Home
Board and train
What is included in the board and train price?

Reading the quote

What is included in the board and train price?

A quote only becomes comparable once you know what sits inside it. Below is the inclusions table for both stays, a worked example that adds optional extras for one real-size dog, and the short list of terms a single figure never shows.

Enquire about training See pricing

Last reviewed October 10, 2026 · by the Dogtown team · reviewed by Gabriella Pope, Director of Training & Canine Behaviorist

Inside the price

The price buys a finished program: nights, daily training, updates and your coaching, quoted as one figure

Board and train is priced as a program, not as nights plus lessons. The figure you receive after the assessment with Gabriella Pope already contains the suite your dog sleeps in, the monitoring overnight, the training blocks that fill each day, the playgroup time and enrichment the plan calls for, the daily update in the Dogtown app and the coaching that hands the skills to you. You do not add the $78 overnight rate on top, and you do not book daycare days for the group time.

What changes from one quote to the next is the program and the dog. Foundation, one week, suits puppies, young dogs and missing manners; Advanced, two weeks, adds proofing, outings and a second lesson for adolescents. Because each plan is written for one dog after meeting it, we publish no package figure, only the from-price for sessions. Ask for the quote in writing, so the inclusions below can be checked against it line by line.

One figure for the whole program, set after the assessment
No nightly overnight rate added on top
No separate daycare booking for group time
Training sessions from $94, the only published training figure

The inclusions table

The inclusions table shows each line of a stay, which program carries it and where its price sits

Read the table across. The two middle columns show whether Foundation and Advanced include a line; the last shows whether it sits inside the quote, carries a published price of its own, or is something you supply. Where the last column says to ask, the answer is settled for your dog at the consult rather than printed, for example whether particular enrichment items in the plan are charged, or whether the Pup Van can carry a board and train dog.

Two lines catch people out. The free evaluation is required before both stays but costs nothing, because every overnight dog completes it on a weekday between 6:30 and 9:30 AM. And coaching after the included lessons belongs to neither price: it is booked as private sessions, from $94 each, once a few weeks at home have shown you which cues need help and which are holding up on their own.

Line of the stay	Foundation, 1 week	Advanced, 2 weeks	How it is priced
Nights in an overnight suite, bedding, 24/7 monitoring	Yes	Yes	Inside the quote
Daily training blocks on the skill list	The basics list	The basics plus proofing	Inside the quote
Real-world outings, neutrality and confidence work	No	Yes	Inside the quote
Playgroup of 7 to 10, once ready	Yes	Yes	Inside the quote
Enrichment in the plan	Yes	Yes	Inside the quote; ask which add-on items are extra
An update every day in the app	Yes	Yes	Inside the quote; format set at booking
Coaching for you at the end	1 go-home lesson	2 coaching lessons	Inside the quote
Free evaluation before the stay	Required	Required	Free
Bath or full groom before pick-up	Optional	Optional	Bath from $55, full service from $75, by size
Pup Van in the four Cape Ann towns	Ask	Ask	$10 each way
Further coaching after pick-up	Optional	Optional	Private sessions from $94
Food, medications, one comfort item	You bring	You bring	Not charged

Worked example

Worked example: one 70-pound Lab from Rockport, the Advanced quote and the extras its family chose

Take an illustration rather than a client: a 70-pound Labrador from Rockport booked into Advanced. The quote covers both weeks, the outings, the daily updates and the two coaching lessons. The family then picks three extras from the published menus. The Pup Van brings the dog in for $10, once the front desk confirms it can carry a board and train dog; the family drives over to collect, because the go-home lesson needs them holding the leash anyway.

Before pick-up the dog has a bath in the 51 to 90 pound band, $75, with nail clipping at $16 and Shed Release at $10 for a spring coat. That comes to $111 on top of the quote. Three weeks later, a recall that has started to slip sends them back for one private session at $94. Because every extra was written down at booking, none of it arrived as a surprise, and any of it could have been dropped.

01
Write the program quote at the top of the page
02
Add the Pup Van only for legs it will actually run, at $10 each
03
Add the groom by your dog's weight band, then any add-ons
04
Add enrichment items only if the consult says they are charged
05
Leave a line for one private session, from $94, after pick-up
06
Ask the front desk to check the list before drop-off

Beyond the figure

A price leaves out the terms, so a complete quote arrives with them in writing

Some of what you pay depends on what happens rather than on what you book. Dogtown confirms deposit, cancellation, extension and early or late pick-up terms when you book, and does not publish them, so the figure alone cannot tell you what a changed flight or an extra night would cost. Ask for those terms on the same page as the quote, and keep the two together until the go-home lesson is behind you.

Then check that the quote names the details that make it comparable: the program with its exact dates, the drop-off window, the dates of the coaching lessons, how the daily update will arrive, and anything excluded. A quote that names all of them can be laid beside any other program's on equal terms. One that leaves gaps is a reason to ask one more question before paying, not a reason to guess.

Program, start date and end date
Drop-off window and lesson dates
Update format: photos, video or a written note
Deposit, cancellation and change terms
Anything the price leaves out

At Dogtown

Priced inside and alongside a stay

The program covers the training and the overnight suite; grooming and the Pup Van carry their own published prices.

Australian shepherd sitting attentively during training

Dog TrainingFrom $94 per session · Explore

Golden retriever resting on a cozy bed in a Dogtown boarding suite

Overnight StaysFrom $78 · Explore

Groomer blow-drying a red goldendoodle in front of the Dogtown Grooming sign

Dog GroomingFrom $55 · Explore

Every price on one page

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

Book with pick-up Ask about your area

Asked and answered

Questions people ask about this

Short, complete answers you can act on today. More in the full FAQ.

Is the go-home lesson charged separately?

No. Coaching is part of both programs: one go-home lesson with Foundation and two scheduled coaching lessons with Advanced, held at Dogtown with you handling your own dog. Only coaching beyond those is extra, booked as private sessions from $94, ideally once a particular cue has started to slip at home and the session has a clear job.

Do I pay the $78 overnight rate on top of the program?

No. The nights are inside the board and train price, so the overnight-stay rate does not apply to them. It applies only to ordinary overnight nights added around a program, for example before it starts on a longer trip, and whether those can be arranged is confirmed at the consult.

Does an Unlimited Daycare Membership lower the board and train price?

The membership's published perks are unlimited daycare Monday to Saturday, two enrichment sessions a month, 15 percent off grooming, priority holiday overnight-stay reservations and a birthday enrichment session. Training is not on that list. Ask at the consult whether anything applies to a stay, and whether the grooming discount covers a bath booked for pick-up day.

Why is there no board and train price on the website?

Because each program is written for the dog after a short assessment, so the trainer time differs from one dog to the next. We publish what each stay contains and the from-price for sessions, $94, and quote the stay itself once Gabriella Pope has met your dog. Expect a reply to the training form within one hour on business days.

Is the evaluation part of the price?

It is free and sits outside any price. Every dog staying overnight completes it first, on a weekday between 6:30 and 9:30 AM by appointment: a temperament test and then a few supervised hours in a group. Bring Rabies, DHPP and Bordetella records and a current license from your city or town.

Ask for a quote with every line named.

Use the training form to ask for your dog's program, its inclusions and its terms in one reply. The training team answers within one hour on business days.

Book online Customer inquiry Call 978 491-5922