September calendar
Cape Ann dog calendar: September (Schooner Festival, Rockport beaches reopen September 16)
September is the month Cape Ann gets its dogs back on the beach and its parking spaces back from the visitors. Labor Day weekend opens it with the Schooner Festival, and Rockport's beaches open on the 16th.
Beaches this month
Beaches this month: Essex on the 1st, Rockport on the 16th, Gloucester waits
Essex is first: its beaches and Centennial Grove reopen to dogs on September 1, in a town with no leash law. Rockport follows once its June 1 to September 15 ban ends, so September 16 is the first day back on Front, Back, Cape Hedge and Pebble. Gloucester and Crane Beach wait for October 1, Singing Beach for October 15.
The first September beach is a summer beach with fewer people: warm water, jellyfish in the tide line, bait and hooks near the rocks, and pavement still hot at noon. Rinse the salt at the car and check the pads.
- Essex: dogs back on September 1
- Rockport: dogs back on September 16, leash or voice control
- Gloucester and Crane: October 1. Singing Beach: October 15
Rules and deadlines
Rules and deadlines: Rockport's rule, and the commuter train's
Nothing is due at a town clerk in September. Rockport's beach regulations are the rule to reread: leash or direct voice control, and the town's Doggy Do's and Don'ts page lists what it expects of owners. If the dog comes off leash, the voice control has to be real on a beach with people, dogs and fishing lines back.
Commuting resumes too. The MBTA allows leashed non-service dogs on the Rockport line only off-peak and at staff discretion, never on seats, and not between 7 and 10 AM or 4 and 7 PM, at the time of writing; a daycare day at $42 covers the hours the train will not.
Weather and hazards
Weather and hazards: fall ticks, warm afternoons and storm season
September is still tick season, and the fall adult deer ticks arrive as the weather cools, so the after-walk check continues through November. Warm days linger, and the seven-second pavement test still applies to a 1 PM walk on the Boulevard. Hurricane season peaks in September too; a tropical storm means beach closures, surf and debris for days.
Cooler mornings bring the fall coat change. Double-coated dogs blow their summer coat over the next two months, and a Shed Release treatment, $10 on top of a bath from $55, takes the loose undercoat out before it reaches your car.
- Tick check after every walk through November
- A storm-week plan for beach closures and surf
- Book the shed treatment as the coat starts to lift
At Dogtown this month
Events and at Dogtown this month: Schooner Festival and the Sunday windows
The Gloucester Schooner Festival fills the harbor on Labor Day weekend: the parade of sail, the races and the waterfront crowds. Our Schooner Festival page covers where a calm dog can watch the sail-past and which hours to avoid; for a nervous dog the weekend is an overnight stay or a daycare day.
Labor Day weekend is the busiest overnight weekend of early fall; the Sunday windows for overnight pick-up and drop-off are 8 to 10 AM and 4 to 6 PM, with no daycare on Sundays, and a suite is $78 a night. Once school is in, the daycare 10-pack at $380 settles the routine and at-home walks from $25 cover the days no one is home before dark.
- 01
Reserve the Labor Day weekend suite and note the Sunday windows
- 02
Book a Schooner Festival daycare day for a crowd-shy dog
- 03
Keep tick prevention going through November
- 04
Book the fall bath and Shed Release
At Dogtown
Labor Day weekend and after
A suite for the festival weekend, and at-home walks once the commute starts again.
Asked and answered
Questions people ask about this
Short, complete answers you can act on today. More in the full FAQ.
When do Rockport beaches reopen to dogs?
Can I bring my dog to the Schooner Festival?
Are the Gloucester beaches open to dogs in September?
What are Dogtown's Sunday hours over Labor Day weekend?
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
Back to routine? Start with the free evaluation.
Overnight stays, daycare and at-home walks all begin with a free evaluation on a weekday morning between 6:30 and 9:30 AM.
- 01Free evaluationWeekdays 6:30 – 9:30 AM
- 02Book a dayOnline, in the app or by phone
- 03Play, rest, repeatReport card at pick-up
