Weekend overnight stays
Weekend dog boarding in Gloucester: Friday to Sunday
Weekends are when Cape Ann dog owners actually leave: a wedding in Vermont, a Saturday regatta, a Bruins game and a night in the city, or a kid's tournament two states away. This page covers how a Friday-to-Sunday stay runs at Dogtown, when you can collect on a Sunday, and what it costs.
Who it fits
A weekend overnight stay fits the trips a dog cannot join
Wedding weekends are the classic case. The ceremony is in Newport or the Berkshires, the hotel says no dogs, and nobody wants to leave a lab alone in a Rockport cottage for two nights. The same goes for a Saturday overnight in Boston, a college visit with a teenager, or a Friday flight with a Sunday-night return. The dog checks in on Friday and is home in time for the Sunday walk.
Then there are the weekends when you stay home but the house does not work: floors being refinished, a moving truck at the door, a party with fifty people and an open gate onto Eastern Point. Families planning a long trip in the summer often book one weekend in the spring as a practice run, so the dog learns the suite and the routine before it matters.
It suits a dog less well when the weekend would be its first time ever in a group. Saturdays are busy in the playgroups, and a nervous first-timer does better meeting the building on a quiet weekday. If your dog has not done the evaluation yet, book it for a weekday morning at least a couple of weeks ahead of the trip.
- Weddings, regattas and overnights in Boston where the dog cannot come
- Weekends when the house is being painted, moved or filled with guests
- Dogs who have finished the evaluation, or can do it a couple of weeks ahead
The weekend
Friday drop-off, Saturday in the group, Sunday pick-up
Friday drop-off follows the weekday windows: 6:30 to 9:30 AM, 12 to 1 PM or 4 to 6:30 PM. Most people come at the late window on their way out of Gloucester, hand over the pre-portioned food and the comfort item, and are on Route 128 before dark. Friday evening is a normal Dogtown evening for your dog: dinner, a last turn outside, then into the suite.
Saturday is a full playgroup day. Saturday daycare runs 8 AM to 6 PM, so your dog is in its matched group of 7 to 10 dogs on the turf yard, with the pools out in warm weather and the indoor floors when it is raining sideways. Enrichment can be added to the day: a puzzle game at $7, a treadmill session at $10, or the sniff room at $7 for a dog who needs its brain tired as much as its legs.
Sunday is closed for daycare, so the building is quieter and the overnight guests get the floors. Pick-up is 8 to 10 AM or 4 to 6 PM. The morning window suits people driving back early; the afternoon one suits the late return down Route 128. If your trip runs into Monday, add the night and collect in any weekday window.
- 01
Reserve Friday and Saturday nights online, in the app or by phone
- 02
Drop off Friday inside 6:30 to 9:30 AM, 12 to 1 PM or 4 to 6:30 PM with pre-portioned food and one comfort item
- 03
Saturday: a full day in the matched playgroup, with any enrichment you added
- 04
Check the Saturday report card in the Dogtown app from wherever you are
- 05
Collect on Sunday between 8 and 10 AM or 4 and 6 PM, or add Sunday night and use a Monday window
Price
$78 a night, and the two bundles that upgrade a short stay
Two nights at $78 each is the base weekend. The Dogtown Classic adds $10 a night and gives your dog a homemade pupsicle or puppy cup each day plus 10 percent off grooming. The Dogtown Deluxe adds $15 a night for a gourmet stuffed Kong or Toppl, daily treadmill or enrichment play, an orthopedic memory-foam bed and 15 percent off grooming. For a two-night stay the Deluxe is a small step up that turns Saturday into a fuller day.
Many weekend guests go home clean. A bath-only groom before the Sunday pick-up is $55 to $95 by size, a full service $75 to $120. Add it at booking and the studio fits it into the last day of the stay, before you arrive. Grooming needs no evaluation, and booking the next appointment at pick-up saves $5 on it.
| Weekend option | Rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Suite, per night | $78 | Friday and Saturday nights for a Sunday pick-up |
| Dogtown Classic | +$10 a night | Daily pupsicle or puppy cup, 10 percent off grooming |
| Dogtown Deluxe | +$15 a night | Kong or Toppl, treadmill or enrichment, memory-foam bed, 15 percent off grooming |
| Extra Sunday night | $78 | Collect in any weekday window on Monday |
| Pup Van | $10 each way | Rockport, Gloucester, Essex and Manchester-by-the-Sea |
Why Dogtown
Why a weekend at Dogtown is not a weekend in a kennel run
Your dog spends Saturday the way a daycare regular does: in a group of 7 to 10 dogs picked for it at the evaluation, with a certified handler on the floor, in a 10,000-square-foot building with a turf yard, pools and platforms. Nights are in a suite with 24/7 monitoring, not a row of runs. The difference shows on Sunday afternoon, when a dog who has played hard and slept well walks out relaxed instead of frantic.
You are never out of touch. The Dogtown app carries the report card, and you can message the front desk from the wedding reception if you want to know how the Saturday went for your dog. And because every guest has passed the same evaluation, the handlers know exactly who is in the group with your dog on a busy Saturday.
- Saturday in a matched playgroup, not a run
- Suite with 24/7 monitoring at night
- Report card and front-desk messages in the app
- Grooming studio on site for a Sunday pick-up bath
Getting here
Sunday windows, the Pup Van and the Rockport line
Dogtown is at 210 Eastern Ave, on the Rockport side of downtown Gloucester. Friday and Saturday windows are above; the Sunday windows of 8 to 10 AM and 4 to 6 PM are for overnight guests only. If your return runs late and you will miss the 6 PM close, call the front desk and add the night rather than racing the clock down Route 128.
The Pup Van collects and returns dogs for $10 each way in Rockport, Gloucester, Essex and Manchester-by-the-Sea. It is the easy answer for a Friday when you are already running late for a flight. If you are taking the Rockport line into Boston for the weekend, the MBTA allows leashed dogs only off-peak at staff discretion, never 7 to 10 AM or 4 to 7 PM, so a suite here and the van is the simpler plan.
At Dogtown
What makes up a Dogtown weekend
The overnight suites, the Pup Van and the studio that sends your dog home clean.
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.
Can I pick up on a Sunday?
Is a one-night Saturday stay possible?
Does my dog need an evaluation for a weekend stay?
What does my dog do on the Saturday?
Can the Pup Van bring my dog home on Sunday?
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 the weekend, then go.
New guests book a free weekday-morning evaluation first; returning guests reserve Friday and Saturday nights in the Dogtown app. $78 a night, Sunday pick-up 8 to 10 AM or 4 to 6 PM.
- 01Free evaluationWeekdays 6:30 – 9:30 AM
- 02Book a dayOnline, in the app or by phone
- 03Play, rest, repeatReport card at pick-up
