Does my dog need a city license for board and train?

Dogtown asks every dog that stays overnight or joins a group for a current city or town dog license, and a board and train dog does both. Chapter 140, section 137 of the Massachusetts General Laws says the owner or keeper of a dog over 6 months must license it with the city or town where the dog is kept, and that no license is issued without a vet's certification of rabies vaccination or a certified exemption. A license, in other words, is the town's record that the rabies vaccine exists.

The same section requires the dog to wear a collar or harness carrying a tag with its license number, the issuing town and the year. A neighboring section, 137A, requires commercial boarding and training kennels to keep a record of each dog's license, which is one reason the evaluation asks for it. Bring the license paperwork with the vaccine records, and keep the tag on your dog's collar or harness at drop-off.

State law does not require a license until a dog is over 6 months, and AAHA notes that rabies vaccines are labeled for puppies from 3 months, so a young puppy may have neither yet. Dogtown's published requirement is a current license, so ask at the consult how it applies to a puppy too young to hold one; the youngest age for a stay is confirmed there too. A dog that has just moved to Cape Ann needs a license from its new town, because the law ties it to where the dog is kept.

Summer residents meet the same rule from the other side. If your dog spends the season in Rockport or Manchester-by-the-Sea and the rest of the year elsewhere, ask both towns which license applies, and bring whichever is current. A dog licensed in another state is a question for the consult. And if a tag goes missing before drop-off, replace it; Gloucester charges $5 for a lost tag, and other towns set their own fee.

The license is a record, but the tag is practical. A dog that slips its collar on a walk along Bass Avenue or at the Stage Fort dog park carries its license number and its town, which links it back to your town's records. That is reason enough to keep the tag on the collar or harness your dog wears every day, alongside an ID tag with your phone number, and to check the clip before drop-off.

Timing matters most in spring. A stay that runs across April 30 in Gloucester, or March 31 in Essex and Manchester-by-the-Sea, needs the new year's license before drop-off rather than partway through. Put the renewal date in your calendar beside the rabies due date, since the license depends on it. Our board and train page lists everything else the stay requires.