Do you serve Cape Ann summer visitors for board and train?

Count the visit backward. The last days should be practice with your dog at the rental, after the go-home lesson, so questions come up while Dogtown is still a short drive away. Before that sits the program, one week or two. Before that, the evaluation, which runs only on weekday mornings by appointment, so a Saturday arrival puts it on the Monday at the earliest. Whether your dates are open is confirmed when you inquire.

That arithmetic gives the rule of thumb: about two weeks on Cape Ann for Foundation and about three for Advanced. Shorter visits still have a use. A family here for one week can complete the free evaluation, try a daycare or Dogtown Academy day, and drive home with the paperwork done, so a stay on next summer's visit starts from the consult rather than from scratch.

Bring copies of the Rabies, DHPP and Bordetella records from your home vet, and the current license from the town where your dog lives; Massachusetts and New Hampshire both license dogs where they are kept. New customers complete the new customer form before the evaluation. Check each expiry date against the last night of the stay, because a vaccine that lapses midweek can hold up a stay a long way from your own vet.

Pack for the program as well as the vacation. A stay asks for your dog's usual food bagged by meal, any medications with a written sheet and one comfort item, so bring enough of the regular food for the whole visit rather than planning to find it locally. Note your home vet's name and number, and save the City of Gloucester's list of local and emergency veterinary offices before you arrive.