Dogtown Academy
Structured dog daycare in Gloucester, MA: Dogtown Academy
A standard daycare day is a good day of play. Some dogs need more than play: a puppy learning to settle, an adolescent who plays well for an hour and then cannot stop, an older dog who is happier with a job. This page sets out who the Academy suits, how its day differs from a daycare day, and which dogs would do better with something cheaper or something more specialized.
Who it suits
Structured daycare suits dogs who need a job between play sessions, not every dog
Puppies building confidence come first. A young dog who has passed the evaluation often plays beautifully and then cannot switch off. The Academy puts short training blocks, scent games and rest between the play, so settling is practiced rather than hoped for, and the $69 half day is the gentler place to start. Adolescents and working breeds come next: dogs with more brain than a playgroup can use do well with a day that asks something of them, and older dogs who enjoy a job get a slower version of the same rotation.
It is not for every dog. A dog who loves company and comes home loose and sleepy from a $42 daycare day does not need the Academy, and paying more will not change much. A dog whose fear, reactivity or guarding affects everyday life needs a training program such as Focus & Flow, React Less, Relax More or private sessions from $94, not a busier day. And a dog who has not yet passed the evaluation starts there.
- Puppies who play well but struggle to settle
- Adolescents and working breeds who need a job
- Older dogs who enjoy a slower rotation
- Easy social dogs: daycare at $42 already covers them
- Fear or reactivity at home: a training program, not a busier day
The day
An Academy day rotates four kinds of work where a daycare day mostly plays
Both days start the same way: weekday drop-off between 6:30 and 9:30 AM and a place in a matched playgroup. On a daycare day the group plays, rests and plays again on the turf yard and the indoor floors with a handler throughout. On an Academy day the dog rotates through training, enrichment, fitness and play, each block led by a trainer, with rest in between, and goes home in the afternoon window.
The blocks are what make it structured. Training is a session with our trainer that builds on what you practice at home. Enrichment is scent and puzzle work, lick mats and time in the sensory garden, the planted beds behind the play spaces where dogs slow down and use their noses. Fitness is the dogPACER treadmill, low agility, the A-frame and balance work on pods like the one in the photograph above. Play is the matched group, and trainer-led settle time between blocks teaches the off switch.
- 01
Drop off inside the morning window
- 02
Training: a session with our trainer, plus one-on-one time
- 03
Enrichment: scent and puzzle games and the sensory garden
- 04
Fitness: treadmill, low agility and balance work
- 05
Play in the matched group, with settle time between blocks
- 06
Pick up and read the report card in the Dogtown app
Price and booking
Academy days cost $89 full or $69 half, against $42 and $33 for daycare
The Academy costs more because a trainer runs the day: $89 for a full day, $69 for a half. Packs bring the rate down: the half-day 5-pack is $320 and the 10-pack $610; the full-day 5-pack is $415 and the 10-pack $785, which works out to about $78 a full day. Daycare, for comparison, is $42 a full day and $33 a half, with its own 5- and 10-packs.
Book online through MoeGo or in the Dogtown app once the evaluation is done. Enrichment add-ons can be booked onto an Academy day as well, from a $5 lick mat to a $10 treadmill session, and the Pup Van collects and returns Academy dogs for $10 each way in Rockport, Gloucester, Essex and Manchester-by-the-Sea. Packs are bought in the app or online, and half-day and full-day packs are separate.
| Option | Dogtown Academy | Daycare |
|---|---|---|
| Full day | $89 | $42 |
| Half day | $69 | $33 |
| Half-day 5-pack | $320 | $150 |
| Half-day 10-pack | $610 | $290 |
| Full-day 5-pack | $415 | $200 |
| Full-day 10-pack | $785 | $380 |
The report card
Each Academy day ends with a report card in the app that says what to practice
The report card is the part of the day that reaches home. It arrives in the Dogtown app by pick-up and covers what your dog loved, what it found hard and what to practice, with the games and cues from the day so you can repeat them in the kitchen or on the evening walk. Daycare dogs get a report card too; the Academy version adds the trainer's notes on the training block.
Read it the way you would read a note from school. If the card says your dog found the treadmill hard, that is the thing to watch next time, not a failing grade. If the same skill shows up as hard week after week, ask the trainer whether a training program would get further than another Academy day; Dogtown Professional Training sessions start from $94.
- What your dog loved that day
- What it found hard
- Games and cues to repeat at home
- Delivered in the Dogtown app by pick-up
Why here
The Academy runs inside a 10,000-square-foot daycare, so play and training share one building
Structured daycare needs room for several things at once. At 210 Eastern Ave there are indoor play floors and a turf yard with pools and platforms for the play blocks, the treadmill and agility equipment for fitness, the sniff room and puzzle games for enrichment, and the sensory garden. Playgroups are 7 to 10 dogs matched by size and temperament, and the staff are certified.
Getting here is simple from most of the North Shore. Route 128 runs to its end in Gloucester near Eastern Ave, Route 133 brings Essex families in, and Route 127 connects Rockport. The Pup Van covers the four Cape Ann towns at $10 each way, which helps a commuter on the Rockport line, where the MBTA keeps larger dogs off trains at peak hours. Every dog begins with the free evaluation on a weekday between 6:30 and 9:30 AM.
At Dogtown
The Academy and the day around it
Structured days, the daycare they grow out of, the add-ons and the van that brings your dog in.
Pick-up & drop-off
The Pup Van comes to you.
Pup Van pick-up and drop-off is available for $10 each way in the Rockport, Gloucester, Essex and Manchester-by-the-Sea area. Not in the area? Ask us for pricing.
- Rockport
- Gloucester
- Essex
- Manchester-by-the-Sea
Asked and answered
Questions people ask about this
Short, complete answers you can act on today. More in the full FAQ.
What makes dog daycare structured?
Is structured daycare worth the extra cost?
Can the Academy replace a training program for a reactive dog?
What does my dog need before its first Academy day?
Can I book a half day of structured daycare?
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
Give your dog a day with a plan.
Book the free evaluation for a weekday morning, then choose a full or half Academy day online or in the Dogtown app.
- 01Free evaluationWeekdays 6:30 – 9:30 AM
- 02Book a dayOnline, in the app or by phone
- 03Play, rest, repeatReport card at pick-up
