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Day or stay
Dogtown Academy vs board and train
Both put a trainer into your dog's day at 210 Eastern Ave. One is booked a day at a time and ends every evening at your door; the other is a program with a start, a finish and nights in between. Here is how to choose between them, or use both.
Side by side
The Academy is booked by the day and ends at your door each night; board and train is one program with the nights included
An Academy day replaces a standard play day with a structured one. Dogs rotate through training, enrichment, fitness and play; every day includes a training session with our trainer and one-on-one trainer time, and you collect a report card saying what your dog loved, what it found hard and what to practice at home. Matched playgroups of 7 to 10 dogs fill the play blocks. You book the days you want, singly or in packs.
Board and train is booked once, after an assessment with Gabriella Pope. Foundation covers basic obedience, leash skills, place, stay, recall, impulse control and crate and household manners in a week; Advanced adds distraction proofing, outings, neutrality, confidence building and structured socialization over two. Your dog sleeps in an overnight suite with 24/7 monitoring, you receive a daily update, and the stay ends with one go-home lesson or two coaching lessons.
| Dogtown Academy | Board and train | |
|---|---|---|
| Format | Structured daycare, home at night | Residential training program |
| Price | $89 full day, $69 half day | Quoted after an assessment |
| Packs | Full-day 5-pack $415, 10-pack $785; half-day $320 and $610 | None; one program price |
| Training | A session with our trainer and one-on-one time each day | Daily training on a written skill list |
| What you get back | A report card with homework | Daily updates and 1 or 2 coaching lessons |
| End point | None; continue while it helps | 1 or 2 weeks, ending with the lessons |
| Evaluation first | Yes, free, weekday mornings | Yes, free, weekday mornings |
Home at night
Home at night means you can practice what the trainer started on the very same evening
The Academy's biggest strength is the daily loop. A trainer works a cue in the morning, the report card names it in the afternoon, and you repeat it in your kitchen that evening, so the move from trainer to owner happens a little every day instead of all at once at pick-up. The dog also sleeps in its own bed, which matters for young puppies, older dogs and any dog that frets on a night away.
Board and train trades that loop for concentration. The dog spends whole days with trainers, without the interruptions of family life, which suits a household that is away, facing a date such as a move or a new baby, or simply unable to practice on weeknights. The handover comes at the end, which is why the go-home lessons carry so much weight and why the first evenings back deserve a plan before the stay begins.
- Academy: practice the same evening, after every Academy day
- Board and train: the handover happens at the end, in lessons
- Academy: your dog's own bed every night
- Board and train: suits trips, deadlines and busy weeknights
Cost and time
The Academy's cost is published and spread out; board and train's is a single quote for a fixed stretch
Academy pricing is on our price list. Ten full days cost $785 as a 10-pack and five cost $415; half days are $320 for five and $610 for ten. Two Academy days a week for five weeks uses up one full-day 10-pack. Board and train is quoted after the assessment, like every Dogtown training program, with sessions starting from $94, so ask for that figure and set it beside the number of Academy days your dog would need to reach the same skills.
Count your own time as well. Academy days run on the drop-off windows, weekdays 6:30 to 9:30 AM, 12 to 1 PM and 4 to 6:30 PM, so each day means two trips unless the Pup Van makes them for $10 each way in Rockport, Gloucester, Essex and Manchester-by-the-Sea. Sunday is closed for daycare, Academy days included. A stay means one drop-off, one collection and its lessons.
- Academy: $89 a full day, or $785 for ten
- Pup Van both ways: $20 added to an Academy day
- Board and train: one quote, nights included
When each wins
The Academy wins for steady progress with you involved; board and train wins when time or travel is the constraint
Choose the Academy for a puppy or young dog building confidence, an adolescent whose manners are slipping but who enjoys the group, a dog that copes badly with nights away, and a household that is home in the evenings and wants to see progress daily. It is also the natural follow-on after a stay, because each Academy day keeps a trainer working the same cues while you carry them at home.
Choose board and train when you are going away anyway, when a deadline means the skills must be in place within a fortnight, or when nobody at home can practice on weeknights. Choose neither when other dogs are the problem: Academy days include playgroup time, the wrong setting for a reactive dog, and a stay is not the first step either. Adventure Academy, which despite its name is a training program rather than a day product, or React Less, Relax More suits those dogs.
Using both
Many dogs use both: a stay to build the skills, then Academy days to keep a trainer in the week
The two fit together. One free evaluation, on a weekday morning between 6:30 and 9:30, opens the Academy and the stay alike, because both involve time in a matched group. A common pattern is a Foundation or Advanced stay during a family trip, followed by one or two Academy days a week while the household gets used to running the cues itself.
Cape Ann's seasons shape how many Academy days a dog needs. Good Harbor closes to dogs on April 1 and Wingaersheek on May 1, and downtown fills for St. Peter's Fiesta in late June, so in summer structured days in the sensory garden and on the indoor floors carry more weight. When the beaches reopen to dogs on October 1, at the time of writing, an off-season walk can take over some of the exercise and the Academy can concentrate on skills.
- 01
Book the free evaluation, which opens both
- 02
Bring your goals to the training assessment
- 03
Book the stay for a travel week, or Academy days if you are home
- 04
After a stay, add one or two Academy days a week
- 05
Practice the report card homework the same evening
At Dogtown
Days with a trainer, or a stay
Academy days and board and train both start with the free evaluation on a weekday morning.
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.
Is the Academy a cheaper version of board and train?
Can Academy days follow a board and train stay?
Does the Academy follow a plan with an end date?
Which gives my dog more time with a trainer?
Do both need the free evaluation?
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
Home every night, or a focused stay?
Tell us your week and your goals. We will suggest Academy days, a stay or both after a short assessment, and the training team answers within the hour on business days.
- 01Free evaluationWeekdays 6:30 – 9:30 AM
- 02Book a dayOnline, in the app or by phone
- 03Play, rest, repeatReport card at pick-up
