Dingo’s FAQs


A question I’m often asked, especially by owners of smaller dogs, is ‘do you separate dogs based on size?’. The short answer is: yes. We separate dogs based on a number of factors, size being the most prominent. We will also separate as needed by temperament, age, play-style, and “proclivity” - by “proclivity” we mean that some dogs naturally gravitate towards certain members of their pack and away from others. I liken it to children at school, or adults at a dinner party – we’re drawn and attracted to certain members of our species, sometimes for reasons that are obvious and other times almost energetically or inexplicably.

Based on these factors, we will separate dogs as needed in one of five separate areas. The inside of our daycare has three separate play-area’s. We also have a 2500 square foot outdoor play space that is sectioned off into two separate play areas that are around 1,250 square feet each. Our outdoor play pens are covered by Forever Lawn's patented, antimicrobial K9 grass and disinfected daily, weather permitting, through the use of wysiwash device.

We regularly offer doggy pick-up and drop-off services for clients living in Beverly, Salem, Marblehead, Swampscott, and Lynn. We service Nahant on Thursdays only. Morning pickups are scheduled between 7AM and 9:30AM depending on where you live. Drop-off's are typically completed between 2:30PM and 5PM. Pickup and drop-off times will vary based on attendance numbers and routes as well as other factors. For a more specific pick-up or drop-off window, please contact management along with your city/town of residence on the day of your scheduled service.

We ask clients ensure that their dogs are ready for pickup and that their bladders and bowels are empty when we arrive. While collars and harnesses are removed once at the daycare, these items must remain on in transit so if your dog tends to chew his/her harness, we suggest sending him with an inexpensive one.

If your dog tends to get “car sick”, please communicate this to us and refrain from feeding him/her before pickup; a packed breakfast or lunch can be sent with your dog in cases such as these.

Finally, if your dog needs to be crated or gated in a certain area of your house at drop-off, please email instructions to us and/or leave a note on your door for our drivers.

Transportation reservations should be placed 24 hours before service is needed. Last minute reservations or cancellations may be subject to an additional fee as we try to staff and plan our routes ahead of time.

For additional questions about our dog transportation services, please email management at: info@dingosdogsitting.com.

Yes, we board up to four dogs at a time at our doggie daycare in Beverly. A staff member stays overnight with the dogs in the office/apartment on the second floor of our facility, insuring that our boarders are never left alone for any lengthy or extended period of time. In addition to boarding at the daycare, we also place dogs with appropriate staff members based on size, temperament and availability, for home boarding. Our home-boarding clients are able to attend daycare during the week, but they spend weekends and holidays, days on which the daycare is closed, solely with the staff member who is boarding them. Because we are not a typical kennel with private rooms or runs, we do require that all boarders attend daycare with us at least bi-weekly so that we can insure they can behave in a copacetic manner with our staff and their conspecifics.

If you need boarding, the first step would be to fill out our boarding forms located in the “Contact Us” section of our website.

The daycare is open from 7AM to 6PM Monday through Friday; however, we will open as early as 6:45 for clients if requested. The daycare is closed on Saturday and Sunday except upon special request. If you need weekend service, please email us at: info@dingosdogsitting.com

Daycare closings due to inclement weather are decided on a case-by-case basis. Typically, if Beverly Public Schools are closed, the daycare will also close, or enact a “late start”. Snow closures and delays are announced via email and posted on all our social media sites.

We are closed for daycare for the following holidays:
  • New Year's Eve
  • New Year's Day
  • Memorial Day
  • July 4th
  • Labor Day
  • Indigenous People's Day
  • Thanksgiving Day
  • Day after Thanksgiving
  • Christmas Eve
  • Christmas Day
  • "Boxing Day" (12/26)

To be eligible for enrollment at Dingo’s Dogsitting Doggy Daycare we will need the following from you:

A Vaccination Report and Vet Records. Your Vet can fax these to us at: 857-588-7706. Please ensure your dog is current on his/her Bordatella (kennel cough) vaccination. The canine influenza virus vaccine is not required but it is recommended.

Proof of a negative stool sample within the past year to be sure your dog is free of parasites.

Completed and signed Dingo’s Dogsitting Forms. Forms can be downloaded here: http://dingosdogsitting.com/contact-us

Dogs must be spayed or neutered by one year of age and show no signs of aggression.

Please check the mouth and paw-pads of your dog prior to enrollment to ensure he is not presenting with the canine papilloma virus, a benign but contagious virus that presents in the form of warts. For more info on what is anecdotally knows as “puppy warts” see our blog post here: blog post about it here:

Please make us aware of any health issues your dog may be experiencing ahead of time. Does he have tendinitis or favor a certain leg? Prone to ear infections or conjunctivitis? Sensitive stomach? Allergies? These are all things we would like to know prior to your dog’s first visit so that we can be proactive about his care.

Also, please fill us in on your dog’s temperament; if you run out of space on the forms, use the back. Does your dog love toys but have resource aggression? Food aggression? A tendency to mount or mark? Has he been known to jump fences? Chew items like furniture? Eat inedible objects? Does he prefer women over men or vice versa? The more information we have, the better. We will share this information with staff in order to mitigate issues before they happen.

Your dog needs to be current on the following vaccinations: Rabies, DHPP, and Bordetella (the kennel cough vaccine). The vaccine for the canine influenza virus and Leptospirosis are recommended but not required.
Dogs must have had all three rounds of “puppy shots” before attending daycare; typically, this is around four months of age.

Yes. Once enrolled at our daycare, we will create a Pet Exec profile for you. You will be able to make reservations - as well as pay, confirm your reservations, view your purchase history, maintain your daycare passes, and more - with us through Pet Exec. When attempting to book a service please note that a confirmation email will be sent to you stating that the reservation request has been received; another email will follow once the reservation is approved.

We accept cash, checks and all major credit cards for payment. Clients are encouraged to save their credit information within their Pet Exec owner portal in order to keep their account current and maintain uninterrupted services.
Yes, we give tours before 8AM or after 4PM by appointment. There are dogs at the day care during those time frames, but in fewer numbers, which will give you better access to both the indoor and outdoor play spaces.
Six months. Remaining passes not used within six months will be forfeited.
While we do remove dog collars in our play areas, as well as utilize our own Dingo’s leashes for pickup and drop off, due to the unpredictable nature of dogs, we cannot assume liability for your dog’s accessories whilst in our care.

Because our dogs play "naked", clients can (and should) take their dog's leashes and collars with them when they leave. Clients will want to bring their dog's leash and collar back upon returning to pickup their dog. The exception to this rule is for our transportation clients who will need a collar so that they can secured during transit.

We recommend that all clients purchase a martingale collar for use while at Dingo’s. A martingale collar will prevent your dog from backing out of his collar and should eliminate the need (in most cases) for a harness. For very large dogs that pull excessively, we recommend an Easy Walk Harness in addition to the martingale collar. Just as I don’t send my son to his (human) daycare in his best outfits (lest they return home stretched, ripped and/or stained), we recommend you save your fancy coats and collars for non-daycare days. Please leave flea collars at home as well as these are easily broken during play.

Why, I'm glad that you asked! Please note the following polices pursuant to our package deals:
  • Packages must be paid upfront. Daycare attendance will be billed out at the regular rate until a package is purchased.
  • Packages are good for 6 months from the date of purchase barring any medical issues that would prevent your dog from attending daycare.
  • Package credits cannot be transferred to any other service.
  • Package days are not valid for weekend daycare.
  • Packages are non-refundable. The only exception to this policy would be if your dog is excused from daycare due to our discretion for behavioral issues.
Because our daycare is at "max capacity" on most days, we would kindly ask that you give us at least twenty-four hours notice if you need to cancel a reservation so that we may open the spot up to another client. Clients who consistently cancel their reservations without adequate notice may be subject to a fee.
While the dogs in our care always have access to clean and fresh water, some simply do not like sharing water bowls with other dogs. If your dog quaffs water as soon as she gets home, it is likely that you are the owner of a highly discerning dog! And I can’t say that I blame them – I’m not sure I would want to share my water bottle with my entire elementary school class either (and yes, that is me anthromorphizing!)! Logistically we can not provide every dog with their own water bowl, so we would kindly ask that all owners ensure their dogs have access to clean, fresh water and a clean water bowl upon their arrival home so that any dog that has gone on a “water strike” at daycare can replenish herself at the end of the day. It would also be prudent to alert us to your dog’s discernment so that we can make efforts to try and persuade her to drink while she is here, either by bringing them inside for a personal water break or by swapping out our water bowls more often on days that she is with us. At the end of the day, we can lead a dog to water but we can’t force them to drink, so it’s imperative that owners work synergistically with our management team to ensure no dog goes thirsty whilst in our care!
We kindly ask that you refrain from leaving your dog in our outdoor play spaces unattended which could become a safety hazard if we do not know he/she is out there? If everyone is inside, please call 978-969-3988 and someone will come out to receive you and your dog. Please refrain from unleashing your dog in the air gate area until a staff member has come out to receive you. One owner at a time in the air gate area, please. We do not know how some of our packmembers may respond to unfamiliar faces. Please ensure that you latch our air gate when exiting for the safety of all our four-legged friends. We would kindly ask that all dogs arrive to the daycare by 11:30/12 in order to maintain a uniform level of energy among the playgroups. This policy will help us foster a copacetic pack environment – one where energy matches energy, which creates symbiotic interactions throughout the day.