Day care or boarding in Sunderland?
Day care and overnight boarding solve two different problems, and Sunderland's twelve listed businesses split across both, with some offering both under one roof: nine offer day care and nine offer overnight boarding, with six of the twelve providing both.
Day care: for a working day, not a holiday
Day care is for a dog that would otherwise be alone through a working day: it goes in after breakfast and comes home at teatime rather than staying overnight. Nine Sunderland businesses offer it: Ferry Farm Boarding Kennels & Cattery and West Hall Boarding Kennels alongside their kennels; Take The Lead Doggy Day Care, run by the community organisation Springboard NE in Southwick, which offers day care only; MyPetStop's day and night crèche in Washington; Mighty Mutt House's Washington and Seaham sites, which run day care, training, grooming and hydrotherapy but not overnight boarding; and the home boarders Alpha Omega – Dog Walking Sunderland, Dogs Are Us and Maid in the North East, who also take dogs for the day.
Six businesses offer both
Six of the twelve — Ferry Farm Boarding Kennels & Cattery, West Hall Boarding Kennels, Alpha Omega, Dogs Are Us, MyPetStop and Maid in the North East — offer day care and overnight boarding under the same listing. If your dog might need either at different times, it is worth asking whether booking works the same way for both, and whether a dog already known to the business from day care gets any priority for an overnight space during busy periods such as school holidays. MyPetStop's day and night crèche runs Monday to Friday 8am to 5.30pm and weekends 9am to 5pm, longer hours than most of the day-care-only listings here, which is worth checking against your own working pattern before you choose it over a smaller operator.
Overnight boarding: kennels or a home
Overnight boarding means your dog stays away from home for one or more nights, either in purpose-built kennels or in a home boarder's own house. Nine Sunderland businesses offer it: Ferry Farm, West Hall, Doggy Digzzz and Cat Club and MyPetStop run from a fixed kennels or centre, while Barking Mad – Sunderland and Durham, Alpha Omega, Dogs Are Us, Maid in the North East and Adrian's Dog Buddy are home boarders instead. See our home boarding or kennels guide for how the two compare.
Which to choose
If your dog needs looking after during a working day and will sleep at home every night, day care is the closer fit — Take The Lead Doggy Day Care and the two Mighty Mutt House sites offer full or half-day sessions with nothing overnight. If you are going away and need overnight cover, you need either a kennels, such as Ferry Farm or West Hall, or a home boarder, such as Dogs Are Us or Adrian's Dog Buddy. None of the twelve publish a trial-day price; see our first stay guide for what to ask before booking either.