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Pup Van
Can the Pup Van collect my dog for board and train?
For Cape Ann families, the van can take one errand off a busy week. This page covers the towns and the price, which leg of a board and train it suits, how the timing works, and how to ready a carsick dog for the ride.
The answer
Four towns at $10 a ride, and a board and train run confirmed at booking
The Pup Van is Dogtown's pick-up and drop-off service, and its published terms are simple: $10 each way in Rockport, Gloucester, Essex and Manchester-by-the-Sea and a quote for any other address; whether a rider needs the free evaluation first depends on the service it is riding to. Families add it to a daycare day, a Dogtown Academy day or an overnight stay when they book. Board and train goes through the training form instead, so ask at the consult whether the van can make your dog's run.
A board and train dog has passed the evaluation by the time it rides, because the stay requires it, and it travels with more than a daycare dog does: pre-portioned food for a week or two, any medications with written instructions and one comfort item. Ask how the bag travels. If the van can do the drop-off, the front desk confirms a window for your street, as it does for daycare runs.
- Rockport, Gloucester, Essex, Manchester-by-the-Sea: $10 each way
- Other towns: ask for pricing
- Evaluated dogs only
- Board and train runs: confirmed at booking
Which leg
The drop-off leg is the natural fit, and the ride home usually gives way to the lesson
The end of a stay is a lesson for you, not a delivery. Foundation finishes with one go-home lesson and Advanced with two scheduled coaching lessons, and in each you take the leash at 210 Eastern Ave while the trainer coaches you. That is why the realistic van plan is one leg, into the stay, with you driving to collect your dog at the lesson. How Advanced's two lessons are spaced, and whether that changes the picture, is something Gabby explains at the consult.
The table runs the numbers for a family inside the van towns. The van changes the driving, not the training, so pick the plan that gets the right people to the lesson. For families outside the four towns the van is a quote, and Canine Campus, the day-training alternative to a stay, includes pick-up and drop-off as part of the program; ask how that works for your address.
| Plan | Van cost | Who comes to the lesson |
|---|---|---|
| Van in, you collect at the lesson | $10 | You and everyone who handles the dog |
| You drive both ways | Nothing | The same |
| Van both ways | $20 | Only if the lesson is a separate visit; ask |
| Address outside the four towns | Ask for pricing | The same |
Timing
The van works around the building's windows, and the front desk sets the time for your street
Drop-off and pick-up at Dogtown run in fixed windows, weekdays 6:30 to 9:30 AM, 12 to 1 PM and 4 to 6:30 PM, and the van's runs fit around them. The time it reaches your door depends on that day's route, so the front desk confirms a window for your address rather than an exact minute. Be ready with your dog leashed at the door, its bag packed and labeled, and a person there for the handover.
Weather moves the route as well as the play floors. On a nor'easter morning, the front desk will be in touch through the Dogtown app if a run changes. Sunday is open only for overnight-stay drop-off and pick-up, 8 to 10 AM and 4 to 6 PM, so ask whether the van runs then before planning a Sunday start. The van's inside set-up is not published; our answers page lists what to ask about restraint and climate.
- Dog leashed and ready at the door
- Food, medications and comfort item packed and labeled
- Someone home for the handover
- Notes on gates, door codes or other pets
Carsick dogs
A carsick dog needs a few short practice rides before its first van run
VCA Animal Hospitals lists the signs of motion sickness as whining and pacing, heavy drooling, licking or smacking the lips, lethargy, vomiting and sometimes soiling. It is more common in young dogs, and VCA notes that puppies often outgrow it by about a year old. Its advice is to build up gradually: several short trips before a long one, starting with the engine running and the dog sitting still, and working up to rides of 20 to 30 minutes over days or weeks.
The same approach prepares a dog for the van. Practice short rides in your own car first, ending somewhere pleasant, and tell the front desk if your dog has ever been sick or anxious in a vehicle. VCA also suggests that holding back food for some hours before travel can help a queasy dog, if that is not too stressful for it; ask your vet what suits yours. Our how-to on getting a dog used to the Pup Van has a fuller plan.
- 01
Sit in the parked car with the engine running, and reward calm
- 02
Drive to the end of the street and back
- 03
Add a few minutes each trip, ending somewhere pleasant
- 04
Work up to a ride of 20 to 30 minutes
- 05
Tell the front desk about any sickness or worry
For your dog
For your dog, the van can turn drop-off into a short, ordinary ride instead of a long goodbye
Some dogs find the handover easier at their own front door than at a busy desk: a familiar handler, a short ride and an arrival among dogs it may know from daycare. For a nervous dog, that can take the edge off the first morning. For a dog that has never ridden with anyone but its family, the practice rides come first, and driving it yourself for the start of the stay may be the gentler choice.
Whichever you choose, plan the end of the stay in person, at the building on Eastern Ave. The lesson is where the training becomes yours, and it is the one appointment no van can keep for you, however short the drive from Rockport or Manchester-by-the-Sea. Our board and train page sets out both programs, and the front desk at 978 491-5922 can tell you how the van fits around your dates.
At Dogtown
The van and the training
The Pup Van serves four Cape Ann towns, and the board and train programs run from our building on Eastern Ave.
Pick-up & drop-off
The Pup Van comes to you.
Pup Van pick-up and drop-off is available for $10 each way in the Rockport, Gloucester, Essex and Manchester-by-the-Sea area. Not in the area? Ask us for pricing.
- Rockport
- Gloucester
- Essex
- Manchester-by-the-Sea
Asked and answered
Questions people ask about this
Short, complete answers you can act on today. More in the full FAQ.
Will the van collect from Ipswich or Beverly?
Can the van carry my dog's food and medications?
How are dogs secured in the van?
What time will the van arrive?
Does my dog need an evaluation before it rides?
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
Ask about the van for your stay
Put your address on the training form. We reply within one hour on business days and confirm how the van fits your dates.
- 01Free evaluationWeekdays 6:30 – 9:30 AM
- 02Book a dayOnline, in the app or by phone
- 03Play, rest, repeatReport card at pick-up
