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Day by day
Board and train: what to expect day by day
Board and train is easier to trust when you can picture it. Below is the shape of a Foundation week, and of the second week Advanced adds, built from what the programs include at 210 Eastern Ave. The exact plan is Gabby's to set for your dog, so treat this as a guide and ask about anything that matters to you.
Before day one
Day one starts weeks earlier, with the form, the assessment and the free evaluation
Nothing starts without a plan. You send the training form, the team answers within one hour on business days, and a short assessment with Gabby, our Director of Training & Canine Behaviorist, sets the goals and chooses Foundation or Advanced. Because your dog will sleep here, the free evaluation applies: a temperament test and a few supervised hours in a group on a weekday between 6:30 and 9:30 AM, by appointment. It tells us which playgroup, if any, suits your dog during the stay.
Have Rabies, DHPP and Bordetella on file and a current city or town dog license. Gloucester families get theirs from the City Clerk; licenses are due April 30, and the city announced in June 2025 that fees rise in 2026, so check its page for the current figure. Pack the night before: pre-portioned food, any medications with written instructions and one small comfort item such as a blanket. We supply the bedding.
- Training form sent and the assessment done
- Free evaluation passed on a weekday morning
- Rabies, DHPP, Bordetella and the dog license on file
- Food pre-portioned, medications labeled, one comfort item
Arrival day
Arrival day is mostly about landing: the building, the suite and the first update
Drop off inside a window: weekdays 6:30 to 9:30 AM, 12 to 1 PM or 4 to 6:30 PM, or Saturdays 8 to 10 AM, 12 to 1 PM or 4 to 6 PM. Keep the goodbye short and ordinary. A long, emotional handover tells a dog something unusual is happening; a calm one tells it this is just another building with friendly people in it. Hand over the food and medications and mention anything that has changed since the evaluation.
Expect the first day to lean toward settling rather than drilling. A dog needs to learn where the water is, where it rests and who its handlers are before it can take in much else, so early sessions are kept short and easy and end on a success. Night one is spent in an overnight suite with the bedding we provide and the comfort item you packed, under 24/7 monitoring. The first of the daily updates arrives on this day, and it will mostly tell you how your dog is settling.
- Drop-off inside a published window
- Food, medications and the comfort item handed over
- Any change since the evaluation mentioned at the desk
- A short, ordinary goodbye
The working days
The working days are short training blocks, rest between them and a playgroup once your dog is ready
Once a dog has landed, the days take a pattern: short training blocks spread through the day, rest between them, and enrichment that tires the brain as well as the legs. Brief sessions that end while the dog is still keen teach more than one long session that ends in frustration. Foundation's list sets the content: basic obedience and leash skills; place, stay and recall; impulse control; and crate and household manners.
Daycare integration is part of both programs when appropriate. A dog who did well at the evaluation joins a matched group of 7 to 10 dogs, sorted by size and temperament, on the indoor play floors or the outdoor turf yard with its pools and platforms. Group time counts as training: greeting politely, leaving play when called, settling on a cot while other dogs move around. A dog who is not ready for a group does enrichment instead.
Enrichment draws on what the building already has: puzzle games, lick mats, frozen Kongs, the sniff room, the supervised dogPACER treadmill and the sensory garden used on Academy days. Several are bookable add-ons, from $5 for a lick mat to $10 for a treadmill session, so ask at the assessment which ones Gabby wants in your dog's plan. Each day's update tells you what was worked on.
Week two
Advanced adds a second week that takes the same skills somewhere busier
Advanced lasts two weeks and includes everything in Foundation, then adds advanced obedience and distraction proofing, real-world outings, neutrality and impulse control, confidence building and structured socialization. The first week looks much like Foundation. The second asks whether the same cues hold when something more interesting is going on: another dog walking past, a stranger leaning in, a door opening onto noise. Our board and train page lists both programs side by side.
Where the outings go depends on the dog, the season and the plan, and we talk it through at the assessment rather than promising a route. The principle comes from the AKC: raise one difficulty at a time, duration, distance or distraction, and step back when the dog struggles. Advanced also brings two scheduled go-home coaching lessons instead of one, so the handover happens in stages rather than in a single hour.
| Stage | Foundation (1 week) | Advanced (2 weeks) |
|---|---|---|
| Before the stay | Training form, assessment with Gabby, free evaluation | The same |
| Arrival day | Drop-off in a window, settling in, the suite, the first update | The same |
| The working days | Short training blocks, rest, enrichment, a playgroup when ready | The same, through the first week |
| Week two | Not included | Distraction proofing, real-world outings, neutrality, confidence, structured socialization |
| Every day | A daily update | A daily update |
| Going home | One go-home lesson | Two scheduled go-home coaching lessons |
Go-home day
Go-home day is a lesson for you, then a quiet first evening for your dog
Pick-up falls in a window like drop-off, and the go-home lesson is the reason to arrive unhurried. It is where the cues, hand signals and rewards your dog learned are handed over to you, which the AKC says any board and train should do. You can book a groom before pick-up; Dogtown Grooming is on site, needs no evaluation, and a bath for a dog up to 25 pounds is $55.
Keep the first evening home boring. Feed at the usual time, walk a familiar route and use one or two of the new cues in easy moments rather than testing everything at once. Expect a little wobble: a new place is a distraction in its own right, and your dog has to learn that the rules travel. Follow the order from the lesson, and send questions to the front desk through the Dogtown app.
- 01
Arrive in a pick-up window with time to stay for the lesson
- 02
Watch the trainer run the cues your dog has learned
- 03
Take the leash and run them yourself, with coaching
- 04
Go over the equipment and the routine for the first week
- 05
Talk through the next step: Academy days, Canine Campus or private sessions
At Dogtown
What a board and train week is made of
An overnight suite, the training team and the enrichment menu, all under one roof on Eastern Ave.
Asked and answered
Questions people ask about this
Short, complete answers you can act on today. More in the full FAQ.
When will I get the first update?
Where does my dog sleep during board and train?
Can I visit or call during the stay?
What if my dog does not settle?
More questions? Read the full FAQ
Sources
- AKC: board and train programs, what to know
- AKC: duration, distance and distraction
- Gloucester dog licensing
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
Picture the week, then plan it.
Send the training form with your dates. We reply within one hour on business days, book the assessment with Gabby and set up the free evaluation.
- 01Free evaluationWeekdays 6:30 – 9:30 AM
- 02Book a dayOnline, in the app or by phone
- 03Play, rest, repeatReport card at pick-up
