Cashman Park in Newburyport: the off-leash lawn and its hours

The city's facility page for Cashman Park lists the Off-leash Dog Lawn as one of six areas in the park, alongside a baseball field, basketball courts, a tennis and pickleball court, a soccer field and a picnic table area. Its note is plain: dogs are only allowed off leash in the off-leash lawn between 7:30 and 9 AM and between 4 and 7 PM, and they are not allowed off leash on the playground, courts, baseball diamond, soccer fields or walkways.

Moseley Woods and March's Hill, the city's other two off-leash areas, run from dawn to dusk, so Cashman is the one with set morning and evening windows. Outside those hours the lawn is ordinary park ground, and a dog on it is a leashed dog. The city's off-leash rules under section 3-26(e) apply on the lawn as well: licensed and vaccinated dogs, a leash on the way in and out, two loose dogs per owner at most, and $50 for any breach. Our March's Hill and Moseley Woods pages walk through the full list, and the Health Department answers questions at (978) 465-4410.

An hour on a shared lawn suits a dog that greets politely, plays with strangers and comes back when called away from play, because the rules require you to leash on an officer's command and to remove a dog the moment it shows aggression. It suits less well a dog that guards balls, bowls over small dogs or stops listening once it is running. The city's pages say nothing about fencing around the lawn, so a solid recall is your boundary.

Puppies under four months stay on a leash under the rules, and a young puppy still finishing its vaccinations has no business in a mixed group anyway. For a dog that is not ready, a long line during the morning window lets it watch the group without joining it. Count how often it turns back to you on the first call before you ever unclip.

Two windows a day is generous, but it is play with whoever turns up. Dogtown's daycare at 210 Eastern Ave puts your dog in a playgroup of 7 to 10 matched by size and temperament, on indoor floors and a turf yard with pools and platforms, with a handler in the group the whole time. A full day is $42 and a half day $33, and a ten-day full-day pack is $380.

Every daycare dog starts with a free evaluation on a weekday between 6:30 and 9:30 AM, a temperament test plus a few supervised hours in a group, which also tells you whether your dog enjoys group play at all. Bring the Newburyport license and Rabies, DHPP and Bordetella records, and new customers take 15 percent off the first daycare visit with FIRST15. The Pup Van does not run to Newburyport, so ask us about a pick-up for your street.