About Fur Star Resort

Fur Star Resort is a Stapleton facility at 35 Van Duzer St that deliberately combines four services – daycare, boarding, grooming and training – in one building, and every dog starts with a temperament evaluation before being placed in any of them. The training side is run by the co-founder rather than contracted out, which is what separates it from the other multi-service dog businesses on the North Shore.

Who teaches

The site names Eric "Igor" Chertkov as co-founder and head trainer and states he has decades of professional experience across military, law enforcement, personal protection and service-dog work, including training service dogs for people with special needs and particularly for children. The training page says all sessions run under the supervision of a professional K9 trainer with over 35 years in canine behavior and obedience. Separately, the facility states that all Fur Star staff are required to hold a Certificate in Small Animal Care and Handling issued by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

Group classes

Two group classes are published with prices. Puppy Basics takes puppies from three and a half to ten months, runs Tuesdays at 6:30pm and costs $50 per person and pet, focused on communication, focus and attention, and coaching owners to work with the puppy through positive reinforcement. An Obedience Class for dogs ten months and older is listed at the same $50 rate, with its start marked as coming soon, and is aimed at socialization, basic obedience and working through reactivity toward other dogs and people.

Board and train

The board-and-train programs are the deeper offering, and the site is upfront that length and price are set only after a complimentary evaluation of the dog's current ability and the owner's goals. Four tracks are published. Puppy Basics for three-and-a-half to six-and-a-half-month-old puppies covers housebreaking, crate training, early obedience and socialization. On-Leash Obedience covers sit, stay and place, loose-leash walking, heeling, recalls and crate training. Off-Leash Advanced Obedience carries the same skills into off-leash reliability. Behavioral Correction is scoped case by case for reactivity toward dogs or people, counter surfing, running away and other concerns, taking triggers and patterns into account.

The facility itself

The building has separate indoor play areas for large and small dogs, a fully fenced outdoor yard with a dog pool and an elevated sun deck for summer, and boarding accommodation that is climate controlled with continuous temperature and humidity monitoring and 24/7 video on each space. Hours are 7am to 7pm on weekdays and 9am to 5pm at weekends.