- Home
- How-to guides
- How to prepare your dog for the first daycare day
First day
How to prepare your dog for the first daycare day
The first daycare day is harder on the owner than the dog, as long as the paperwork is done and the goodbye is short. Here is the week-before plan our front desk on Eastern Ave would sketch for you.
What you need
Three vaccine records, a city license, a leash and the form
Gather the records before anything else, because the evaluation cannot run without them. Rabies, DHPP and Bordetella must be current, and your dog needs a city license. In Gloucester that means the City Clerk at 9 Dale Ave, $20 for a spayed or neutered dog with a rabies certificate, and late after April 30. The other Cape Ann towns each license at their own town hall. Send the new customer form and the file is open before you arrive.
For the day itself the written list is short: your dog on a leash with a secure collar or harness. Food stays home unless the front desk asks for it, and so do toys and beds. What you actually need to pack is restraint, because the first drop-off is where owners hover and dogs read every second of it.
- Rabies, DHPP and Bordetella records, dated
- A current city dog license number
- The new customer form sent from this site
- A leash and a collar or harness that cannot slip
- FIRST15 for 15 percent off the first visit
The method
Seven days of small rehearsals, then a light breakfast and an early drop-off
The evaluation is the true first day: a temperament test and a few supervised hours in a playgroup of 7 to 10 dogs, on a weekday morning by appointment. The week before is about making that morning ordinary. The car, the parking lot, the front door and the handoff each get rehearsed once, briefly, so the only new thing left is the other dogs.
On the morning, feed half the usual breakfast at least an hour before you leave, arrive early in the 6:30 to 9:30 AM window while the lobby is quiet, hand the leash to the handler, say your dog's name, and go. No kneeling for a last hug and no return trip to the window. The report card in the app that afternoon is where you find out how it went.
- 01
Day 1: confirm vaccine dates with your vet, renew a lapsed license, send the new customer form.
- 02
Day 2: book the evaluation for a weekday morning between 6:30 and 9:30 AM.
- 03
Day 3: drive to 210 Eastern Ave, sit in the lot for five minutes, drive home.
- 04
Day 4: walk past the front door on leash, reward a glance at you, walk away.
- 05
Day 5: hand the leash to a friend and step out of sight for one minute, twice.
- 06
Day 6: an ordinary walk and an early night; no dog park, no beach, no visitors.
- 07
Day 7: light breakfast, records in a folder, leash on, and the drive in.
Where it goes wrong
The marathon walk, the new bag of food and the five-minute farewell
The mistake we see most is wearing the dog out the day before so it arrives calm. It arrives sore instead, and a sore dog snaps at a bouncing puppy in a way a rested one never would. The second is switching food or treats that same week; a first day is a poor time to find out how a new kibble sits.
The third is the farewell. An owner who lingers at the glass, or comes back in because the dog whined, teaches the dog that whining opens doors. Leave once and let the handler settle the dog, which is what the handler is there for. If the worry will not go away, message the front desk through the app rather than turning around on Eastern Ave.
- No exhausting outing the day before
- Same food, same treats, all week
- Leave once; do not come back for a look
The Cape Ann version
The Pup Van for a nervous first-timer, summer traffic and the April 30 license deadline
If the drive and the lobby are the hard part, the Pup Van does doorstep pick-up for $10 each way in Rockport, Gloucester, Essex and Manchester-by-the-Sea, and you can ask us for pricing elsewhere. A handler at the door and a short ride skip the lobby scene altogether. Add the van when you book and say it is a first visit.
Two local things trip up first mornings. Summer traffic on Route 128 and around Grant Circle, plus the festival weekends in late June and on Labor Day, can eat the drop-off window, so leave early. And Gloucester licenses expire on April 30, with a $20 penalty after; an expired license is the paperwork gap we see most often at evaluations.
When to hand it to us
Start with a half day, then take the handler's read at pick-up
You do not have to guess the right length. A half day at $33 is often the ideal first session: a morning in the group, home at the 12 to 1 PM window, and a report card that names the dogs yours played with. A full day is $42. At pick-up our handlers will say plainly whether the next visit should be longer, shorter or exactly the same.
Hand it over sooner if your dog has never been left with anyone, was turned away elsewhere, or goes still at the sight of other dogs. Those dogs get a slower evaluation and a smaller circle, and sometimes the honest first step is a Dogtown Academy day with a trainer before the open playgroup. Say so at booking and we will plan around it.
- A half day at $33 for the first session
- Read the report card in the app the same afternoon
- Shy, returned or frozen dogs: tell us at booking
At Dogtown
The day you are preparing for
Small matched playgroups, a van that skips the lobby, and a structured Academy day for the dog that needs a slower start.
Pick-up & drop-off
The Pup Van comes to you.
Pup Van pick-up and drop-off is available for $10 each way in the Rockport, Gloucester, Essex and Manchester-by-the-Sea area. Not in the area? Ask us for pricing.
- Rockport
- Gloucester
- Essex
- Manchester-by-the-Sea
Asked and answered
Questions people ask about this
Short, complete answers you can act on today. More in the full FAQ.
How far ahead should I book the evaluation for a first daycare day?
Should my dog eat before the first daycare day?
What if my dog cries when I walk out?
Can I use FIRST15 on the first daycare visit?
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
Paperwork done, goodbye short.
Send the new customer form and book the free evaluation for a weekday morning; the first day follows from there.
- 01Free evaluationWeekdays 6:30 – 9:30 AM
- 02Book a dayOnline, in the app or by phone
- 03Play, rest, repeatReport card at pick-up
