Daycare with a trainer
Can my dog train during daycare?
You work in Beverly or take the train to Boston, your dog spends the day at Dogtown, and it seems a waste for those hours to be play alone. Here is how the three ways of combining training with a day at 210 Eastern Ave differ.
The short version
Standard daycare is play; the Academy is play with a curriculum; Canine Campus is a program with an end date
A standard daycare day is a matched playgroup of 7 to 10 dogs with handlers, the turf yard and a settle. No lessons happen, on purpose: it is exercise and company. A Dogtown Academy day keeps the playgroup but wraps it in structure: rotations of training, enrichment, fitness and play, a session with our trainer plus one-on-one time every day, and a report card.
Canine Campus is different again. It is hybrid day training with a start, a finish and a goal: Freshman at 2 weeks, Dean's List at 4 and Graduate at 6, with trainer-led days, homework, daily reports and an end-of-program lesson, and daycare integration only when it suits the dog. The Academy is the everyday answer; Campus is the concentrated one.
- Daycare: play, no lessons, $42 full or $33 half
- Dogtown Academy: training, enrichment, fitness and play, $89 full or $69 half
- Canine Campus: a 2, 4 or 6 week program
Three ways to combine
What each option gives your dog, side by side
Price is the obvious difference but not the useful one. The useful difference is who is responsible for the learning. In daycare, nobody is. In the Academy, a trainer runs the day's session and the report card tells you what to repeat at home, but there is no multi-week plan unless you are also in a program. In Campus, Gabriella Pope owns the plan from assessment to final lesson.
Many Dogtown dogs use more than one. A Bright Beginnings or Calm & Connected dog whose owner works three days a week often books Academy days on those days so the cues are practised with a trainer between sessions. A dog that finishes Canine Campus usually keeps a couple of Academy days a week. Academy 5-packs are $415 full day and $320 half, 10-packs $785 and $610.
| Daycare | Dogtown Academy | Canine Campus | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $42 full, $33 half | $89 full, $69 half | From $94 a session; plan set at the assessment |
| Trainer time | None; handlers supervise | A training session and one-on-one time daily | Trainer-led days for 2, 4 or 6 weeks |
| Structure | Play, water, settle | Rotations of training, enrichment, fitness and play | A written plan with homework and daily reports |
| What you get back | Report card in the app | Report card with what to practise | Daily reports and an end-of-program lesson |
| Best for | Exercise and company | Skills practice on workdays; dogs who like a job | A specific goal with a finish line |
How it works at Dogtown
An Academy day, block by block, from the drop-off window to the report card
Drop off inside a window: weekdays 6:30 to 9:30 AM, 12 to 1 PM or 4 to 6:30 PM, Saturday 8 to 10 AM, 12 to 1 PM or 4 to 6 PM. The day then rotates. A training block with our trainer works on the cues from your program. Enrichment might be the sensory garden, a puzzle feeder or a lick mat. Fitness is the treadmill, low agility and the A-frame.
Between rotations the dog plays in its matched group of 7 to 10, and every Academy day includes trainer-led settle time so the dog practises switching off as well as on. One-on-one trainer time means coaching at the dog's own level. At pick-up you get the report card: what your dog loved, what it found hard and what to practise at home. A frozen Kong at $6 or the sniff room at $7 can be added to the day.
- 01
Free evaluation on a weekday morning between 6:30 and 9:30 AM
- 02
Book a full or half Academy day online, in the Dogtown app or at the front desk
- 03
Drop off inside a window, or add the Pup Van for $10 each way in the four Cape Ann towns
- 04
Training block with our trainer, then enrichment, fitness and play rotations
- 05
Report card at pick-up with what to repeat at home
What it means for your dog
Puppies, adolescents, seniors and dogs already in a program each get something different
A puppy past its evaluation gets confidence: new surfaces, the A-frame at a low height, handling by different people and short training blocks that match a short attention span. An adolescent with energy to burn gets a job for that energy; a tired teenager that has also practised a settle is a different animal at 7 PM. Seniors who enjoy a job get the enrichment and the one-on-one time at their own pace.
The dog already in Bright Beginnings, Calm & Connected or Canine Citizen Academy gets repetition with a trainer on the days you cannot provide it. Tell the front desk which program your dog is in so the Academy trainer works the same cues. What an Academy day is not: behavior modification. A Level 3 dog is not placed in Academy rotations unless Gabby says the group part is safe.
- Puppies: confidence, surfaces, handling and short blocks
- Dogs in a program: the same cues practised on workdays
- Not for Level 3 behavior cases unless Gabby clears the group part
The Cape Ann part
The commute, the windows and the Pup Van make an Academy day fit a working week
The Academy is built for the Cape Ann commute. The MBTA lets leashed dogs on the Rockport line only off-peak, never between 7 and 10 AM or 4 and 7 PM, so a dog cannot ride to Boston on a workday; drop it at Dogtown between 6:30 and 9:30 AM instead and catch the train from Gloucester station. If you drive to Beverly or Salem, the 4 to 6:30 PM pick-up window covers a normal day.
From Rockport, Essex, Manchester-by-the-Sea and Gloucester itself, the Pup Van collects and returns dogs for $10 each way; outside those towns, ask for pricing. New daycare customers take 15 percent off the first daycare visit with FIRST15. In a nor'easter, when the turf is iced, the indoor floors and the rotation carry on; check the app for weather changes to the windows.
At Dogtown
Three ways to spend a workday at Dogtown
Standard daycare for play, the Academy for daily training, and Canine Campus for a program with a finish line.
Asked and answered
Questions people ask about this
Short, complete answers you can act on today. More in the full FAQ.
Is Dogtown Academy the same as a training program?
Can I add a training session to a regular daycare day?
Does my dog need the evaluation before an Academy day?
Can a reactive dog do Dogtown Academy?
More questions? Read the full FAQ
Sources
Rules and dates change. We re-check every beach, licensing and ordinance page each spring and fall; the source above is the current word.
Keep reading
Next step
Make the workday count.
Ask us which combination fits your dog and your week: Academy days, a program, or both. Every dog starts with the free evaluation on a weekday morning.
- 01Free evaluationWeekdays 6:30 – 9:30 AM
- 02Book a dayOnline, in the app or by phone
- 03Play, rest, repeatReport card at pick-up
