Day training
Canine Campus: hybrid day training from 2 to 6 weeks
Board and train asks your dog to move out for a fortnight. Private lessons ask you to do all the practice. Canine Campus sits between them: the trainer does the heavy lifting by day, your dog comes home each evening, and the homework keeps you in the loop. It suits working Cape Ann households who want progress without a stay away.
Three levels
Freshman, Dean's List and Graduate: pick by the problem, not the calendar
Freshman, Foundations, is the 2-week program with about 10 training and adventure days. It is for young dogs and new arrivals: real-world exposure, the basics and a careful introduction to daycare when the dog is ready. Dean's List, Advanced Skills, is 4 weeks and about 20 sessions for the adolescent who knows sit at home and nothing in public: leash skills, impulse control, obedience, confidence, neutrality, household manners and mild-to-moderate reactivity.
Graduate, Advanced Resilience, is 6 weeks and about 30 sessions for the dogs with more going on: reactivity, significant leash struggles, impulse control that fails under arousal, low confidence, and the need to generalize calm across many settings. Plans vary with the intensity and complexity of the dog's needs, so two Graduate dogs may spend their days quite differently. The assessment decides the level, and Gabby will move a dog down a level if the shorter program is honestly enough.
- Freshman, 2 weeks: young dogs, new rescues, first daycare integration
- Dean's List, 4 weeks: adolescent manners in public and mild-to-moderate reactivity
- Graduate, 6 weeks: complex behavior, significant leash struggles, generalization
- Plans flex with the dog; the level is set at the assessment
A Campus day
Pick-up, a training day with adventure built in, a report before dinner
The day starts with pick-up if you use it. Pick-up and drop-off are part of every Canine Campus plan, and the Pup Van's regular area is Rockport, Gloucester, Essex and Manchester-by-the-Sea. At Dogtown your dog moves through training blocks with Gabby or her team, enrichment such as the sniff room or a puzzle, a walk, and rest. Adventure days take the work off site: a leashed walk where there are people, bikes and other dogs at a distance the dog can handle.
Daycare integration happens when it is appropriate for that dog, in a matched playgroup of 7 to 10. Dogs who are dog-selective or reactive may spend the whole program working near the groups rather than in them, which is a legitimate outcome and often the goal. Every evening you receive a daily report and homework: a few minutes of practice that carries the day's work into your kitchen and your street.
The program ends with a lesson for you. It is where the trainer shows you what your dog can now do, how to cue it and what to do when it falls apart, because it will at some point, on a windy day at Good Harbor or when a delivery van stops out front.
- 01
Contact form and a short assessment with Gabby to set the level
- 02
The free evaluation on a weekday morning between 6:30 and 9:30 AM, since daycare integration is on the table
- 03
Pick-up by the Pup Van or drop-off at Eastern Ave inside a window
- 04
Training blocks, enrichment, a walk and rest; adventure days off site
- 05
A daily report and a small homework task each evening
- 06
The end-of-program lesson, and a plan for Academy days afterward
Cost and booking
From $94 a session; the level and the investment are confirmed at the assessment
Training at Dogtown starts from $94 per session. Canine Campus plans vary with the intensity and complexity of each dog's needs, so we do not publish a program price; you will have the full plan and investment in writing after the assessment and before the first day. Enquire on the contact form with your dog's age and the behaviors you see, and expect our reply within one hour on business days.
Because Campus includes daycare integration when appropriate, the free evaluation applies: weekdays 6:30 to 9:30 AM by appointment, with Rabies, DHPP and Bordetella on file and a current city license. Gloucester's license comes from the City Clerk at 9 Dale Ave, $20 for a spayed or neutered dog with a rabies certificate, due by April 30.
| Level | Length | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Freshman, Foundations | 2 weeks, about 10 training and adventure days | Foundations, real-world exposure, daycare integration |
| Dean's List, Advanced Skills | 4 weeks, about 20 sessions | Leash skills, impulse control, obedience, confidence, neutrality, household manners, mild-to-moderate reactivity |
| Graduate, Advanced Resilience | 6 weeks, about 30 sessions | Reactivity, significant leash struggles, impulse control, confidence, environmental neutrality, generalization |
Why here
Trainer, daycare and adventure in one place, so nothing is lost in handoffs
Gabriella Pope, Dogtown's Director of Training & Canine Behaviorist, leads Canine Campus. Her plans are relationship-based and fear- and force-free, built on positive reinforcement and clear communication, and shaped by a B.S. in Biochemistry, ten-plus years with behaviorally complex dogs and fostering through Cape Ann Animal Aid. She works out the why of a behavior before choosing what to teach.
Hybrid training only works if the daycare and the training talk to each other. Here they share a building: 10,000 square feet with indoor floors, the turf yard, a sensory garden and overnight suites, and certified handlers who run the playgroups your dog may join. A Campus dog's handler knows what the trainer did that morning, and the daily report reflects both.
- One trainer-led plan, one building, one daily report
- Pick-up and drop-off included; the Pup Van covers four Cape Ann towns
- Positive reinforcement only, with the why of the behavior worked out first
- Daycare integration only when it serves the dog
Getting here
Eastern Ave windows, Pup Van towns and where the adventure days can go
Dogtown is at 210 Eastern Ave, Gloucester, open Monday to Friday 6:30 AM to 6:30 PM and Saturday 8 AM to 6 PM. If you drop off yourself, the weekday windows are 6:30 to 9:30 AM, 12 to 1 PM and 4 to 6:30 PM; Saturday 8 to 10 AM, 12 to 1 PM and 4 to 6 PM. The Pup Van serves Rockport, Gloucester, Essex and Manchester-by-the-Sea; from other towns, ask us what is possible.
Cape Ann offers the range a Campus dog needs, and Gabby picks the setting by the dog's stage. Ravenswood Park in West Gloucester, a Trustees property that welcomes dogs, has quiet trails for a first leashed outing. The Gloucester waterfront has people and noise. For a Dean's List dog working on neutrality, the sidewalk near the Gloucester station is a lesson in patience, since leashed dogs ride the Rockport line only off-peak and never between 7 and 10 AM or 4 and 7 PM. In summer, when Rockport's beaches are closed to dogs from June 1 to September 15, the work moves to the woods.
At Dogtown
Campus, then the everyday version
When the program ends, Dogtown Academy days and daycare keep the structure going, with the Pup Van still running.
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.
What is the difference between Canine Campus and Dogtown Academy?
Does my dog have to join daycare during Canine Campus?
How is Canine Campus different from board and train?
How much does Canine Campus cost?
Is pick-up and drop-off included?
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, better every week.
Send the contact form with your dog's age and what you are seeing. We reply within one hour on business days and set up the assessment with Gabby.
- 01Free evaluationWeekdays 6:30 – 9:30 AM
- 02Book a dayOnline, in the app or by phone
- 03Play, rest, repeatReport card at pick-up
