Academy report cards
Does the Academy include a report card?
The report card is the reason the Academy works beyond the building. A dog can learn a settle at 210 Eastern Ave in a morning; the family learns it from the card that evening. Here is what the card is, how it is written and how to use it.
The short version
Yes: a trainer's notes on the day, not a smiley face on a card
The Academy report card is written by the trainer who ran your dog's blocks, and it reads like notes from a lesson. Three things are always in it: what your dog loved, what your dog found hard, and what to practice at home. The last part is the useful one. It names the cue or the game from the day, so the settle that worked at Dogtown can be tried on a kitchen floor in Essex that night.
It arrives in the Dogtown app, the same place you book days, buy packs and message the front desk. Most families read it before they have left the parking lot, and some read it on the Rockport line on the way home from Boston. The card is included in both the $89 full day and the $69 half day, not billed on top.
- What your dog loved: the blocks and games that lit them up
- What your dog found hard: the surface, the cue or the moment that needs time
- What to practice at home: one or two cues and how to run them
- Delivered in the Dogtown app at pick-up, included in the day's price
How it works at Dogtown
The card is built across the blocks and lands in the app by the afternoon window
The trainer sees your dog in every rotation: the training session, the enrichment block, the fitness block and the one-on-one time, and notes from each feed the card. A dog who flew over the A-frame but froze at the treadmill belt, or who held a sit-stay in the garden but lost it when the playgroup passed, gets both facts written down, because both matter for the next visit.
By the 4 to 6:30 PM pick-up window the card is in the app, and on Pup Van days it is usually there before the van pulls into a driveway in Manchester-by-the-Sea. Read it once for the story, then once for the homework. If something in it needs a conversation, message the front desk in the app or ask at the next drop-off; the trainer would rather explain than have you guess.
- 01
Read the card the evening it arrives, while the day is fresh for the dog too
- 02
Pick the one cue under "what to practice" and run it for five minutes
- 03
Practice in a quiet room first, then on a leash walk, then with a distraction
- 04
Note what worked in a message to the front desk before the next Academy day
- 05
Tell the trainer at drop-off what you want the next card to cover
Daycare card, Academy card
Daycare tells you how the play went; the Academy tells you what your dog learned
Every daycare day at Dogtown comes with a report card and photos at pick-up: who your dog played with, how the rest went, whether the nap came early. That is the right card for a daycare day, because play and rest are what happened. The Academy card sits on top of it. Play notes are still there, and then the training notes begin.
The difference shows up in what you can do with it. A daycare card tells you your dog had a good day. An Academy card tells you your dog held a two-minute settle while another dog worked, struggled with the wobble board, and should practice a hand target before the next visit. One is reassurance; the other is a plan.
- Daycare: play notes and photos, included in the $42 full day and $33 half day
- Academy: play notes plus training notes and homework, included in the $89 or $69 day
- Both live in the Dogtown app alongside booking and messages
What it means for your dog
Puppies get a growth chart, adults get a plan, seniors get a watchful eye
For a puppy, a run of cards is a record of confidence growing: the garden was scary in week one and boring by week three, the settle stretched from thirty seconds to two minutes. Keep them. For an adolescent, the card is a work plan, and the homework matters most, because a cue only holds if it is practiced where the dog lives: at the door when a delivery comes, or on Main Street in Gloucester.
For a senior, the trainer reads for comfort as much as for skills. Slower on the ramp than last month, chose the cot over the group earlier than usual, drank more than normal after the fitness block. None of that is a diagnosis, and we say so. It is an observation worth taking to your vet, and the card puts it in writing on the day it was seen.
- Puppies: read the cards as a series and watch the settle stretch
- Adults and adolescents: practice the homework where the problem actually happens
- Seniors: treat comfort notes as something to mention to your vet, not a verdict
At Dogtown
The days behind the card
An Academy day writes the training notes; a daycare day writes the play notes. Both arrive in the same app.
Asked and answered
Questions people ask about this
Short, complete answers you can act on today. More in the full FAQ.
Who writes the Academy report card?
Is the report card an extra charge?
What if the card says my dog struggled with something?
How long should I practice the homework each day?
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
Get the first report card.
Book the free evaluation for a weekday morning and your dog's first Academy day can follow the same week, card included.
- 01Free evaluationWeekdays 6:30 – 9:30 AM
- 02Book a dayOnline, in the app or by phone
- 03Play, rest, repeatReport card at pick-up
