Day care or boarding in Bath and north-east Somerset?
Day care and overnight boarding are different jobs, and most of the fourteen businesses listed for Bath and north-east Somerset do at least one; several do both. Day care is a booked day with no overnight stay, useful for a working day or a one-off outing; overnight boarding, whether in a home or a kennels, covers one night or several.
Day care
Nine of the fourteen listings offer day care: Bailbrook Dogs, Doggy Doos, Friends for Pets, Doggy Daycare Bath and Dog and Cat Care in Bath city centre and Widcombe; Paddy Paws and Woodborough Gardens Kennels & Cattery in Bath south and Combe Down; Farm Fields Dog Day Care in Radstock, Midsomer Norton and Paulton; and WestWoofs in Bradford-on-Avon. Day care suits a dog that would otherwise be alone through a working day, or one you want assessed in a group setting before booking an overnight stay. Ask each business what a typical day looks like: group size, how much outdoor time is included, and whether collection from your address is available.
Overnight boarding
Eleven of the fourteen offer an overnight stay, either as home boarding or in a boarding kennels: Bailbrook Dogs, Friends for Pets, Doggy Daycare Bath and Dog and Cat Care again, in Bath city centre and Widcombe; Hyver Boarding Kennels, Paddy Paws, Wags & Walks Pet Service and Woodborough Gardens Kennels & Cattery in Bath south and Combe Down; and Casico Dog Apartments, Midsomer Mutts and Bella Boarding in Radstock, Midsomer Norton and Paulton. Doggy Doos, Farm Fields Dog Day Care and WestWoofs run day care only, with no overnight stay on offer. A stay of one night for a wedding and a fortnight in August are both "overnight boarding" here, but the two are not always priced the same way, so say how many nights you need when you call.
Which to choose
If your dog only needs looking after during the working day, day care alone is usually simpler and cheaper than paying for a full overnight stay. If you are away for more than a day, you need overnight boarding, either in a home or a kennels; see our home boarding or kennels guide for that choice. Some owners use day care first, with the same business, as a way of judging whether their dog would settle for a longer overnight stay later; ask if this is possible before you commit. Woodborough Gardens Kennels & Cattery offers both under one roof, which can simplify things if your routine changes from week to week.
Prices are not necessarily the same for the two: day care is usually charged per day and overnight boarding per night or per twenty-four hours, and the two are rarely directly comparable pound for pound, since a night includes far more of the business's time than a working day does. See our prices guide for what the two businesses that publish a rate actually charge for each.
Full service listings for the wider area are at day care and overnight boarding.