Notes from January
Snow day at Dogtown: the yard, the turf and the pool covers
The first real snow on Eastern Ave is loud in the best way. Dogs who have never seen it stand at the door and stare; the huskies and shepherds go through it like a wave. This is how the building runs on a snow day, from the yard to the app.
The yard
The turf holds snow, the pools are covered, and the yard sessions get shorter
The turf yard is the reason a snow day works. Grass would be mud by ten in the morning; turf takes snow and drains as it melts, so the dogs get the yard all day in shorter rotations. The pools are drained and covered from late fall, and the covers stay on until the first warm week of spring.
Our handlers watch feet and shivering, not clocks. A double-coated dog can stay out longer than a Frenchie or a whippet, and the AVMA's cold-weather guidance is the reference we use: cold tolerance varies by coat, size and age, and a dog lifting its paws or hunching has had enough. Those dogs come in first.
- Turf drains as it melts; no mud day
- Pools drained and covered for the winter
- Yard rotations shortened by coat and body type, not by a fixed clock
Indoors
The indoor floors and the treadmill take the dogs who need to keep moving
Between yard rotations the groups are on the indoor play floors, the same matched 7 to 10 dogs, with settle breaks that run a little longer than in summer. For a dog who paces, a supervised session on the dogPACER treadmill is $10 and gives a steady walk that the snow makes hard to get outside.
The enrichment list works harder in winter. A frozen Kong at $6 or a lick mat at $5 settles a dog after a cold session, and a puzzle game at $7 fills a break. Academy dogs at $89 a day already rotate through fitness and enrichment, so a snow day barely changes their timetable.
- Treadmill $10 for the pacers
- Kong $6, lick mat $5, puzzle $7 for the settle breaks
- Academy days keep their rotation in any weather
Getting here
Salt, plows and the app announcement decide the morning
Eastern Ave gets plowed and salted, and salt is the winter problem for paws. Our handlers check pads at drop-off when the roads are white, and the how-to on washing salt off paws covers the home version. If you drive from Rockport or Essex, allow for Route 127 and Route 133 running behind the city's plows.
Any change to the day's plan, including the drop-off and pick-up windows, goes out as an announcement in the Dogtown app. We do not publish a snow policy on this page; the app is where the day's answer lives, and messages to the front desk work there too. Pup Van timing on a snow morning is posted the same way.
- 01
Check the Dogtown app announcement before you leave
- 02
Rinse paws when you get home if the roads were salted
- 03
Add a treadmill session at drop-off for a dog who paces indoors
- 04
Bring a dry collar; wet collars freeze in the lot
After the storm
The day after is a beach day, on the right calendar day
Snow days end in the best walks of the winter. Good Harbor is open to dogs on even-numbered days and Wingaersheek on odd through the winter, and a snow-covered beach at low tide is empty and silent. Keep an eye on the wind, and rinse the salt and sand off when you get home.
Back at 210 Eastern Ave the day after a storm runs at full speed, because every dog who had a short yard day wants a long one. The evaluation for a new dog still runs weekdays 6:30 to 9:30 AM through the winter, and a January start means the group is settled long before the spring rush.
At Dogtown
The winter day
Daycare on the turf and the indoor floors, with the treadmill and the settle add-ons for a snow day.
Asked and answered
Questions people ask about this
Short, complete answers you can act on today. More in the full FAQ.
Does Dogtown close on snow days?
Do the dogs go outside in the snow?
Is snow bad for my dog's paws?
What add-ons help on an indoor day?
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
Book a winter start.
A free weekday evaluation in January puts your dog in a matched group before spring. Use FIRST15 for 15 percent off the first daycare visit.
- 01Free evaluationWeekdays 6:30 – 9:30 AM
- 02Book a dayOnline, in the app or by phone
- 03Play, rest, repeatReport card at pick-up
