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

Middleton's Board of Health rules, Chapter 270 of the town code, let the Animal Control Officer require owners to restrain dogs from running at large or loose, and they define that term closely. A dog is at large when it is off its owner's property and either unaccompanied by someone able to control it, unrestrained by a leash or chain of less than eight feet, or a danger to people or property. Fines are $25 for a first offense, $50 for a second and $100 after that.

The town's general bylaw on dogs, Chapter 107, adds that the officer can require dogs to be restrained from running at large in schools, school playgrounds, parks and public recreation areas, and whenever a dog is an annoyance or dangerous. The Middleton Rail Trail Alliance states the practical upshot on its home page: the town and the trail require dogs to be kept on a leash at all times when off the owner's property.

The Middleton Rail Trail Alliance is turning a 4.5-mile stretch of the old Essex Railroad through Middleton into a multi-use trail that will run from Danvers to North Andover once complete. Its posted rules are short: open dawn to dusk, keep pets on a short leash and remove droppings, bicyclists yield to pedestrians, and bikes keep to 15 mph. A leashed dog that stays calm around bikes and strollers is the goal there.

For woods, Essex County Greenbelt's Barett Reservation on North Liberty Street has half a mile of trail on 83 acres, a small parking area or roadside parking, and dog walking among its listed uses. Greenbelt's guidelines ask owners to carry a leash, leash any dog that is aggressive, and pick up and carry out the waste, and Middleton's own leash rule applies there as it does anywhere off your property.

From Middleton center, Route 62 runs east through Danvers to Route 128; Route 114 east toward Danvers is the other way onto the highway. Either way, take 128 north past Beverly and Manchester-by-the-Sea to its end in Gloucester, then follow Eastern Avenue (Route 127) about a mile to number 210. By our estimate that is about 35 minutes outside rush hour.

Middleton is outside the Pup Van towns; ask us about pick-up, since we publish a $10-each-way price only for Rockport, Gloucester, Essex and Manchester-by-the-Sea and quote inland addresses like yours on request. If a pick-up cannot be arranged, the 12 to 1 PM window lets you split a half day around an errand in Gloucester, and an overnight stay needs only two trips in all.