Day care or boarding in Torquay?
Day care and overnight boarding solve different problems, and most of the businesses listed for Torquay that offer one also offer the other, so the choice is rarely between two separate businesses. Of the twenty-eight dog boarders, kennels and day cares on this page, eleven list day care among their services: Dogslegs, Dinki Dog Day Care, Dizzy Dogs Devon, Happy Dogs R Us, Riviera Walkies, The K9 Inn and Alpha Paws, all home-based, plus Cary Boarding Kennels, Monty's Friends, Wickham Walkies and Dartmouth Canine Care.
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 the night. Only one of the eleven, Happy Dogs R Us, offers day care without an overnight option: it runs from a dedicated unit on the Yalberton Tor industrial estate in Paignton, grouping dogs by age, size and temperament, open weekdays only, cash only.
When overnight boarding fits
The other twenty-seven businesses on this page board dogs overnight, either in the boarder's own home or in a kennels. Twenty-three are home boarders, present in every area except Newton Abbot and Kingsbridge & Salcombe, where the four listed businesses are kennels rather than home boarders, and Totnes, which has no listed business of either kind. The four kennels are Cary Boarding Kennels and Castleford Pet Centre near Newton Abbot, and The Dog Lodge and Blackdown Rings Kennels & Cattery near Kingsbridge, the last two also taking cats.
Businesses offering both
Ten of the eleven day-care providers also board overnight, so a dog can move between a day visit and a full stay without changing business. Monty's Friends, in Dawlish, prices all three options separately: a half day, a whole day and an overnight stay. Cary Boarding Kennels, trading near Denbury since 1968, adds day care and training alongside its kennels, plus a wash-and-go grooming service at £20.
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.
Cats and other pets
Castleford Pet Centre and Blackdown Rings Kennels & Cattery both board cats alongside dogs, and Castleford also takes parrots and parakeets. If you have more than one type of pet needing cover at the same time, ask directly whether a business can take both under one booking rather than assuming a dog-only business will.
What day care actually looks like
Most of Torquay's day-care providers run it from a home rather than a dedicated site, so a day with Dizzy Dogs Devon, run by Ian and Ali since 2003, includes around an hour of off-lead walking, with dogs expected to be neutered, sociable off-lead and good at recall to be accepted. The K9 Inn, a small family-run operation in Paignton started in 2022, takes up to six dogs a day including the family's own two, with rest periods built in alongside walks and play.