After four years of offering Puppy Day School for puppies in Providence, we’re thrilled to announce we now offer daycare for all dogs! Our Educational Daycare program launched April 1st and our team is having a blast working with the dogs each day.

What is Educational Daycare?

What does Educational Daycare mean? Each dog in our program is expected to demonstrate basic manners every day, like sitting for attention and to go through gates, and sitting or hand-targeting for rewards. As a result, dogs don’t practice undesirable behavior, like jumping on gates or people or excessive barking. (If your dog struggles with these skills, refresh them first. For example, you could practice around other dogs in Flex Classes. Or, have us do the training for you in an Intensive Training Program.)

We maintain a low dog-to-handler ratio (10-to-1) so your dog gets plenty of one-on-one attention. Our handlers use positive reinforcement with the dogs they supervise. No spray bottles or rattle paddles here! Dogs in Educational Daycare rotate between different activities. They include crated nap time, exploring a fenced-in outdoor space, indoor play time, and small group fetch or recalls in our training hall.

Is Educational Daycare right for me?

This program is not for everyone. Educational Daycare is for owners who are committing to having us provide social time, mental stimulation, exercise, and enrichment for their dogs on a regular basis. It’s a safe alternative to off-leash dog parks and more comprehensive than a stroll around the block with a dog walker.

Does your dog like people and other dogs? Dogs attending Educational Daycare should be social or neutral toward other dogs and friendly with people. If not, this program won’t be a good fit for your dog.

Educational Daycare is not a training program. Our staff maintains training you have already completed, but does not teach new skills. (However, that’s something we offer in Intensive Training Programs.) Also, all dogs need to be comfortable in a crate so they can rest up during nap time.

If you’re looking for a place to drop your dog off once or twice a month, that’s not something we offer. Educational Daycare is for owners who understand that dogs need consistent socialization and exercise. And if you’re looking for the cheapest place in the city to get your dog out of the house for the day, we aren’t it. We pride ourselves on paying our employees a living wage.

Get Started

Are you ready to try our refreshed approach to dog daycare? Come join us! To get started, book an evaluation online. Or, if you have any questions, contact us!

New year, new name. (Same shade of orange.) New for 2019: Spring Forth Dog Academy is now Crossbones Dog Academy!

So much has changed since Dan and I chose our business name “Spring Forth” in 2010. It was a play on words (think Springer Spaniel) accompanied by my pencil drawing of Tessie jumping. The logo was very personal.

Crossbones is a business name and logo combination I originally came up with in 2013. For a period of time, I used it as a brand while teaching agility classes in Rhode Island. (In fact, some of those students are still taking classes with me today!) I always loved the concept of Crossbones, but was afraid to take the leap and rebrand.

The biggest change in our business, one we never saw coming, is that it grew from two people to an entire team of trainers and support staff. As a result, we decided to update our brand to Crossbones. We wanted to reflect the spirit of how our organization has grown over the past eight years.

Our Evolution

People pursue careers in the dog industry because they want to make a difference for dogs. For example, a lot of people start out training dogs as a hobby, and then open a small business to teach lessons a couple nights each week. But in order to do that, they have to also devote time to marketing, administrative duties, and all the legal mumbo-jumbo that goes along with being a small business owner.

As we gained experience as dog professionals, we had an “a-ha moment.” The way to make the biggest impact was to assemble a group of talented, committed people who also understood that by teaming up with us, they could accomplish more. Our trainers can spend more time working with dogs and owners because our administrative team and facility assistants take care of everything else. In a nutshell: more time with dogs, less time in an office. As a result, we each help far more dogs and owners than we could if we all operated as one-man bands.

This summer, our team collaborated to put our ethos into words. We created a mission statement and list of core values that inspire us to show up each day and do our best. And in the spirit of new year’s resolutions, we’re sharing it in the hopes that it inspires you, too. 

MISSION STATEMENT: We provide exceptional care and a positive education for dogs and their owners.

Our Values

We model & encourage responsible dog ownership.

We provide enrichment & socialization opportunities for all dogs.

We teach effective, positive dog training techniques to strengthen dog & owner relationships.

We make an impact in our community by educating & supporting dog owners & team members.

We make a difference in the lives of dogs & their owners through education, empathy, & creative problem solving.

We work as a team, and believe that by supporting one another we can bring out the best in each individual.

We are a fiscally responsible company that provides a living wage to our team members.

We treat everyone with fairness, kindness, and respect and promote open communication.

We provide a clean & safe environment for clients, team members, & dogs to enjoy.