AcademyWeekday Puppy & Adolescent Board-and-Train
Weekday training with Erik and Selena. Weekends at home. Coaching for your family.
Adolescent Academy · Starts September 21
September 21–October 9, 2026
Monday pickup & Friday return included for eligible addresses. Check your area →
Reward-based training without shock, prong, or choke collars.
Serving Northeast Tennessee, Southwest Virginia, and nearby Western North Carolina.
Compare both Academies →
Two developmental programs
Both programs combine weekday immersion, weekends at home, included family coaching, and practical transfer into real life.
Up to 6 months
Build house-training habits, crate comfort, manners, handling, leash skills, recall, settling, and thoughtful early-life experiences.
6–18 months
Strengthen everyday manners, responsiveness, calm behavior, leash skills, recall, and cooperation during a challenging developmental stage.
The problem with board-and-train
The real test begins at home. Dogs need practice with their own families and routines, and owners need more than a single handoff lesson to build new habits.
The GCA solution
Each Friday, you practice with guidance and leave with a weekend plan. What happens at home shapes the next week’s training. Graduation coaching and two follow-ups help you keep building on that work.
Weekday training → Friday coaching → Weekend practice → Following-week adjustment
No training experience is needed. Bring your questions, attend the coaching sessions, and practice with your dog at home.
We train the dog. We coach the people. Both are necessary.
“Erik has really given me the tools to help my dog and I get on the same page.”
Ashley Otto · Google review
The outcome that matters
Commands are tools. The larger goal is a dog who can settle, communicate, cooperate, recover, and participate in family routines.
Comfortable crate rest and household routines
Polite movement through doors and shared spaces
Leash skills and responsive check-ins
Recall foundations built across appropriate distractions
Calmer greetings, settling, and impulse control
Cooperative handling and practical communication
A repeatable transfer cycle
The Academy is not a handoff-and-hope model. Your dog returns home each weekend, and your family receives guided practice throughout the program.
A private preparation visit aligns routines, equipment, cue language, management, and expectations before the first training week.
Your dog trains with Erik and Selena Monday through Friday in carefully planned sessions and ordinary daily routines.
Friday coaching and a written plan help your family rehearse the same skills at home before the next training week.
Graduation coaching and follow-up sessions help the new patterns become workable parts of family life.
Humane, practical training
Dogs learn best when their needs, emotional state, environment, and family context are part of the plan.
GCA builds behavior through reinforcement, clear communication, thoughtful management, and repetition. The Academies do not use shock/e-collars, prong collars, choke chains, or equipment intended to cause fear or pain.
The owner is part of the program
The Academies are designed for families who can attend coaching, practice between sessions, communicate candidly, and continue supporting their dog after graduation.
See program expectations →We train the dog in front of us—and coach the people who will live with that dog for years.
The Academy setting
Gladwater Canine Academy is located on approximately 40 acres in a quiet Northeast Tennessee setting. Along with our secure indoor and fenced training areas, the property includes fields, woods, ponds, streams, livestock, and the everyday sights and sounds of rural life. This gives us a variety of environments for carefully selected training, enrichment, and appropriate exposure. Each dog’s activities are chosen according to their temperament, training needs, and readiness.
Access is supervised and selected for the individual dog. Enrollment does not imply unrestricted roaming, swimming, direct livestock interaction, or identical exposure for every dog.
Learning happens all day
Focused training is balanced with potty routines, movement, enrichment, social connection, naps, crate rest, and ordinary household-style moments.
Short, clear sessions introduce and strengthen useful skills.
Daily routines provide repeated chances to practice the same choices.
Locations, handlers, and distractions change carefully as the dog is ready.
Meet the trainers
Certified Dog Trainer Erik Grendahl leads program planning and family coaching. Academy Trainer Selena Grendahl contributes daily training, observation, care, enrichment, and implementation.
Their complementary experience spans professional dog training, rescue work, daycare and boarding, temperament evaluation, foster-and-train work, and decades of living and learning with dogs.
Meet the trainers →Client experiences
These reviews reflect prior Gladwater Canine training work with Erik and Selena.
Erik has really given me the tools to help my dog and I get on the same page.
Ashley Otto · Google reviewYou can tell he genuinely cares about the dogs and wants to help people instead of just making a sale.
Tara Smith · Google reviewWe’ve reinforced it and she’s been doing great ever since.
Brody Norris · Google reviewRemaining 2026 dates
Puppy Academy next begins October 26. Check availability for Adolescent Academy classes beginning September 21 and November 30.
Start with a conversation
Send your dog’s age, town, and goals. Erik or Selena will help you check fit, availability, and transportation. There is no payment or commitment to ask.