Cold River StrongStart™: Boerboel Puppy Training Before Your Puppy Comes Home
Short answer: Cold River StrongStart™ is an optional training program where your Boerboel puppy stays with us for 4 extra weeks past the normal go-home age, for $2,000. Cold River StrongStart™ Plus extends that to 6 weeks for $3,500 total. Every puppy already receives Cold River HomeStart™, and StrongStart builds on it.
During StrongStart, puppies learn sit, down, come and stay, walking on a leash without pulling, crate training, house-training and puppy manners. They also work on balance, new surfaces and environments, socialization with people, cats and other dogs, and resource guarding prevention. Each activity shows us how a puppy approaches something new, responds to guidance and grows more comfortable with practice.
What StrongStart Looks Like at Cold River
StrongStart happens in real environments, not only in a puppy pen. Puppies are raised in our home on a working farm, around livestock, and alongside our children, who help guide and engage with them under our supervision. Every session is short, positive and matched to the puppy's age, and families get photo or video updates twice a week.
Building Balance, Coordination, and Body Awareness
Puppies are still learning where their feet are and how to move their bodies. We use balance pads, balancing boards, pods, and other suitable equipment to give them new surfaces to explore. We may also introduce a low, age-appropriate A-frame.
The goal is controlled movement and a positive experience. A puppy might step onto a new surface, adjust its footing, pause to figure something out, and then try again. We let puppies progress at a pace that suits their age and confidence.
Balance work also lets us watch how each puppy moves. When we noticed early signs of cow hocks in a 7½-week-old female, we began targeted balance work with her. The last two videos below show her first week of balance work and her progress after two weeks. Every puppy is different, and balance work does not replace a veterinarian's evaluation, but early, careful attention to movement is part of how we raise our dogs.
Confidence Comes From Experience
A puppy does not have to master every new activity on the first try. We want to see curiosity and a willingness to engage. When puppies encounter something unfamiliar in a supportive setting, they have a chance to investigate it and become more comfortable with it.
That experience matters beyond the equipment itself. Life with a Boerboel includes new places, surfaces, sounds, people, and routines. Our StrongStart work introduces puppies to the process of meeting a new challenge and learning their way through it. On our farm, that includes supervised time around the animals they will share their lives with.
Early Obedience and Working With Us
StrongStart includes structured, positive obedience work with us: sit, down, come, stay and walking on a leash without pulling. We teach puppies to pay attention, follow guidance and enjoy working with a handler. During these sessions, we learn about each puppy's engagement, focus, and response to training.
Those observations help us understand the individual puppy. Some are quick to investigate. Some prefer to watch before joining in. Working with them gives us a fuller picture than appearance alone can provide. Sometimes we keep a litter a little longer so we can evaluate temperament and workability more clearly before we recommend a match.
Raised Around Children
Puppy training at Cold River is a family affair. Our children, including our youngest, take part in gentle handling and reward-based sessions. They are taught through example and guidance how to interact with, handle, and communicate with the puppies, and an adult is always right there.
Exposure to Movement and Equipment
You may see our dogs using treadmills and other conditioning equipment in our videos. We introduce equipment according to each dog's age and stage of development. For young puppies, the focus is familiarity, confidence, and learning to work with us, not adult-level conditioning.
A puppy's first slat mill session is very short and fully supervised. We are beside the puppy the entire time, we never put a puppy on and walk away, and we never use it for prolonged exercise. The adult conditioning videos further down show where that foundation can lead for a mature, physically developed working dog. They are not a program for puppies.
A Foundation for Family Life and Dog Sports
Not every Cold River puppy will compete in a sport, and it does not have to. Balance work, exposure, and early training can be valuable for a dog whose job is simply to be a capable, well-mannered family companion.
For owners interested in obedience, weight pulling, or other dog sports, the same early experiences can provide a starting point for future training. What a dog does later depends on its individual development, its owner, and continued age-appropriate work. StrongStart is the beginning of that process. If weight pulling interests you, read our complete guide to dog weight pulling.
See Cold River StrongStart™ in Action
The best way to understand our program is to watch the puppies doing the work. The videos below show real Cold River puppies exploring, learning, and growing up on the farm.
Our goal is to send each puppy home with more than a name and a pedigree. We want its new family to know that we have spent time getting to know the puppy as an individual and helping it take its first steps toward a confident, capable life.
Why StrongStart™ Exists
A Boerboel puppy grows fast. The puppy you can scoop up today is a powerful young guardian within months. The first weeks in a new home are when habits form, good or bad: jumping, mouthing, pulling on the leash, guarding a food bowl. StrongStart puts structure in place before those habits start. Your puppy spends those extra weeks with people who raise and train Boerboels every day.
Cold River StrongStart™: 4 Weeks, $2,000
Obedience foundation:
-
Sit
-
Down
-
Come
-
Stay
-
Walking on a leash without pulling
Home skills:
-
Crate training
-
House-training
-
Puppy manners: no jumping, no biting
Confidence and socialization:
-
Socialization with people, cats and other dogs
-
Happy vet visits, so the clinic is a normal place, not a scary one
-
Grooming visits and nail trims
-
Resource guarding prevention
-
Balance work, different surfaces, new environments and guided challenges that build body awareness, coordination, confidence and problem-solving
Cold River StrongStart™ Plus: 6 Weeks, $3,500 Total
Everything in StrongStart, plus:
-
More reliable behaviors for everything covered in StrongStart
-
Advanced recall: coming when called, even with distractions
-
Heeling on leash, with your puppy walking at your left side
-
Place command
What's Included in the Price
Both programs include:
-
Food, treats and training
-
Grooming visits
-
Normal puppy vet shot visits during the stay
-
Photo or video updates twice a week, so you can watch your puppy's progress
Puppies are raised in our home throughout the program, not in a boarding facility.
Why Resource Guarding Prevention Matters in a Boerboel
Guarding is part of what a Boerboel is bred to do. Guarding a food bowl, a toy or a bed from the family is not. We work on it early, teaching puppies that people near their food or belongings mean good things, not a threat. In a dog that may grow to well over 150 pounds, prevention is far easier than correction.
HomeStart™, StrongStart™ and StrongStart™ Plus
Cold River HomeStart™, included with every puppy: the early foundation before go-home: crate introduction, beginner leash work, handling, children, household routines and farm life.
Cold River StrongStart™, optional, $2,000: 4 extra weeks of structured training and development with us.
Cold River StrongStart™ Plus, optional, $3,500 total: a 6-week stay that covers everything in StrongStart, then adds more reliable behaviors, advanced recall, heeling and the place command.
HomeStart prepares puppies for everyday life at home. StrongStart expands their experience and helps develop the confidence and skills needed to navigate more of the world, always at a pace suited to the individual puppy. See what every puppy receives with Cold River HomeStart™.
StrongStart™ Questions
Is StrongStart included with every Cold River puppy?
No. Every puppy receives HomeStart at no extra charge. StrongStart ($2,000, 4 weeks) and StrongStart Plus ($3,500 total, 6 weeks) are optional.
Does my puppy stay with you during StrongStart?
Yes. Your puppy stays with us for 4 extra weeks past the normal go-home age for StrongStart, or 6 extra weeks for StrongStart Plus, then comes home.
Is StrongStart Plus $3,500 on top of StrongStart?
No. StrongStart Plus is $3,500 total. It includes everything in StrongStart plus the advanced work.
What will my puppy know when it comes home?
After StrongStart: sit, down, come, stay, walking on a leash without pulling, crate and house-training habits, and puppy manners. After StrongStart Plus, add more reliable behaviors, recall with distractions, heeling and the place command. Every puppy is an individual, and you will see its progress in the twice-weekly updates.
Will I see how my puppy is doing?
Yes. Families receive photo or video updates twice a week throughout the program.
What does the price cover?
Food, treats, training, grooming visits and normal puppy vet shot visits during the stay.
Is StrongStart a board-and-train program?
In effect, yes: your puppy stays with us and trains with us. The difference is that it is raised in our home by the people who bred it, so the training continues the foundation it started with HomeStart.
Do I need to plan on dog sports to choose StrongStart?
No. StrongStart is about a well-mannered, confident family companion. It is also a strong foundation if you do plan on sport or performance work later.
Is StrongStart the same as adult conditioning?
No. Puppy sessions are brief and focus on exploration, balance, confidence, and working with a handler. Adult conditioning is a separate program for mature, physically developed dogs.
How do I learn more about a specific puppy?
Ask us. We share what we have observed about each puppy's temperament, confidence, and engagement to help find the right match for your family.
Add StrongStart™ to Your Puppy
Ask about StrongStart or StrongStart Plus when you reserve your puppy, so we can plan the extra weeks.
See our available puppies and upcoming breedings, then complete our puppy application. To learn how we feed our dogs, visit our Boerboel nutrition page, or contact us with questions.
Follow Cold River Boerboels on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube for more StrongStart videos.
Strong Minds • Strong Bodies • Strong Start