Holiday board and train

We do not publish whether board and train runs over the holidays, and we will not guess here. A training stay needs trainer time on most days of the program and a go-home lesson at the end, and both have to fit around the holiday hours set each year. Those decisions are made season by season, so the honest answer comes from the training team when you ask about specific dates.

Ask early. Send the training form with your holiday dates in September or October, and the consult can tell you whether the program fits, which start date works and when the lesson would fall. The unlimited daycare membership, $700 a month, lists priority holiday overnight-stay reservations among its benefits; whether that priority extends to a board and train is a question for the consult.

Holiday hours are set for each holiday and announced in the Dogtown app and at the front desk, in person or on 978 491-5922. The regular windows are weekdays 6:30 to 9:30 AM, 12 to 1 PM and 4 to 6:30 PM, and Saturdays 8 to 10 AM, 12 to 1 PM and 4 to 6 PM, with Sunday open only to overnight guests from 8 to 10 AM and 4 to 6 PM. Any of those can shift around a holiday, so check the notice against your own dates.

Winter adds weather to the plan. A nor'easter can close roads or ground flights at short notice, and the National Weather Service in Boston is the forecast to watch. If a storm moves your pick-up or the lesson, message the front desk; late pick-up terms are confirmed at booking. From Rockport, Gloucester, Essex and Manchester-by-the-Sea, ask whether the Pup Van, $10 each way, can bring your dog in on a busy travel day.

A dog fresh from a training stay that walks into a house full of guests, food and noise faces the hardest test of its new skills on day one. Keep it simple. Use the place cue on a mat away from the kitchen, keep the leash on at the front door while guests arrive, and give the dog a quiet room to retreat to. The ASPCA suggests a safe space such as an interior room, and asks that guests keep their medications in a closed cabinet rather than a bag.

Holiday food is the other hazard. The ASPCA warns that fatty, sweet and spicy foods and turkey or chicken bones can all be dangerous, and that tinsel and broken ornaments can injure a dog that swallows them. Keep your dog's diet the same as any other day. For a quieter test of a fresh recall, Gloucester's beaches are open to dogs in winter, Good Harbor on even-numbered days and Wingaersheek on odd ones, with your dog on a long line.