Private board-and-train on acreage in Molino, Florida, for families from Gulf Breeze and Tiger Point to East Hill, Pace and Mobile.
Six dogs at a time · call/text for availability
If this sounds familiar
The walk is a negotiation you lose. Guests get jumped on before they clear the door. The leash never comes off, so the beach, the boat and the back gate are all off the table.
You have done a group class. You have watched the videos. It worked in the parking lot and fell apart at home, because nobody proofed it anywhere real. That is not a discipline problem on your end. Six weekly sessions in a strip-mall training room cannot compete with a dog’s entire day. Any warm Body with a treat pouch on their hip can train an easy dog to be average. It takes years of making a living with high end working dogs to really make a great dog.
What changes it is repetition, in the places the behavior actually has to work — and then a careful handover to you.
How it works
Twenty minutes on the phone. Your dog, your house, your three worst moments. I tell you which program fits, or that Leeward is not the answer.
Drop-off or door-to-door pickup, a vet-record check, baseline assessment video so you can see exactly where we started. The first week is always free as we allow your dog an easy transition while we evaluate and begin to ease into the training. Every dog is different and a single method does not work on every dog. The first week is for me to learn about and evaluate your companion in order to devise and develop a tailored training regimen to their and your specific needs.
Four to eight weeks living here. Two to three sessions a day, then the same commands proofed In your home on your street at your boat ramps, sidewalks, patios and sand.
In-home sessions on your street with your family, the full written log, and a twelve-month support line. You’re not on your own when your dog is done here, assistance is always available through phone calls and in person.
Programs
Four weeks is the minimum, because anything shorter does not hold once your dog is home and the routine goes back to normal. One week evaluation and three weeks in your dogs custom program to reach your goals or set the foundation.
$3,000Four weeks on property
Obedience on leash, recall, door and guest manners, crate, leash pressure and the house rules you actually live by.
$5,000Six weeks on property
Everything in Foundation, plus e-collar conditioning and a move towards off leash reliability . The next step.
$7,800Eight weeks on property
Everything above, plus behavior modification for reactivity, aggression or severe anxiety. Off leash disaster proofing in public places and scenarios
The Leeward difference
A nautical term for the side sheltered from the wind — a place of refuge, safety and stability
The downwind side of something — the place a bird dog has to live to be successful
Six is what one trainer can work twice a day, walk individually and genuinely know. Twenty-dog facilities are kennels with a training add-on.
Pictures every day, a video update every week, and a written log: commands drilled, environments used, collar levels, setbacks. You see the bad days too.
Boat decks, dock edges, sand, sidewalks, brewery patios, Publix parking lots. A dog that only listens at the training field is not trained.
Twelve months of unlimited refresher weeks on the Estate program, and a support line you can call for the life of the dog.
Included with every program, across Escambia Okaloosa and Santa Rosa counties and into Atmore and Mobile. Your dog gets picked up and delivered home trained.
Timing, pressure and release read the same on a thousand-pound animal. Years of starting horses is why the hands here are quiet. More on that.
What nobody else here trains for
You keep a boat. You are at Pensacola Beach, Ft McRee or Pirates Cove most weekends in the season. A dog on a boat has to hold a place while the deck moves, stay off the gunwale, load and unload without a scramble, and recall on sand with fifty people, three kites and another dog in play.
That is a specific set of behaviors, trained in specific places. It is not something a general obedience class covers, and not something a two week behavior certifying course can equip a trainer to navigate.
How that proofing works
Half the dogs here come from houses on the water. A dog that swims needs a recall that works wet, an entry and exit that is not a scramble, and the judgment to stay out of the water when you say so — around boat traffic, oyster beds and current.
That is trained where it actually happens — the Sound, the bay, the dog beach and off a real boat — not in a back yard.
See the Estate program
The other half of this business, and the half I was raised in. Pointing dogs handled off a horse and on foot, and a flushing side built around cocker spaniels and high powered labs; calmness in a blind or by your side, steadiness through the flush and the shot, backing, quartering inside gun range and delivery to hand.
Started dogs, finished dogs and pre-season tune-ups, on pen-raised birds first and wild birds after for those animals with the potential to take things to the next level.
Gun dog and bird dog trainingFrom clients
“Curtis took my GSP Dolly in for 5 weeks because while she was cute, had many negative behaviors — that even trainers in my area could not fix. My family and I could not believe the difference 5 weeks made. She has more confidence and there is a calmness in her now that I did not think she would have if it were not for Curtis working with her. I also knew she was safe and cared for with the updates he gave. I would recommend him to anyone!”
“I sent my 1 year old English Pointer to Curtis after trying out a few other options that were not working, including other trainers; he stayed for board and train for 2 months. It was really important to work with someone who could handle a bird dog but also understood that this was our family dog. My pointer, Goose, is now going on 10 years old and it’s because of Curtis that we have been able to give him the freedom to be a dog over the last (almost) decade. He made him into a reliable partner and took the time that Goose needed to get there instead of rushing. I wouldn’t hesitate to use Curtis again for any future dog training and would 1000% recommend him to anyone looking for an honest + kind trainer.”
“"As new bird dog owners, we were overwhelmed by our dog’s active nature and hunting energy when our dog was younger. We started working with Curtis on off leash recall and commands and were able to understand and train our dog in a way that worked for him and for us. Because of the education Curtis provided us, we are no longer overwhelmed and are able to take our dog on long, off-leash hikes, confident in his recall skills from hundreds of yards away." — Aaron Willis and Claire Stewart”
Published with each client’s written permission.
Every dog leaves with this
On the last day you get the written log for every session, the video record from day one to the end, and a handover in your own house with the whole household present. If the dog slides in the first twelve months, you bring it back for a refresher week. That is the whole guarantee, and it is the only one worth making — nobody honest guarantees behavior in an animal, but I will guarantee I stay on the phone until it is right.
Service area
The property is north of town on purpose. Space, quiet, water and field. The driving is my job, not yours.
Door-to-door transport runs the coast from 30A in the east to Mobile, Alabama in the west, covering Escambia and Santa Rosa counties and Atmore along the way. Pickup and drop-off are free with every board-and-train program, both ways.
FAQ
Three prices, stated plainly. Foundation is $3,000 for four weeks. Off-Leash Freedom is $5,000 for six weeks. Estate & Concierge is $7,800 for eight weeks.
Every program includes boarding, feeding, daily pictures, a weekly video update, a written training log, all training equipment, an in-home transfer session and a twelve-month support line. There is no hidden intake fee.
Programs run four, six or eight weeks. Four weeks is the floor because the first week is evaluation, and what is left is roughly how long it takes to build a behavior, then proof it somewhere the dog would rather not listen.
Anything shorter produces a dog that performs in my driveway and forgets on your street. Two-week programs sell well. They do not hold.
Yes, on most dogs, and only after the dog understands every command on leash first. The collar is conditioned at levels most people cannot feel on their own hand. It is a way to talk to your dog at two hundred feet, not a correction device.
No dog is forced onto one. If you do not want an e-collar, say so on the call and we will build a leash-and-management plan instead. I will be honest about what that changes.
The property is in Molino, Florida, about twenty-five minutes north of Pensacola.
Door-to-door transport runs across Escambia and Santa Rosa counties: Gulf Breeze, Tiger Point, Pace, Milton, Navarre, Perdido Key, Pensacola, Cantonment, Gonzalez and Century. Pickup and drop-off are free with every board-and-train program, both ways.
That is the real risk with board and train, and it is a handler problem, not a dog problem. Which is why the program does not end when your dog does.
You get in-home transfer sessions on your own street, the full written training log so you know exactly which commands and which collar levels your dog was working on, and a twelve-month support line. If things slide, call me.
Six. Never more.
Six is the number of dogs one person can train twice a day, walk individually, proof in public and still know intimately. Facilities running twenty dogs are running a kennel with a training add-on. That is a different business.
Yes. Tours are by appointment, before you book and while your dog is here. I ask that mid-program visits are short, because a full reunion in week two resets a lot of work.
Everyone gets daily pictures and a weekly video update regardless. You will see the training, not a highlight reel.
Current rabies, DHPP and Bordetella, plus a negative fecal within the last six months. Canine influenza is recommended. Dogs on flea and tick prevention only.
Confirm this list against your own veterinarian’s recommendation and your insurance policy before publishing.
Some. Reactivity, resource guarding, leash aggression and dogs with a bite history get assessed individually, in person, and they belong in the Estate & Concierge program because they need eight weeks and a much slower hand.
I turn down cases. If a dog needs veterinary behavioral medication managed by a veterinary behaviorist, or if I do not believe the outcome you want is achievable, I will say so and refer you out.
Retriever and pointer foundations are available as an alternative track inside the Estate & Concierge program, in place of behavior modification. It is an option, not the focus of the business — most of the work here is household and off-leash reliability.
No. The horses on the property are the owner’s own. They are the reason there is acreage, fencing and a barn here, and the reason the timing on the dog side is what it is, but horse boarding, lessons and training are not offered. Every program Leeward sells is dog work.
Tell me about your dog on a 20-minute call. If Leeward is not the right answer, I will tell you that on the call and point you somewhere better.
Currently booking: Call for availability
