Day training
What is Canine Campus?
The name is a joke that describes the thing accurately: your dog goes to school by day and comes home with a report and homework.
The short version
The short version: the trainer does the weekdays, you do the evenings, and nobody moves out
Canine Campus sits between two better-known options. Private lessons put the daily practice on you; board and train takes the dog away for one or two weeks. Campus splits the difference: a trainer works with your dog by day for 2, 4 or 6 weeks, and the dog sleeps in its own bed. Each evening you get a report and a small homework task, so the day's work moves into your house that night.
The word hybrid covers what the days contain. Some are training days at Dogtown, with blocks of skills work, enrichment, a walk and rest, and time near or in a matched playgroup when that suits the dog. Some are adventure days off site, where the skills are tested against real sidewalks, people, bikes and dogs at a distance the dog can manage. Plans vary with the intensity and complexity of the dog's needs.
- Pick-up and drop-off included; the Pup Van's area is Rockport, Gloucester, Essex and Manchester-by-the-Sea
- Training and adventure days, enrichment, walks and real-world exposure
- Daycare integration only when it serves the dog
- A daily report, a homework task each evening and an end-of-program lesson for you
The levels
Freshman, Dean's List and Graduate: matched to the problem, not to the calendar
Freshman, Foundations, is the 2-week program of about 10 training and adventure days, for young dogs and new arrivals: the basics, careful real-world exposure and, when the dog is ready, integration into daycare. Dean's List, Advanced Skills, runs 4 weeks and about 20 sessions for the adolescent who behaves at home and falls apart in public: leash skills, impulse control, obedience, confidence, neutrality, household manners and mild-to-moderate reactivity.
Graduate, Advanced Resilience, is 6 weeks and about 30 sessions for dogs with more going on: reactivity, significant leash struggles, impulse control that collapses under arousal, low confidence and the need to generalize calm across many settings. The assessment with Gabby sets the level, and she places a dog in a shorter program when that is honestly enough. Sessions start from $94, and the investment is confirmed in writing after the assessment.
| Level | Length | Who it is for |
|---|---|---|
| Freshman, Foundations | 2 weeks, about 10 training and adventure days | Young dogs and new arrivals: foundations, exposure, daycare integration |
| Dean's List, Advanced Skills | 4 weeks, about 20 sessions | Adolescents: leash, impulse control, neutrality, manners, mild-to-moderate reactivity |
| Graduate, Advanced Resilience | 6 weeks, about 30 sessions | Complex cases: reactivity, significant leash struggles, confidence, generalization |
At Dogtown
How it works at Dogtown: a Campus day from the van to the evening report
A training day begins with the Pup Van or your own drop-off inside a window, weekdays 6:30 to 9:30 AM, 12 to 1 PM or 4 to 6:30 PM. Your dog then rotates through short training blocks with Gabriella Pope or her team, enrichment such as the sniff room or a puzzle, a walk and rest. Because integration into a playgroup of 7 to 10 is on the table, the free evaluation is required, weekdays 6:30 to 9:30 AM by appointment, with Rabies, DHPP and Bordetella on file and a current city license.
An adventure day leaves the building. The route is chosen for the dog's stage: the wide trails of Ravenswood Park in West Gloucester for a first leashed outing, a busier Gloucester sidewalk later, and never an Essex trail early on, since the town has no leash law and loose dogs are common. Every evening the report says what was worked on and what to practise, and the program closes with a lesson in which you learn the cues yourself. Results depend on the dog and on that homework.
- 01
Contact form with your dog's age and what you see; a reply within one hour on business days
- 02
Assessment with Gabby to set the level: Freshman, Dean's List or Graduate
- 03
The free evaluation on a weekday morning, since daycare integration may be part of the plan
- 04
Training blocks, enrichment, a walk and rest on Dogtown days; leashed outings on adventure days
- 05
A daily report and one small homework task each evening
- 06
The end-of-program lesson, and a plan for keeping the skills, often through Dogtown Academy days
For your dog
What it means for your dog: the commuter's adolescent, the new rescue and the dog-selective dog
For the adolescent whose owner rides the Rockport line to Boston, Campus turns the long weekday into the training day. The dog is collected, works with a trainer and is home before dinner, and the homework fits the evening. It is also the natural fit for the new rescue: Freshman gives a dog in its first weeks structure, gentle exposure and a careful introduction to other dogs, and Gabby, who has fostered through Cape Ann Animal Aid, knows how a new dog decompresses.
For the dog-selective or reactive dog, Campus is what board and train is not: a program that keeps you involved and keeps the dog in its own home while a trainer does the daily trigger work. Such dogs often spend the whole program working near the playgroups at a distance Gabby sets, never in them, and that is a legitimate outcome.
- Working households: the dog trains while you are at work and is home at night
- New rescues: Freshman's structure and slow introductions in the first weeks
- Dog-selective or reactive dogs: Dean's List or Graduate, with daycare only if it ever fits
- Puppies: usually Tiny Tails Puppy School first; ask Gabby whether Freshman suits your pup
At Dogtown
Training by day, in one building
Canine Campus, Dogtown Academy and the daycare playgroups a Campus dog may join, all under one roof on Eastern Ave.
Asked and answered
Questions people ask about this
Short, complete answers you can act on today. More in the full FAQ.
How is Canine Campus different from Dogtown Academy?
Is Canine Campus a group class?
How much homework does Campus involve?
What happens when the program ends?
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
School by day, home by dinner.
Send the contact form with your dog's age and the behaviors you see. We reply within one hour on business days and set up the assessment with Gabby.
- 01Free evaluationWeekdays 6:30 – 9:30 AM
- 02Book a dayOnline, in the app or by phone
- 03Play, rest, repeatReport card at pick-up
