Dogtown for Amesbury, MA dog owners: daycare, boarding, grooming and training

From Amesbury, head south on Route 1 through Newburyport into Newbury, pick up Route 1A south through Rowley to Ipswich, then turn east on Route 133 through Essex to Route 128 in West Gloucester. Take 128 to its end at the rotaries and follow Eastern Avenue to number 210. That is about 55 minutes outside rush hour, by our estimate. Interstate 95 south to Route 128 is all highway but longer in miles, at about 60 minutes outside rush hour, by our estimate.

Amesbury is outside the Pup Van towns; ask us about pick-up. The van's $10 each-way price applies only in Rockport, Gloucester, Essex and Manchester-by-the-Sea, and the front desk will tell you whether an Amesbury address can ever be reached and what it would cost. Daily drop-offs and pick-ups from that distance are more than most families can keep up, so we would rather help you plan visits that each do several jobs than sell you a daycare pack you cannot use.

At the time of writing, the city's Lake Gardner page, citing the Amesbury Health Department, says dogs are not allowed on the beach from Memorial Day to Columbus Day. Dogs must be leashed at all times on the trails there, and on the beach in the off-season, and the park is open from dawn to dusk unless posted otherwise. A summer swim for an Amesbury dog has to happen somewhere else, and our splash pools are one answer.

For a hill walk, Essex County Greenbelt's Whittier Hill Reservation climbs a steep 0.6-mile loop under tall hardwoods to views over Woodsom Farm and Lake Gardner; park on Whitcher Court. Greenbelt welcomes dogs unless a property page says otherwise, asks you to have a leash with you and use it on any dog that might be aggressive, to carry the waste out, and closes every property at sunset. The Amesbury Town Forest off Kimball Road, owned and managed by the city, adds 5.2 miles of marked trail.

The free evaluation is a temperament test and a few supervised hours in a group, on a weekday between 6:30 and 9:30 AM by appointment. From Amesbury, a start before 6 AM puts you at Eastern Ave near the opening of the window, or you can aim for the later part of it. The evaluation opens daycare, Academy days, overnight stays and walks; grooming books straight in without it.

We publish stories about Dogtown dogs from Amesbury only with the family's written permission, so ask the front desk if you would like to hear how Amesbury dogs settle in. An Amesbury family new to us can use FIRST15 for 15 percent off the first daycare visit, and every visit ends with a report card in the Dogtown app.