Mud season on Cape Ann: March, April and the bath schedule

Cape Ann's mud season starts when the freeze-thaw cycle takes over in March, with mornings hard and afternoons soft, and runs until the ground drains in late April. Ravenswood Park's low ground holds water long after the snow is gone, the wet spots on Dogtown Common become ponds across the path, and the granite ledges on both are slick under a skin of water. The Trustees ask dog walkers to stay on the trail, and in mud season that means walking through the puddle rather than around it.

The coat changes at the same time. Huskies, shepherds, goldens, labs and every double-coated mix shed the winter undercoat in spring, and a wet, muddy undercoat mats close to the skin and takes days to dry. A brushed-out dog dries faster and carries less mud in, which is why the coat blow and the bath schedule belong on the same page. Tick season begins in April too, and a matted coat is where a tick hides best.

Mud season is a handling season. A dog has to stand at the door while you towel it, hold each foot in a shallow bowl of warm water, and tolerate a brush through a wet, shedding coat, and none of those come naturally to a young dog. Practice them on dry days with treats before you need them on a wet one; our how-to on cooperative care for nail trims uses the same foot-handling steps.

The walk itself asks for a leash on the granite ledges, which are slick in March, and a leave it at the puddles, since standing water in spring carries what the leptospirosis page describes. Keep the long, muddy walks for the days you can bathe or rinse afterward, and use the low-tide beach for the days you cannot. The towel routine at the door is the prevention.

Ravenswood Park and Dogtown Common each have a page with the trail's rules and its wet ground; read them before the first April hike. The answer page on what Shed Release is explains the treatment, the how-to on de-shedding a double-coated dog at home covers the brushing between baths, and the bath versus full groom comparison helps if the spring coat needs more than a wash.

For the calendar, the Good Harbor page has the March dates and the piping plovers page explains the April 1 closure. The Gloucester dog license page walks through the City Clerk's process and the April 30 deadline. The leptospirosis page is the one to read before letting a dog drink from a spring puddle, and the ticks and Lyme page starts where mud season ends.