Training formats
Dogtown Academy vs private training
Both formats put a trainer in your dog's week. The difference is who holds the leash when the learning happens, how much of the work lands on you, and how the cost adds up over a month. This page lays those out side by side.
Who does what
In the Academy our trainer practices with your dog; in private sessions you practice and the trainer coaches you
On an Academy day your dog arrives in a drop-off window and rotates through training, enrichment, fitness and play, with a training session and individual trainer time built into the day. You are not there. What reaches you is the report card: what your dog enjoyed, what it found hard, and the cues and games to repeat at home. The learning happens on our floors, and your share of the work is the follow-through in the evening and at weekends.
A private session turns that around. You come in with your dog, and Gabriella Pope, our Director of Training & Canine Behaviorist, works out why the behavior happens, then coaches you through the exercises with the leash in your hand. Other family members can join and take turns. The plan is built for one dog and one goal, and between sessions you are the one practicing, so the skill is attached to you from the first week rather than to a trainer.
| Criterion | Dogtown Academy | Private training |
|---|---|---|
| Who practices with the dog | Our trainer, during the day | You, coached by Gabriella Pope |
| Your involvement | Report card homework in the evening | Present at every session, plus daily practice |
| Price | $89 full day, $69 half day | From $94 a session |
| Packs | Full-day 10-pack $785; half-day 10-pack $610 | Plan and total confirmed after the assessment |
| Format | Rotations of training, enrichment, fitness and play | One dog, one plan, one-on-one |
| Other dogs | Matched playgroups of 7 to 10 between rotations | Only if the plan stages them, at a distance |
| Before you start | Free evaluation, vaccines and a city license | A short assessment with the trainer |
| Best for | Manners, focus, energy and confidence | One specific problem, or a household learning to handle |
Cost and time
The Academy is priced by the day up front; a private plan is priced per session once the assessment sets its length
The Academy's numbers are published. A full day is $89 and a half day $69; the 5-packs bring a day to $83 or $64 and the 10-packs to $78 or $61. Two Academy half days a week on a 10-pack come to $122, and for that your dog gets two training sessions, two rounds of individual trainer time and two days of supervised play. There is no Academy membership, and packs are sold per service rather than shared with daycare.
Private training starts from $94 a session, and the number of sessions is what moves the total. Gabriella confirms a recommended number and the full investment after the short assessment, so you know the figure before you commit. A handful of sessions can settle a single manners problem; fear or reactivity usually needs a longer program, such as Focus & Flow at 12 sessions over 6 weeks or React Less, Relax More at 16 sessions over 8 weeks.
Time is the hidden cost on both sides. The Academy asks for a drop-off and a pick-up inside our windows, for a full day between 6:30 and 9:30 AM and again between 4 and 6:30 PM on weekdays, plus ten minutes of homework that evening. A private plan asks for the session itself and daily practice, which is real time out of your week but also the reason the skill holds when no trainer is in the room.
- Academy: $89 or $69 a day, less per day on 5- and 10-packs
- Private: from $94 a session, with the total confirmed after the assessment
- Academy time: two drop-off windows and a short evening of homework
- Private time: the session itself plus daily practice at home
Picking one
The Academy wins for a young dog who needs structure all day; private sessions win when the problem lives in your house or on your leash
Choose the Academy for the adolescent whose manners slip when it is bored, the confident young dog past its evaluation who needs to learn to settle between bursts of play, and the dog who comes home from a plain daycare day more wound up than tired. Those dogs need repetition spread across a whole day, a trainer to shape it and other dogs at a sensible distance, which is exactly what the rotation is built to provide.
Choose private sessions when the problem is specific to you or your home: jumping on visitors at your front door, pulling only for one family member, a dog who listens to the trainer and ignores you. Choose them too for a dog who is uneasy around other dogs, since every Academy day includes matched playgroups. Private time is also the starting point for reactivity, fear or guarding, which Gabriella may route into a Level 3 program rather than a handful of sessions.
- Academy: adolescents, energetic young dogs and settled dogs who need a job
- Private: front-door, leash or family-consistency problems
- Private first: dogs who are uneasy around other dogs
- A full program: reactivity, fear or guarding
Using both
Many dogs do best with both: private sessions set the cue, Academy days rehearse it
The two formats fit together well. A few private sessions teach you and your dog a cue in a calm room; Academy days then give your dog dozens of repetitions in a busier setting, and the report card tells you whether the cue held. Tell the training team which cues you are working on, because every Academy session is meant to build on the skills you are practicing at home, and a cue taught two different ways confuses a dog.
Order matters for some dogs. A dog unsure of other dogs should not begin with a full Academy day; private sessions or Adventure Academy, the socialization path, come first, and the evaluation decides when group days make sense. A confident adolescent can start the other way round, with Academy days first and a private session added when one habit refuses to shift.
- 01
Send the training form; the team replies within one hour on business days
- 02
Have a short assessment with Gabriella Pope to name the goal and the format
- 03
Book the free evaluation, weekdays 6:30 to 9:30 AM, if Academy days are in the plan
- 04
Start private sessions for the problem that needs your hands on the leash
- 05
Add one or two Academy days a week to rehearse the same cues
- 06
Read each report card and bring your questions to the next private session
Local practice
Both formats aim at the same Cape Ann tests: the winter beach, the summer crowd and the station platform
The skills you pay for are the ones the local calendar tests. Recall gets its exam in the off-season, when Gloucester allows dogs on Good Harbor on even-numbered days from October 1 to March 31 and on Wingaersheek on odd-numbered days through April 30, at the time of writing. Calm walking gets its exam on summer sidewalks downtown, and patience gets one at the Gloucester station, where MBTA rules keep larger dogs off trains during weekday peak hours.
In private sessions Gabriella matches the homework to the places you actually walk, so the practice happens where the problem shows up. Academy dogs can ride the Pup Van from Rockport, Gloucester, Essex and Manchester-by-the-Sea for $10 each way, which helps commuters who cannot make a drop-off window. Private sessions usually mean driving to 210 Eastern Ave yourself, because you are half of every session.
At Dogtown
Training at Dogtown
Academy days, private sessions and full programs, all fear- and force-free.
Asked and answered
Questions people ask about this
Short, complete answers you can act on today. More in the full FAQ.
Is the Academy cheaper than private training?
Will my dog listen to me after Academy days?
Do I need the free evaluation for private training?
My dog is reactive. Which should I book?
How many Academy days a week make sense alongside private sessions?
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
Tell us the goal, and we'll suggest the format.
Send the training form and hear back within one hour on business days. A short assessment decides between Academy days, private sessions or both.
- 01Free evaluationWeekdays 6:30 – 9:30 AM
- 02Book a dayOnline, in the app or by phone
- 03Play, rest, repeatReport card at pick-up
