The building
Inside Dogtown: 10,000 square feet on Eastern Ave
Owners ask two questions about a daycare building: where does my dog actually spend the day, and who is watching. This page answers the first one room by room, from the front door to the garden, using the spaces as they are laid out today at Eastern Ave.
Front of house
The lobby: check-in, the front desk and the Pup Van out front
Every visit starts in the lobby. The front desk takes the paperwork at your first evaluation, the Rabies, DHPP and Bordetella records plus the current city license, checks you in at each drop-off, and answers the questions the app does not: a change of pick-up time, a bath added to the afternoon, the medication that came with an overnight bag. Weekday drop-off and pick-up windows are 6:30 to 9:30 AM, 12 to 1 PM and 4 to 6:30 PM.
The Pup Van lives out front. It is the navy van with the dog portraits and our phone number on the side, and it runs pick-up and drop-off for $10 each way in Gloucester, Rockport, Essex and Manchester-by-the-Sea. Dogs arriving by van come through the same lobby, get the same check-in and join the same groups as the dogs whose owners drove.
- 01
Send the new customer form, then book the evaluation for a weekday between 6:30 and 9:30 AM
- 02
Check in at the lobby with the vaccination records and the city license
- 03
Your dog takes the temperament test with our trainers
- 04
A few supervised hours in a matched group on the floors or the turf
- 05
Pick-up at the front desk with the handler's read on the morning and the group your dog belongs in
- 06
Book daycare, Academy, a suite or a groom in the app from there
Indoor
The indoor play floors: where the groups live on nor'easter days
The indoor play floors are the working heart of the building. Dogs are split into playgroups of 7 to 10, matched by size and temperament at the evaluation, and each group has its own space and its own handler for the session. Between play blocks the groups break for water and a settle. On a nor'easter day, or when the turf is iced in January, the whole day happens indoors, which is why the floors are sized for it.
The indoor floors are also where most enrichment happens: frozen Kongs ($6), lick mats ($5), puzzle games ($7) and the dogPACER treadmill ($10 a supervised session), plus the sniff room ($7) for scent games. Ollie's Law, the Massachusetts kennel-safety act, took effect on December 19, 2024, and MDAR's daycare and boarding regulations are due in 2026; small matched groups with a handler present are how we already run.
- Playgroups of 7 to 10, matched by size and temperament
- A handler with each group; water breaks and a settle between play blocks
- Indoors all day when a nor'easter or ice closes the turf
- Enrichment add-ons from $5 to $10 booked onto any day
Outdoor
The turf yard: pools, platforms and the Gloucester weather
The outdoor turf yard is the summer main stage. Blue splash pools come out on hot days, and raised platforms, including the bone-shaped one from our photographs, give dogs a place to climb, watch and cool off above the action. Turf drains, dries fast and does not turn to mud in March the way grass does, which matters on a peninsula where mud season and the bath schedule arrive together.
The yard is what most owners picture when they picture daycare, and it is the space that changes most with the season: pools and shade in July, snow games in January, the whole group indoors when the wind off the harbor makes it unpleasant. The report card in the app tells you where your dog spent the day and with whom.
Grooming
The grooming studio and the cat room: two rooms, two kinds of quiet
Dogtown Grooming has its own studio with the stainless tub, the tables and the dryers, under the Dogtown Grooming sign you see in the photographs. Baths are priced by size from $55 to $95, full-service grooms from $75 to $120, and add-ons run from an $8 whitening shampoo to a $40 anal gland expression. No evaluation is needed, and a daycare dog can be walked from the play floor to the tub and back the same day.
Cats have their own room, away from the dog areas, because a cat that can hear a playgroup is not a calm cat. Our cat behavior specialists work slowly and with minimal restraint: Full Service $120, Full Bath $95, Minimal Trims $45, nail clipping $20. Each cat is assessed first for coat and temperament, and a cat who cannot be groomed safely is referred to a vet rather than pushed through.
- Dog baths $55 to $95 by size, full service $75 to $120
- Grooming needs no evaluation and can run inside a daycare day or before an overnight pick-up
- Cat room separate from the dog floors; Full Service $120, Full Bath $95, Minimal Trims $45
- Rebook at pick-up and save $5 on the next groom
Overnight
The overnight suites: playgroups by day, a quiet room at night, 24/7 monitoring
Overnight guests spend the day in their playgroup like any daycare dog and sleep in a suite at night, monitored around the clock. A suite is $78 a night and comes with bedding; you bring pre-portioned food, medications and one comfort item. The Deluxe bundle (+$15 a night) upgrades to an orthopedic memory-foam bed and adds a stuffed Kong or Toppl and a daily treadmill or enrichment session; the Classic (+$10) adds a daily homemade pupsicle or puppy cup and 10 percent off grooming.
Sunday belongs to the suites: the building is closed for daycare, and the doors open only for overnight guests, 8 to 10 AM and 4 to 6 PM. Holiday weeks fill first, and the unlimited daycare membership ($700 a month) carries priority for holiday overnight reservations. Overnight guests need the free evaluation like any daycare dog, with the same Rabies, DHPP and Bordetella records and city license on file.
Academy
The sensory garden: where Dogtown Academy days slow down
Behind the play spaces is the sensory garden, raised beds of herbs and textures that Academy dogs explore between rotations. Dogtown Academy is structured daycare with a trainer, $89 a full day and $69 a half day, and a typical day mixes agility and the A-frame, treadmill work, scent and puzzle games, garden time and trainer-led settle time. The garden is the switch-off part of the curriculum.
Seeing the building is straightforward: the free evaluation brings you into the lobby and your dog onto the floors. If you would like to see the studio, the suites or the garden, ask the front desk at drop-off what you can see that morning, or call 978 491-5922 before you come. Academy days can be booked as half days ($69) for a dog new to the rotation.
At Dogtown
What happens in each room
The floors and the yard run daycare, the suites run overnight stays, the studio and the cat room run grooming, and the garden belongs to the Academy.
Asked and answered
Questions people ask about this
Short, complete answers you can act on today. More in the full FAQ.
How big is Dogtown?
How many dogs are in a room at once?
Can I tour the building before I sign up?
Where do dogs go in bad weather?
Is the cat room really separate from the dogs?
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
See the building on a weekday morning.
The free evaluation runs Monday to Friday between 6:30 and 9:30 AM by appointment. Send the new customer form and we will hold a time.
- 01Free evaluationWeekdays 6:30 – 9:30 AM
- 02Book a dayOnline, in the app or by phone
- 03Play, rest, repeatReport card at pick-up
