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Brooksby Farm
Are dogs allowed at Brooksby Farm in Peabody?
Brooksby is a working farm run by the City of Peabody, open Tuesday through Sunday from 9 AM to 5 PM, with pick-your-own fruit in summer, apples, cider donuts and a Fall Fairytale Trail in September and October, and trees and wreaths for the holidays. Its pet rule is one line near the top of its home page. This page explains it and plans the dog's day around a farm trip.
The rule
No pets on the farm, in any season, on any part of it
Brooksby's website prints its pet rule right under the hours and the phone number: no pets allowed on the farm. It is not seasonal and names no exceptions for small dogs, carried dogs or dogs on a short leash, so read it as covering the orchards, the fields, the play yard, the barnyard and the farm store alike. If you rely on a service animal, call the farm at 978-531-7456 before your visit to talk it through.
The farm does not explain the rule, and it does not need to. Other organizations that open working land to the public set the same line: The Trustees' dog guidelines bar dogs from working farms and gardens, including crop fields, food gardens and places where food is produced, processed or sold. A pick-your-own orchard with a farm store, a bakery counter and barnyard animals is all of those at once, which is why the plan for a dog has to be made somewhere other than the farm.
- No pets anywhere on the farm
- Open Tuesday to Sunday, 9 AM to 5 PM
- Last apple-picking bags sold at 4 PM
- Questions: 978-531-7456
The farm year
What the farm offers by season, and how long a visit takes without the dog
From June to August the farm offers berry and fruit picking, cut flowers, vegetables, a picnic and play area and water play. September and October bring apple picking, apple cider and the farm's own cider donuts, a maze, pumpkins, mums and the Fall Fairytale Trail, along with hayrides and, on some fall weekends, campfires with s'mores. In November and December the store turns to holiday pies, cider and donuts, Christmas trees, wreaths, kissing balls and planters.
Apple picking is the trip most families plan in the fall, and the farm stops selling picking bags at 4 PM, an hour before closing. Add a walk on the Fairytale Trail, a stop at the barnyard animals and a line at the farm store, and a visit easily fills an afternoon. That is a long time for a dog to be on hold, so settle where the dog will be before you leave home rather than when you arrive.
A daycare day
Book the dog a day of its own in Gloucester while you pick
Dogtown daycare runs Monday to Friday from 6:30 AM to 6:30 PM and Saturday from 8 AM to 6 PM, which overlaps Brooksby's Tuesday-to-Saturday hours. Drop off in a morning window, 6:30 to 9:30 AM on weekdays or 8 to 10 AM on Saturday, and collect between 4 and 6:30 PM on weekdays or 4 and 6 PM on Saturday. A full day is $42, spent in a playgroup of 7 to 10 dogs matched by size and temperament, on indoor floors and an outdoor turf yard with pools and platforms.
The evaluation comes first. Every new dog starts with a free evaluation on a weekday between 6:30 and 9:30 AM, bringing Rabies, DHPP and Bordetella records and a current license, so book it before the weekend you plan to pick, and enter FIRST15 for 15 percent off the first daycare visit. Sunday is closed for daycare; for a Sunday at the farm, an overnight stay from Saturday, at $78 a night, is the way to cover the day. Peabody is outside the Pup Van towns and about 35 minutes away outside rush hour, by our estimate.
- 01
Book the free evaluation for a weekday morning, 6:30 to 9:30
- 02
Bring Rabies, DHPP and Bordetella records and your dog's license
- 03
Book the daycare day online or in the Dogtown app, using FIRST15 the first time
- 04
Drop off in the morning window
- 05
Pick your apples before the 4 PM bag cutoff
- 06
Collect your dog by 6:30 PM on a weekday or 6 PM on a Saturday
Other options
If the dog must come along, walk it somewhere that welcomes dogs
If the dog rides with you, give it its walk at a place that allows dogs, before or after the farm and never on it. Our Danvers Rail Trail page covers a leashed walk on the old railroad line in the neighboring town, and our North Shore dog parks page covers the fenced off-leash parks in Danvers, Salem and Beverly. Our Peabody page sets out the city's own park and leash rules, so read it before you plan a walk anywhere in Peabody itself.
That plan works only if someone stays with the dog the whole time, because Brooksby's rule makes no room for a dog anywhere on the farm, the parking area included. In practice that means one adult walks the dog while the others pick, or the family splits the day. For a dog that dislikes long drives or frets when its people disappear, a full day in a playgroup is usually the kinder choice, and it lets everyone go into the orchard together.
- Walk the dog before or after, never on the farm
- Someone stays with the dog the whole time
- Check a town's leash rules before you walk there
- For a long farm day, daycare is the simpler plan
At Dogtown
While you are in the orchard
A daycare day Monday to Saturday, or an overnight stay that covers a Sunday, both after a free weekday evaluation.
Asked and answered
Questions people ask about this
Short, complete answers you can act on today. More in the full FAQ.
Are dogs allowed at Brooksby Farm?
Can my dog wait in the car while we pick apples at Brooksby?
What are Brooksby Farm's hours?
Can Dogtown look after my dog while we go apple picking?
Where can I walk my dog near Brooksby Farm?
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
Apples for you, a playgroup for the dog.
Book a free weekday evaluation now, so a daycare day is ready when picking season comes.
- 01Free evaluationWeekdays 6:30 – 9:30 AM
- 02Book a dayOnline, in the app or by phone
- 03Play, rest, repeatReport card at pick-up
