Day care or overnight boarding in Hinckley and Earl Shilton?
Day care and overnight boarding are two different things: day care is a booked day with no overnight stay, while overnight boarding means your dog stays the night, whether in a kennel or in somebody's home. A business can offer either one on its own, or both side by side under separate arrangements. Of the nine dog boarders, day cares and kennels listed for Hinckley and Earl Shilton, one runs day care only, three board dogs overnight without offering day care, and five offer both.
Day care only
Doggy Daycare at the Willows, beside Burbage Common in Elmesthorpe, is the only business here that does not offer an overnight stay at all: it runs a playroom for small to medium, socially confident dogs, with drop-off from 7.30am and pick-up by 5.30pm, Monday to Friday.
Overnight boarding only
Pampered Pets Inn, Stanmaur Farm Boarding Kennels and A47 Boarding Kennels and Cattery board dogs overnight without also running day care. Pampered Pets Inn takes only one dog or cat at a time in the Hinckley & Burbage area; Stanmaur Farm and A47 both run purpose-built kennels off the A47 between Hinckley and Leicester, each keeping a separate cattery on the same site.
Both, from the same business
Watson's Dogs, Nilz and Harley Pet Services, Wags Dog Care, Best Buddies Petcare and Desford Dog Care all offer day care and an overnight stay. Wags Dog Care, near Desford, prices kennel boarding at £35 for 24 hours and day care from £25 Monday to Friday. Desford Dog Care, a home boarder, prices a 24-hour home stay from £45 and a full day of day care at £30, with a shorter half-day option at £25. Nilz and Harley Pet Services, in Barwell, prices a full day of day care at £25 and also offers home-from-home boarding, though it does not publish an overnight price. Watson's Dogs and Best Buddies Petcare both offer day care and home boarding but do not publish a price for either.
Which one actually suits your dog
Day care suits a dog that would otherwise be alone all day but sleeps at home at night; overnight boarding suits a holiday or any trip where nobody is home. If your dog has never spent a night away from you, ask a boarder whether it offers a shorter stay first before you commit to a week or more — none of the nine states this on its own site, so it is worth asking directly. See our Hinckley and Earl Shilton prices guide for the published figures in full.
Group size differs by type, not just by business
A day care day usually means several dogs together in a group for a few hours; an overnight stay usually means fewer dogs, or one household at a time, in for longer. Pampered Pets Inn takes only one dog or cat overnight at a time, while a day care session at somewhere like Nilz and Harley Pet Services or Doggy Daycare at the Willows is built around a group. If your dog struggles in a group but is fine on its own, that difference matters more than which business you pick.