Membership
Unlimited daycare membership: $700 a month, Monday to Saturday
A membership is a commitment, and the wrong one is expensive. This page lays out what the $700 buys, the point at which it beats the packs, the households it fits on Cape Ann, and the honest cases where a 10-pack is the smarter purchase.
Who this is for
The membership fits a dog who comes four or more days a week, all month
The membership is built for the dog who is here most of the week: the lab whose people both commute to Boston on the Rockport line, the adolescent doodle who is impossible at home unless he has run, the dog whose owner works long shifts at the hospital or on a boat out of the harbor and cannot predict the days.
It is the wrong buy for a two- or three-day dog. At $42 a day, three days a week is roughly 13 days a month, which costs less than the membership on a pack and buys nothing extra. It is also wrong for a dog still finding its feet in a group: a new dog should run through a 5-pack first so both of you know the routine works. And a puppy on half days is better on the half-day 10-pack at $290 until it is ready for full days.
- Four to six daycare days a week, most weeks of the month
- Both adults commuting, or one working unpredictable shifts
- Regular grooming, where 15 percent off adds up
- Not for two- or three-day dogs, brand-new dogs or half-day puppies: buy a pack instead
What is included
Unlimited days Monday through Saturday, plus extras the packs do not carry
The core is unlimited daycare, Monday through Saturday, inside the normal windows: 6:30 to 9:30 AM, 12 to 1 PM and 4 to 6:30 PM on weekdays, and 8 to 10 AM, 12 to 1 PM and 4 to 6 PM on Saturday. Sunday is closed for daycare, so a member's week is six days at most. Your dog stays in the same matched group of 7 to 10 dogs it would join on a pack, with the same handler and the same turf yard, pools and indoor play floors.
Then the extras. Two enrichment sessions a month are included, chosen from the frozen Kong, homemade pupsicle, puzzle game, lick mat, treadmill session or sniff room. Grooming in the on-site studio is 15 percent off, so a $75 bath for a 51 to 90 pound dog comes to about $64. Members get priority when the holiday overnight-stay calendar fills, which matters most around Thanksgiving and the Christmas to New Year stretch. And a birthday enrichment session goes on the card once a year.
Booking still happens, even for members. Reserve days in the Dogtown app or online so the front desk can hold a place in your dog's group, and cancel the ones you will not use. Ask the front desk how far ahead members should book in the busy weeks, such as Fiesta week in late June and the summer Saturdays.
- Unlimited daycare Monday through Saturday inside the posted windows
- Two enrichment sessions a month, any of the six add-ons
- 15 percent off grooming in the on-site studio
- Priority holiday overnight-stay reservations and a birthday enrichment session
The math
The membership beats the 10-pack at about 19 days a month
Run the numbers before you sign. A full day is $42, the full-day 5-pack at $200 brings it to $40, and the full-day 10-pack at $380 brings it to $38. At $700 the membership beats single days from the 17th day of the month and beats the 10-pack from the 19th. A dog on four days a week is here 17 or 18 days most months, which is the line; five days a week is 21 or 22 days, well past it.
Add the extras and the line moves. Two enrichment sessions are worth $10 to $20 a month at the add-on prices, and a monthly full-service groom on a medium dog saves about thirteen dollars with the 15 percent discount. For a five-day dog with a monthly groom, the membership comes in more than a hundred dollars under the 10-pack route, before counting the holiday priority.
- 01
Count the days your dog actually came last month, not the days you meant to book
- 02
Multiply by $38, the 10-pack rate, and compare with $700
- 03
Add roughly $15 for the two enrichment sessions you would otherwise pay for
- 04
Add 15 percent of whatever you spend on grooming in a typical month
- 05
If the total clears $700, ask the front desk to switch you at the start of the next month
| Days a month | Single days at $42 | 10-pack rate at $38 | Membership |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 (3 a week) | $504 | $456 | $700 |
| 17 (4 a week) | $714 | $646 | $700 |
| 19 | $798 | $722 | $700 |
| 22 (5 a week) | $924 | $836 | $700 |
Why Dogtown
A member's dog gets the same matched group every day, and that consistency is the benefit
Dogs who come most days become the steady core of their group. They know the handler, the gate routine and the pool rule, and new dogs learn from them. Our groups stay at 7 to 10 dogs matched by size and temperament, so a member is not absorbed into a crowd on the busy days; the building is 10,000 square feet, with indoor play floors that keep a five-day routine intact through a February nor'easter.
The other reason is the roof over everything else. Grooming, overnight stays, Dogtown Academy and the training programs run in the same building, so a member's dog can have a bath before Friday pick-up, move into an Academy day when it needs a job, or stay over Thanksgiving with the priority the membership gives, without meeting a new set of strangers.
- Same matched group of 7 to 10 dogs, same handler, five or six days a week
- Indoor play floors so storm days do not break the routine
- Grooming, Academy and overnight stays under the same roof
Getting here
Members use the same windows, and many pair the membership with the Pup Van
A five-day dog means ten drop-offs and pick-ups a week, which is where the Pup Van earns its place. It runs for $10 each way in Rockport, Gloucester, Essex and Manchester-by-the-Sea; outside those towns, ask us for pricing. A member on the van pays the same $10 each way and never queues at the door. For commuters on the Rockport line, that removes the early dash: the MBTA bars dogs at the 7 to 10 AM and 4 to 7 PM peaks, and the van makes the question moot.
If you drive, we are at 210 Eastern Ave in Gloucester. The weekday windows are 6:30 to 9:30 AM, then 12 to 1 PM, then 4 to 6:30 PM; Saturday's are 8 to 10 AM, 12 to 1 PM and 4 to 6 PM. Keep the city license current: Gloucester renewals through the City Clerk at 9 Dale Ave are due by April 30, and a lapsed license holds up the file just as an expired Bordetella does.
At Dogtown
What the membership wraps together
The daycare itself, the enrichment sessions it includes, and the grooming it discounts.
Asked and answered
Questions people ask about this
Short, complete answers you can act on today. More in the full FAQ.
Does the membership include Saturdays?
Can I pause the membership for vacation?
Do the two enrichment sessions roll over?
Does membership skip the evaluation?
Can two dogs from one home share a membership?
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
Every day your dog needs.
Finish the free evaluation, run a 5-pack, then ask the front desk to switch you to the membership. The app tracks every day and every enrichment session.
- 01Free evaluationWeekdays 6:30 – 9:30 AM
- 02Book a dayOnline, in the app or by phone
- 03Play, rest, repeatReport card at pick-up
