Saturday dog daycare in Gloucester: 8 AM to 6 PM

Saturday dogs fall into a few groups. The dog whose people work weekends: restaurant and shop staff through the Rockport and Gloucester season, the fishing fleet, the harbor tour crews. The dog whose family has a wedding, a Fiesta afternoon or a Schooner Festival day and knows that a hot, loud crowd is no place for a dog. The dog who comes Monday to Friday and unravels without a Saturday run. And the summer resident who wants a day at Crane Beach, closed to dogs from April through September, on the one day of the week the dog cannot come along.

Saturday is not the day for a first visit. The evaluation runs on weekdays only, between 6:30 and 9:30 AM, so a dog new to Dogtown cannot begin on a Saturday; book the weekday evaluation first and the Saturday follows. It is also not a Sunday: we are closed for daycare on Sunday. A dog who needs the whole weekend covered is an overnight stay at $78 a night, not two daycare days.

There is no weekend surcharge. A Saturday full day is $42 and a half day is $33; pack sessions are used exactly as on a weekday, so the full-day 10-pack at $380 and the half-day 10-pack at $290 both cover Saturdays. The unlimited membership at $700 a month includes Saturday as one of its six days. FIRST15 takes 15 percent off a new customer's first daycare visit, and that first visit can be a Saturday once the weekday evaluation is done.

For a weekend that runs longer than a day, an overnight suite is $78 a night and includes the daytime playgroups, with the Dogtown Classic bundle at $10 more a night or the Deluxe at $15. The Pup Van runs $10 each way in Rockport, Gloucester, Essex and Manchester-by-the-Sea; ask the front desk whether it runs on the Saturday you need.

Saturday windows at 210 Eastern Ave in Gloucester: 8 to 10 AM, 12 to 1 PM and 4 to 6 PM, and the building closes at 6 PM. Sunday is overnight-stay drop-off and pick-up only, 8 to 10 AM and 4 to 6 PM. Traffic on Cape Ann on a summer Saturday is real: the rotaries on Route 128 and the road into Rockport back up from late morning, so aim for the early part of the drop-off window and the early part of the pick-up window.

The Pup Van covers Rockport, Gloucester, Essex and Manchester-by-the-Sea for $10 each way; confirm Saturday runs with the front desk when you book. If you are heading into Boston for the day, check the MBTA's rider rules on dogs before you go; most people find that leaving the dog here beats a crowded Saturday train and a hot city sidewalk.

Licensing does not take Saturdays off. Gloucester dog licenses come from the City Clerk at 9 Dale Ave, $20 for a spayed or neutered dog plus a small fee, with a current rabies certificate, and they are late after April 30 with a $20 penalty. A current license is required on file before your dog's first day, Saturday or not.