are "the driving force behind Barkefellers" as current owners, following their parents Rick and Christi Coffey, "who set out to redefine what pet care could be." The page notes the siblings "started their journey on the front lines as hotel and front desk attendants, steadily working their way up through management roles over more than 16 years."

Two limitations are worth stating for prospective clients. First, Barkefellers does not publish the names or credentials of the individual trainers who deliver the programs, nor any certifying body. Owners who want to know who will handle their dog, and what qualification that person holds, will need to ask directly — this is a meaningful gap next to the credentialed independent trainers in the same market. Second, the published curriculum is obedience and manners: basic commands, foundational skills, and puppy handling. There is no advertised program for serious behaviour cases such as aggression, reactivity or separation anxiety, and no behaviour-consultant credential claimed. Households with those problems should look at a behaviour specialist instead.