Daily & Monthly Schedule Guide

Quick Answer

The day here runs on set rotations, not open-ended free time: boarding dogs get four potty rotations from early morning to a bedtime let-out, with rest and enrichment between, DaySchool and DayCamp move through short training blocks, and Group Classes meet mostly on weekday evenings and weekend mornings. Your Parent Portal calendar is the source of truth for your dog's schedule; holidays and Arizona heat can shift any of it.

Standard Operating Hours

Office and DayCamp: Monday through Friday, 8 AM to 5 PM. Saturday, 8 AM to 2 PM.
DaySchool: Monday through Friday, 7 AM to 6 PM. Saturday, 8 AM to 4 PM.
Closed Sunday, every week.

Your Parent Portal Calendar Is the Real Schedule

Everything in this guide describes the general pattern. Your dog's actual reservation times, class enrollment, and any last-minute changes live in your Parent Portal Walkthrough & Guide account, not in this article. Check it before every drop-off, especially around a holiday or a heat advisory.

Before a First Visit

First visits carry two gatekeeping numbers: 20 weeks of age, minimum, and a full week since your dog's Rabies, DHPP, and Bordetella shots landed. Which vaccines we skip, and every other detail of the requirement, sits in the Vaccination Policy article. Bring the paperwork with you that first time so check-in doesn't stall on it.

A Boarding Day, Start to Finish

Boarding stays, day programs, and classes all overlap in the same building on the same day, so leaving every dog to free-roam on its own timeline would be unsafe and would make it impossible to give any one dog focused attention. The day runs on fixed windows instead: potty rotations at set times, training blocks with rest built in, and arrivals and departures spread out so halls and yards never get more crowded than one handler can safely supervise. A boarding day is the fullest version of that pattern.

Standard boarding stays book on a 3-night minimum. Foundation Camp, Behavior Camp, and Transform Camp are separate board-and-train programs layered on top of this same daily rotation, with their own structured curriculum built in.

Morning: a potty rotation around 6 AM (more frequent for puppies or seniors as needed), breakfast, any medications, and light engagement or a calm stroll.
Mid-day: a potty rotation around 10 AM, rest in a climate-controlled suite, and an optional add-on session if you've booked one (DaySchool, DayCamp, or the treadmill).
Afternoon: a potty rotation around 4 PM, quiet decompression time, and a staff health check covering appetite, stool, and energy.
Evening: dinner and medications, a final bedtime potty (timing varies by campus and season), and a calm environment for sleep.

We add extra potty breaks after training sessions, for a medical need, or any time a dog signals it needs to go.

If your dog does better with more structure than a standard boarding day gives, add a DaySchool, DayCamp, or treadmill session to the stay when you book it, rather than trying to add it at check-in.

A DaySchool or DayCamp Day, Start to Finish

There is no fixed drop-off window for either program: bring your dog any time during operating hours, which naturally spreads arrivals across the morning. Check-in includes a quick health and gear check and a settle-in period before the first rotation starts. From there, the day repeats a short training block, a potty break, rest, and enrichment, two to three times or more depending on the program. DaySchool runs its rotations in small supervised groups; DayCamp keeps every session one-on-one. Midday includes a full cool-down, water breaks, and shade or air conditioning during Arizona heat. The afternoon wrap adds proofing reps and a calm finisher like place or settle. Pickup runs on the same open window as drop-off, and you'll get a same-day or end-of-day Pupdate, a short note plus photos or video covering what your dog practiced.

How Dogs Move Safely Through the Building

Dogs move on slip leashes between areas, with staff maintaining loose-leash walking through the halls. We expect a calm sit at doorways before a release cue sends a dog out to a yard, a small habit that keeps a line of dogs from bottlenecking at every threshold. A dog who's overexcited (barking, jumping, bolting) or insecure (cowering, shaking) gets extra time and patient coaching rather than being rushed through on the group's schedule. Anything unsure or outside the norm gets escalated to a senior staff member on the spot. Yards stay secured and staff manage every gate, with no exceptions.

Group Classes: When and How Often

Grade levels run Pre-School (Puppy or Adult), Kindergarten, Elementary, Middle-School, High-School, College, Masters, and Dogtorate, each one building on the last. Classes are most commonly held on weekday evenings and weekend mornings, and each session follows the same format: a warm-up, a short demo, a few timed drills on one or two behaviors with leash and marker coaching, then a wrap-up. Most families attend one to two classes a week depending on their goals. New to classes? A PD360 Assessment places your dog at the right grade level before you enroll. Exact days and times vary by campus and by week: check the Group Classes page, or the live class calendars for Cave Creek and Scottsdale.

What Can Shift the Timing

Age and medical needs. Puppies and senior dogs get potty rotations closer together than the general schedule above assumes.
Training goals. A dog working through a specific behavior may get extra short sessions built into an otherwise standard day.
Arizona heat. Outdoor work moves to cooler windows and drills shift indoors during the hottest stretch of summer or during a storm, the same day it happens; your reservation itself doesn't change.
Facility capacity. Neither day program locks you into a drop-off or pickup time, so you can come any time during operating hours. Capacity affects which class times and day-program days are open, not an arrival time, so your Portal reservation is what confirms what's actually available. If your preferred day or time is full, openings move as other families book and cancel; ask your trainer which section of your dog's grade level still has room.

None of this sets a fixed pace for your dog specifically. A shy dog may need more settling time inside a rotation than a confident one, and a puppy still building bladder control needs more frequent breaks than a fully house-trained adult. The pattern in this guide is the baseline every dog moves through; where your dog needs more or less time inside it is something your trainer adjusts case by case, not something a schedule guide can predict for you.

Holiday Closures and Early-Close Days

We close to the public on six holidays a year:

New Year's Day
Memorial Day
Independence Day
Labor Day
Thanksgiving
Christmas

No public drop-offs, pick-ups, or classes run on those days, but boarding and camp dogs still get full daily care. Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve run a normal morning and close at noon instead, and a holiday weekend around one of those dates may run limited hours. See Holiday Hours & Seasonal Events for the exact dates, or check your Parent Portal closer to the date.

Settling Into a Monthly Rhythm

The monthly rhythm follows the same logic as the daily one, just scaled up. A dog that attends a class or a day program once or twice a week gets enough repetition to hold onto what it practiced without burning out on a single behavior in one sitting. Grade levels build the same way, Pre-School through Dogtorate, each one adding new material once the last one is solid.

If you're new, book a PD360 Assessment, get your placement, and start your first class or day program. Add five to ten minutes of short daily homework at home while that first booking settles in.

Most families land around one to two classes or day-program visits a week once the first booking is behind them. If you're traveling and boarding your dog, adding a DaySchool or DayCamp session during the stay keeps that momentum going instead of losing it for the week.

Touch base with your trainer at a monthly check-in, even informally, on how things are progressing. Adjust the specific goal, a tighter heel, a longer place, cleaner greetings at the door, based on what they've seen, and book the next month's classes or day-program days before the popular times fill.

Two habits keep a month from slipping. Check your Portal the night before a boarding drop-off, especially near a holiday, so an early-close day or a shifted pickup window doesn't catch you off guard. And keep a class or day-program day on the calendar even in a slower month: skipping a full month tends to show up as a small step back at the next session.

How closely your dog's actual pace matches this varies. Some dogs settle into the rhythm within the first couple of visits; others need a slower ramp, and your trainer is the one who'll tell you which.

When to Flag Something to Your Trainer

Most schedule questions are Portal questions: check your reservation, your class enrollment, or the holiday list before assuming something's wrong. Two things are worth a direct message to your trainer instead of a wait-and-see approach: a dog who stays anxious or reactive at one specific point in the rotation, a doorway, a certain yard, a certain group of dogs, without settling in after the first few visits, and a dog whose stress signals (excessive shaking, refusing food, non-stop barking) don't ease as the day goes on. Flag either one early.

If it's a medical issue and not a training one, loop in your veterinarian first, then let our Guest Support Team know so we can adjust the day around it.

The Guest Support Team picks up from there: email enroll@partnersdogs.com, or look for the "Contact Us" or "Schedule a Call" option on partnersdogs.com, whichever gets you a person faster.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many potty breaks do boarding dogs get?

At minimum four: an early-morning break around 6 AM, one around 10 AM, one around 4 PM, and a final let-out before bedtime. We add extra breaks after training sessions, for a medical need, or any time a dog signals it needs to go.

When are Group Classes held?

Most commonly weekday evenings and weekend mornings. Exact times vary by grade level and campus, so check the class calendar for Cave Creek or Scottsdale before you book.

Will Arizona heat change my dog's routine?

Yes. During the hottest stretch of summer or a storm, we move outdoor work to cooler windows and shift drills indoors. Your Portal reflects the adjusted schedule.

Are the holiday closures full closures?

On those six days, yes: New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas all run with no public drop-offs, pick-ups, or classes. Boarding and camp dogs still get full daily care. Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve are early-close days instead, with a normal morning and a noon closing.

Can I add extra walks or training while my dog boards?

Yes. DaySchool, DayCamp, and treadmill sessions can all be added to a boarding stay. Ask at check-in, or add it to your booking in the Portal ahead of time.

How do I find out what my dog did that day?

Day programs and camps get a Pupdate out before the day is over, or by the next morning at the latest, complete with photos, video, and a written note. Boarding stays get periodic updates, and adding a day-program session to a stay gets you daily media as well.

How far ahead should I book a class or day-program spot?

As early in the month as you can. Popular class times and day-program days fill quickly, so booking at the start of the month gives you the most choice.

Your Parent Portal Walkthrough & Guide is where the pattern above turns into your dog's actual reservation times and class enrollment. Overnight Boarding covers the full boarding program in more depth, and Holiday Hours & Seasonal Events has the exact closure dates for the year ahead. If you're deciding between day programs, DaySchool and DayCamp each walk through how their own day is built.

With the monthly rhythm in mind, most families lock in the next several weeks of Group Classes before the popular times fill.