Greetings and thanks to everyone who took the time to comment on my last thread. Opinions vary greatly on the subject of boarding your puppy or dog for training. I can only report on my individual experience. Of course, you could send your dog away to some bad person or place and regret it but I was very careful in my choice of trainer. In fact, the reason I chose him was because his personal dogs are dobermans. His name is Jermaine Anderson of Loyal Canines in Salem, Ma. The distance was prohibitive to non-boarding options. Let me cut to the chase. He has been back 4 days now and the results are astounding. To answer some questions, yes when we picked Radar up we had a "training" session for us. We have instructions on how to continue to reinforce and continue his training. Jermaine gave us much good advice before Radar was 6 months old and continues to be there for us if we have any questions or problems. Radar now knows how to respect other dogs. He walks on the leash like a champ. If a stranger passes or a dog barks he remains in control. He sits when we stop. He sits at all doors. He sits and waits for his handler to exit or enter first. He hasn't jumped on any of the kids one time since being back. He no longer jumps on the kitchen counters. His confidence is noticable. He no longer barks or growls at visitors, even if they knock. In fact, even when out in our fenced property off leash, he doesn't bark at the neighbors nearly as much as before. He doesn't seem to take his treats and hide under tables to eat them. His confidence issues seem to have affected more aspects of his behavior than we knew. He even seems to enjoy being petted more now. Its like he matured six months in 3 weeks. He certainly isn't an angel. He is only 7 months old so his training is ongoing. We have been instructed to take him as many places as possible. That is one of the things that Jermaine did with him. Constant exposure to new environments, other dogs, making new friends. This seems critical for dobes. In our case, a professional who really knows dobes was the best decision I've made as a pet owner. Radar even came back much, much thinner as I was surprised to find out I was over-feeding him and he was overweight. I couldn't tell. Everyone else, including his vet and his local daycare told me he looked great. He looks great now. I'll post some pictures. Oh yeah, we did miss him terribly but we are glad we sent him - everyone is enjoying him much more since his return. In fact, I will likely send him again in another six months for some reinforcement and some off leash training.