Overnight stays
Do dogs sleep in crates or suites at Dogtown?
A crate is the first thing most owners picture when they hear the word boarding. This page explains what an overnight suite at Dogtown actually is, how the evening runs, and what a crate-trained dog, or a dog who has never seen a crate, can expect.
The short version
A suite is a quiet place to sleep, not a place to spend the day
The distinction matters because the day and the night are two different things at Dogtown. From the first drop-off window your dog is out with its playgroup on the turf yard or the indoor play floors. The suite comes into the picture for meals, rest breaks and the night itself. It has comfortable bedding, it is kept quiet, and it is monitored around the clock.
If your dog is crate-trained at home, the suite will feel familiar: a defined space, a bed, a door. If your dog has never been crated, the suite is still an easy place to settle, because a day in the group tires the body and the mind first. The Deluxe bundle upgrades the bedding to an orthopedic memory-foam bed for $15 a night on top of the $78 suite rate.
- Days: a matched playgroup of 7 to 10 dogs, turf yard and indoor floors
- Nights: a quiet suite with comfortable bedding and 24/7 monitoring
- Suite rate $78 a night; Deluxe adds the memory-foam bed for $15
How it works at Dogtown
The evening follows the same rhythm every night
Overnight guests come off the play floor with the last daycare pick-ups, at 6:30 PM on weekdays and 6 PM on Saturdays, and once the day dogs have gone the building quiets down fast. Dinner is your own food, pre-portioned, which is why we ask you to pack it that way. Then water, a settle, and each dog goes to its suite with its bedding and its comfort item.
Through the night the building and the dogs in it are monitored 24/7, so a guest who is restless, unwell or vocal does not go unnoticed until morning. If you want to know exactly how the night is staffed, ask the front desk at your evaluation. Weekday mornings begin with the 6:30 AM window, and overnight dogs rejoin their playgroups as the day dogs arrive.
- 01
Day dogs leave at the last window, 4 to 6:30 PM on weekdays and 4 to 6 PM on Saturdays
- 02
Dinner from the pre-portioned food you packed, then a settle
- 03
Each guest goes to its suite with its bedding and one comfort item from home
- 04
Lights down and 24/7 monitoring through the night
- 05
Weekday mornings open with the 6:30 AM window
What it means for your dog
Crate-trained or not, most dogs settle faster after a day in the group
For a puppy, the suite does the job a crate at home is meant to do: a place where nothing is asked of them. The difference is what came before it. After a morning and an afternoon in a small group, a puppy is genuinely tired rather than bored-tired, and sleep comes easily. A blanket that smells of your house helps more than any toy.
Adult dogs who are crated at home usually walk into the suite, sniff once and lie down. Adults who have never been confined can take a night to work it out, which is why we like the evaluation, and ideally a daycare day too, to come well before the first stay. The playgroup makes the building familiar before the night does.
Seniors and dogs with sore joints do best on the Deluxe orthopedic bed, and they benefit from the suite being quiet rather than sociable. A senior who has spent an easy day in a calm group and then gets a soft bed and a still room often sleeps better than at home, with the household moving around it and the television on.
- Puppies: pack a blanket from home
- Adults: a daycare day before the first night smooths the change
- Seniors: ask about the Deluxe bundle for the orthopedic memory-foam bed
Crate at home, suite here
A crate at home and a suite at Dogtown do different jobs
If you commute to Boston on the Rockport line, where leashed dogs are barred between 7 and 10 AM and 4 and 7 PM, your dog may already spend long stretches in a crate. That routine transfers well to an overnight stay: the dog knows how to be alone in a defined space. What changes is that the alone time is short and the company is real.
Owners who have never crate-trained sometimes worry that the suite will feel like a punishment. It does not, because a dog who has run, splashed and sniffed all day wants a bed. If you would like to prepare anyway, our how-to on crate-training before a first stay lays out a two-week plan, and a long walk on Dogtown Common the evening before helps too.
| Crate at home | Suite at Dogtown | |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | House-training and a safe spot while you are out | Rest, meals and sleep between playgroup sessions |
| Daytime | Often several hours while you work or commute | Out in a matched group of 7 to 10 dogs |
| Bedding | Whatever you chose | Comfortable bedding provided; memory-foam upgrade with Deluxe |
| Monitoring | None while you are away | 24/7 |
| Cost | One-time purchase | $78 a night, bundles at $10 or $15 extra |
Price and bundles
The suite is $78 a night and the bundles add $10 or $15
The overnight suite is $78 a night and includes the playgroups, daily exercise and 24/7 monitoring. The Dogtown Classic adds $10 a night for a daily homemade pupsicle or puppy cup and 10 percent off grooming. Dogtown Deluxe adds $15 a night for a gourmet stuffed Kong or Toppl, a daily treadmill or enrichment session, the orthopedic memory-foam bed and 15 percent off grooming. A bath or a full groom before pick-up can be added to any stay.
Sunday drop-off and pick-up for overnight guests runs 8 to 10 AM and 4 to 6 PM, and the Pup Van collects and returns dogs for $10 each way in Gloucester, Rockport, Essex and Manchester-by-the-Sea; add it when you book the stay. Two dogs from one household can ask about sharing a suite, and the front desk confirms what is possible.
At Dogtown
The stay behind the suite
Playgroups by day, a quiet suite by night, and the add-ons that make a long stay feel like a holiday.
Asked and answered
Questions people ask about this
Short, complete answers you can act on today. More in the full FAQ.
Is a Dogtown suite the same as a kennel run?
Can I bring my dog's own crate or bed?
Will my dog sleep alone in the suite?
Do you take dogs who are not crate-trained?
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
See the suites for yourself.
Book the free evaluation for a weekday morning, ask for a look at the overnight suites, and your dog's first night follows once the group time is done.
- 01Free evaluationWeekdays 6:30 – 9:30 AM
- 02Book a dayOnline, in the app or by phone
- 03Play, rest, repeatReport card at pick-up
