--- title: "Joyful Mutts — Boston, MA" url: "https://dogsaway.co/boston-ma/joyful-mutts/" updated: "2026-10-20" data_pulled: "2026-10-20" census_at: "2026-10-20" source: "Dogs Away — public Google Business profile (identity, rating) + Dogs Away disclosure census of the facility's own website" license: "All rights reserved. Read and cite freely. No bulk copying. (https://dogsaway.co/terms/)" attribution: "Source: Dogs Away (dogsaway.co)" --- # Joyful Mutts Dog day care center in Chestnut Hill, MA — part of the Dogs Away index of dog boarding and daycare in Boston, MA (https://dogsaway.co/boston-ma/). **No public Google reviews yet.** The Dogs Away score is a Bayesian-adjusted Google rating on a 0–10 scale (prior weight 25 reviews at the 4.669 network mean). ## Facts - **Services:** daycare - **Address:** Dudley Rd, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467 - **Phone:** (617) 331-4355 - **Website:** https://joyfulmutts.com/ - **Google Maps profile (verify):** https://www.google.com/maps/search/?api=1&query=Joyful%20Mutts&query_place_id=ChIJVyGJ0_h544kRS14qd8JWzP8 ## Hours | Day | Hours | | --- | --- | | Monday | 7 AM–6 PM | | Tuesday | 7 AM–6 PM | | Wednesday | 7 AM–6 PM | | Thursday | 7 AM–6 PM | | Friday | 7 AM–6 PM | | Saturday | Closed | | Sunday | Closed | ## Booking terms, safety and care - **Minimum age (months):** Daycare: puppies can start at 12 weeks old — facility's words: "Puppies can start at Joyful Mutts once they’re 12 weeks old" (https://joyfulmutts.com/faqs/) - **Unaltered dogs & females in heat:** Females need not be spayed but cannot attend while in heat; intact males accepted up to a set age — facility's words: "Female dogs do not need to be spayed to attend Joyful Mutts. However, dogs in heat cannot attend group daycare, play groups, or walks during that time, for the comfort and safety of the whole group. Do male dogs need to be neutered to attend? Male dogs can attend while still intact up to a year and a" (https://joyfulmutts.com/faqs/) ## For travelers - **BOS** (Boston Logan): 9.5 miles, straight line - **Weekday hours span:** 7 AM to 6 PM - **Open Sunday:** no Hours from the public business profile; drop-off and pick-up windows can be narrower. ## Published rates - **Daycare:** $65 per day > “Your dog will be out of the house and active for about 5 ½ hours total. Your dog will come back happy, tired and relaxed. Price = $65 including pickup and drop-off.” Source: https://joyfulmutts.com/daycare/ — checked September 9, 2026. ## Disclosure record Publishes 4 of 27 checked policies on its own website (census October 20, 2026). "Not published" is a fact about the website on that date, not a claim about the facility's practice. ### Admission requirements - **Vaccinations required:** Not published on their website as of October 20, 2026 - **Bordetella lead time:** Not published on their website as of October 20, 2026 - **Fecal / parasite test:** Not published on their website as of October 20, 2026 - **Spay / neuter:** Required for males from 18 months > “Male dogs can attend while still intact up to a year and a half old. After that age, male dogs need to be neutered to continue attending daycare, play groups, or nature walks with the group.” — https://joyfulmutts.com/faqs/ - **Temperament evaluation:** Not published on their website as of October 20, 2026 - **Vaccination records:** Not published on their website as of October 20, 2026 ### Operations - **Staff on site overnight:** Not published on their website as of October 20, 2026 - **Staff-to-dog ratio:** Not published on their website as of October 20, 2026 - **Maximum playgroup size:** Not published on their website as of October 20, 2026 - **Staff certification:** Not published on their website as of October 20, 2026 - **Play model:** Not published on their website as of October 20, 2026 - **Groups separated by:** Size, temperament and play style > “Dogs are grouped by size, play style, and personality to keep play safe and enjoyable for everyone.” — https://joyfulmutts.com/faqs/ - **Time out of their room:** Not published on their website as of October 20, 2026 - **Solo care for dogs who skip group play:** Not published on their website as of October 20, 2026 - **Housing:** Crate free > “Yes, Joyful Mutts is a crate-free daycare.” — https://joyfulmutts.com/faqs/ - **Outdoor access:** Yard > “Play groups require current vaccinations, enforce a no-bullies policy so only friendly dogs join, and take place in a secure, fully fenced yard with a handler supervising at all times.” — https://joyfulmutts.com/faqs/ - **Capacity:** Not published on their website as of October 20, 2026 - **Climate control:** Not published on their website as of October 20, 2026 - **Live cameras for owners:** Not published on their website as of October 20, 2026 - **Photo / report-card updates:** Not published on their website as of October 20, 2026 - **Tours:** Not published on their website as of October 20, 2026 - **Injury / fight policy:** Not published on their website as of October 20, 2026 - **Veterinary access:** Not published on their website as of October 20, 2026 - **Administers medication:** Not published on their website as of October 20, 2026 - **Feeding:** Not published on their website as of October 20, 2026 - **Availability:** Not published on their website as of October 20, 2026 - **Online booking:** Not published on their website as of October 20, 2026 ## Licensing Massachusetts requires every commercial boarding or training kennel in the Commonwealth to hold a kennel license and pass inspection before that license issues or renews. Mass. General Laws c.140 sec.137A defines 'commercial boarding or training kennel' as a facility, other than a veterinary or personal kennel, that boards, houses, trains or provides day care to a dog or dogs not owned by the kennel's owner, for consideration, and makes it unlawful to operate one without a license from the local licensing authority. That authority is municipal, not a single state office: in every Massachusetts city and town except Boston it is the city or town clerk, and in Boston, uniquely, state law names the police commissioner as the licensing authority (c.140 sec.137A/147). A licensing authority may not issue or renew a kennel license until the premises has passed inspection by an animal control officer, must set a maximum number of animals the kennel may house based on that inspection, and must inspect every licensed kennel at least once a year (c.140 sec.137C). This is a genuine, uniform, state-mandated regime, not a patchwork of local ordinances that may or may not exist depending on the town, the way Florida's county registrations do. Since 'An Act to Increase Kennel Safety' (Ollie's Law), signed 20 September 2024 and effective 19 December 2024, the regime has grown a state layer: every municipality must report its licensed kennels to the Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR) annually by 1 June, and MDAR must promulgate binding minimum care, staffing-ratio, housing and safety standards for commercial boarding/training kennels by June 2026. As of the June 2025 reporting deadline, 237 of 351 municipalities had complied, reporting 1,370 licensed kennels statewide, 415 of them commercial boarding or training kennels; MDAR publishes municipality-level compliance status, not a name-and-address list of individual kennels, so there is still no public register to join to facility records the way Colorado's PACFA register is joined. Whether the City of Boston itself submitted its 2025 report, and what MDAR's June 2026 minimum-standards regulations say once finalized, were not confirmed by this search and should be re-verified before this record is trusted as current. Market licensing detail: https://dogsaway.co/boston-ma/ ## How to cite Joyful Mutts, Chestnut Hill, MA. Dogs Away, https://dogsaway.co/boston-ma/joyful-mutts/ (census October 20, 2026; listing data October 20, 2026). Source: Dogs Away (dogsaway.co). Read or cite this one record with a link. Do not bulk copy, scrape or rebuild the directory. Terms: https://dogsaway.co/terms/ Structured data: https://dogsaway.co/api/v1/facilities/boston-ma/joyful-mutts.json