Day care or boarding in Cheltenham?

Day care and overnight boarding solve different problems, and it is worth working out which one you actually need before you start calling round Cheltenham and the north Cotswolds. Day care is a booked day: your dog goes in after breakfast and comes home at teatime, which suits a working day rather than a night away. Overnight boarding, whether in someone's home or a kennel block, is your dog staying somewhere else while you are away.

Who offers which, by the numbers

Sixteen of the twenty-six businesses listed for this town describe some form of day care in their own words. Far fewer use the specific phrase "dog boarding" for an overnight stay — Watson Pet Care, in Prestbury and Bishops Cleeve, is the only one that does. That is not the same as saying only one business here takes dogs overnight: most overnight capacity in this town comes through home boarding instead, where a dog stays in someone's house rather than a purpose-built kennel, and a smaller number through dedicated boarding kennels such as Cheltenham Animal Shelter and Longhills Farm Boarding Kennels & Cattery. See our day care and overnight boarding service pages for how these categories are counted across the whole site.

A day-care-only business is not a boarder

Three businesses here run day care only, with no overnight stay on offer at all: The Dog Day Care Club, which runs from what it describes as 60 acres of private land with an indoor play barn and set weekday collection times; Shorty and Co, which specialises exclusively in mini dachshunds and other small-breed dogs; and Bolts Buddies, an American-style day care centre open 8am to 6pm under full supervision. If you need your dog looked after for a single working day, one of these, or any of the many boarders who also offer day care, is worth a call; if you need a night or a fortnight covered, look instead at the home boarders and kennels covered in our home boarding or kennels guide.

Businesses that do both

Several boarders offer day care as a smaller part of a wider service — useful if your needs might change, for example a single long day now and a week away later with the same business, so your dog is already familiar with them. On Howliday, We Love Pets Cheltenham, Bright Eyes Dog Care, Whoswalkingme, Find The Lead, Paws4ward Dog Care, Our Dog Walkers and S&J Dog Walking all combine home boarding with some form of day care, per their own listings. Cheltenham Animal Shelter, run by the animal welfare charity GAWA, also runs a day creche alongside its boarding kennels and cattery, staffed by the shelter's own Animal Care Assistants rather than volunteers.

What to ask either way

• Is this a booked day, or can my dog stay overnight if I need that later?
• What are your collection and drop-off times, and are they fixed or flexible?
• How many other dogs will be there at the same time as mine?

Whichever you choose, see our vaccinations, licences and what to ask guide before you book.