Day care or boarding in Bedford?
Day care and overnight boarding solve different problems, and a couple of Bedford's businesses offer both. Of the nine boarders, day cares and kennels listed here, five list day care among their services: Chihuahua Country Club & Small Dogs Boarding, Howlies Doggy Daycare, The K9 Klub, Woofstop and Hayley's Active Paws & Stays.
When day care fits
Day care suits a dog that would otherwise be alone through a working day rather than one that needs to stay overnight. Howlies Doggy Daycare, on a countryside site in Kempston Rural, The K9 Klub, in converted barns at Cardington, and Woofstop, on a four-acre site between Ampthill and Flitwick, are day-care-only premises here — none of the three is licensed for overnight boarding.
When overnight boarding fits
Four businesses here board dogs overnight only, with no day-care service listed: Fetch Club, a home boarder running residential board-and-train programmes of three weeks or more; RoLo Home From Home Dog Boarding, an overnight home boarder currently running a waiting list; Alconbury Hill Kennels & Cattery, purpose-built kennels near Huntingdon; and PetStay Cambridge, Huntingdon & Royston, a home-boarding franchise branch based in St Neots.
The two that offer both
Chihuahua Country Club & Small Dogs Boarding, a home boarder in Kempston specialising in toy and miniature breeds, and Hayley's Active Paws & Stays, in St Ives, both offer day care alongside overnight stays — Hayley's advertises weekend home-from-home boarding on its own site, though Huntingdonshire District Council's register lists its confirmed licence as day care only, so ask it directly which activities its current licence actually covers before booking an overnight stay.
Ask which one you actually need
If you are not sure whether your dog needs a day or a night away, describe your situation directly: how long the dog will be away from you, whether it has been left with strangers before, and whether it needs medication or has any anxiety around other dogs. Fetch Club's board-and-train programme is a different kind of overnight stay again, built around a training outcome rather than simply somewhere for your dog to be, so ask what a typical day in the programme looks like if that is what you are considering.
What day care and boarding cost here
Where a price is published, day care and overnight boarding are priced quite differently. Howlies Doggy Daycare charges £26 for a half day and £38 for a full day of day care. RoLo Home From Home Dog Boarding charges £30 for one dog overnight, plus a £5 collection fee. Fetch Club's board-and-train programme is priced quite differently again, at £2,700 for a three-week residential stay, since it is built around a training outcome rather than an ordinary night away, so do not compare it to a straightforward boarding price without asking what is actually included.
Where each type sits
Day care here is concentrated in Kempston, Brickhill and Ampthill & Flitwick; the only overnight-only kennels, Alconbury Hill, sits in the Huntingdon & St Ives area. See our area-by-area guide for the full breakdown of where Bedford's nine listed businesses actually are.