Essex dog license: the town without a leash law

Essex has no town-wide leash law at the time of writing. That does not mean anything goes. State land and conservation land inside Essex carry their own rules, private property is private, and an owner remains responsible for whatever a loose dog does. What it does mean is that on a town road or a town trail a well-trained dog may walk beside you without a leash, and the town trusts you to know whether your dog is that dog.

The honest test is short. Can your dog hold a sit while a cyclist passes on Route 133? Will it turn off a deer scent in the marsh the first time you call? Does it stop at the roadside without a word from you? If any answer is no, the leash goes on, law or no law. Most dogs we meet at the evaluation are somewhere in the middle, and a long line is the right tool for that middle.

The neighbors are stricter. Rockport asks for a leash or direct voice control, Gloucester has a leash law set out on its Dog Regulations page, and Crane Beach in Ipswich takes leashed dogs only, from October 1 to March 31. An Essex dog who crosses the town line crosses into a leash, so keep one in the car even on a day you do not expect to use it.

Essex is one of the four Pup Van towns, with Gloucester, Rockport and Manchester-by-the-Sea, at $10 each way. The van collects at your door and brings your dog back after the day, and the report card lands in the Dogtown app in between. For an Essex household that saves the run down Route 133 and across to Eastern Ave twice in a day.

Everything begins with the free evaluation, on a weekday between 6:30 and 9:30 AM by appointment at 210 Eastern Ave. Bring the Essex license, the rabies certificate and the DHPP and Bordetella records. The evaluation is a temperament test and then a few supervised hours in a group so our handlers can see how your dog plays. An Essex dog used to open marsh often spends the first hour learning that the turf has a fence; most have forgotten the fence by lunch.