November to January
The holidays with a dog: guests, tables, travel and the boarding calendar
Thanksgiving to New Year is the busiest stretch of the year for our suites and the hardest on a dog's routine. This page walks through the four holiday problems in the order they arrive, with the booking done first and the leftovers last.
What changes
What changes: the house fills, the table drops food, the routine slips, and the calendar fills faster than you think
A dog reads the holidays as disruption. Strangers arrive, the walk gets skipped for the drive to the store, the dinner table produces things that have never been on the floor before, and then the family leaves for four days. Some dogs love the crowd; many find a doorbell every ten minutes exhausting and end the evening under a bed or guarding a plate.
The table is the quiet risk. The ASPCA's poison control list covers the holiday menu: chocolate, alcohol, grapes and raisins, onions, macadamia nuts and the sweetener xylitol, along with the cooked bones and fatty scraps that send dogs to the emergency vet every December. A dog that has never begged learns at Thanksgiving, when a relative who does not know the rules feeds it under the table.
- Guests, skipped walks, new food and a trip away, often inside two weeks
- The ASPCA list: chocolate, alcohol, grapes and raisins, onions, xylitol, cooked bones, fatty scraps
- The dog that never begged learns from the relative who feeds it under the table
The plan
The plan, in order: book the stay in October, evaluate a new dog, cover the party day, pack light, then rebuild the routine
Book first. Overnight stays over Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year fill early, and there is no date we can promise beyond the one in the app when you look; the unlimited daycare membership at $700 a month includes priority holiday reservations, which is one reason regular households hold it. A dog that has never stayed with us needs the free evaluation before its first night, on a weekday between 6:30 and 9:30 AM, so an October appointment protects a December stay.
For the party day, a full day of daycare at $42 keeps the dog in a playgroup of 7 to 10 dogs while the doorbell rings, and a frozen Kong at $6 in a quiet room covers the evening. For the trip, the suite is $78 a night; the Classic bundle adds a daily pupsicle for $10 a night, the Deluxe a stuffed Kong, daily enrichment and an orthopedic bed for $15. Pack pre-portioned food, medications and one comfort item, and add a bath from $55 before pick-up.
- 01
October: the holiday overnight stay booked in the app, and the free evaluation for a dog that has not stayed before
- 02
Early November: the guest plan agreed, a quiet room with a bed and a frozen Kong chosen
- 03
The party day: a full daycare day at $42, home after the doorbell has stopped
- 04
The travel days: a suite at $78 a night, the Classic or Deluxe bundle if you want it, pre-portioned food and one comfort item
- 05
The return: a bath from $55 before pick-up, then two quiet days and the old walk times
Cape Ann specifics
The Cape Ann specifics: the Sunday windows, the winter beach for the guest walk, storm changes in the app, and the hospital in Woburn
Overnight drop-off and pick-up on Sundays run 8 to 10 AM and 4 to 6 PM, and Saturday windows are 8 to 10, 12 to 1 and 4 to 6. Our hours on the holidays themselves are published in the app and confirmed by the front desk at 978 491-5922. A December nor'easter can change the day's windows, and that news comes through the app too.
The guest walk is the gift of a Cape Ann winter: Gloucester's beaches take dogs from October 1 to April 30 at the time of writing, Good Harbor on even-numbered days and Wingaersheek on odd, and a low-tide walk tires a dog before dinner. Wipe the salt off its paws afterward. If a dog does eat something from the table, your vet is the first call, and Massachusetts Veterinary Referral Hospital in Woburn is open around the clock.
- Sunday overnight windows 8 to 10 AM and 4 to 6 PM; holiday hours in the app and from the front desk
- The guest walk: Good Harbor on even days, Wingaersheek on odd, October 1 to April 30, salt wiped off after
- Anything eaten from the table: your vet, or the 24-hour hospital in Woburn
What not to do
What not to do: book in December, board a dog that has never been evaluated, trust the relatives with the plate, or skip the quiet days after
Do not wait until December to book a Christmas stay; the dates are usually gone by then. Do not assume a dog can arrive for its first overnight stay on December 23 without an evaluation; the evaluation runs only on weekday mornings and it comes first. Do not leave the plate management to guests, however well meaning; put the dog in another room during the meal, or at daycare for the day.
Do not pack the whole house for a four-night stay. Pre-portioned food, any medication with written instructions and one blanket or toy are enough; we supply the bedding and the enrichment. Do not skip the two quiet days after the trip; the dog needs its own bed and its old walk times. And do not bring the dog to a fireworks display on New Year's Eve; the AVMA's advice for July applies in December.
At Dogtown
The holiday services, in the order you will need them
A suite booked early, a daycare day for the party, enrichment for the quiet room and a bath before pick-up.
Asked and answered
Questions people ask about this
Short, complete answers you can act on today. More in the full FAQ.
How early should I book a holiday overnight stay?
Can my dog do a holiday overnight stay without ever having been to daycare?
What should my dog eat and not eat at Thanksgiving?
What do I pack for a holiday stay?
More questions? Read the full FAQ
Sources
- ASPCA Animal Poison Control
- Gloucester beaches: detailed information
- Massachusetts Veterinary Referral Hospital
- AVMA: fireworks and pets
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
Book the holidays first.
Reserve the overnight stay in the app as soon as you know the dates, and book the free evaluation for a weekday morning if your dog has not stayed before.
- 01Free evaluationWeekdays 6:30 – 9:30 AM
- 02Book a dayOnline, in the app or by phone
- 03Play, rest, repeatReport card at pick-up
