Day care or boarding in Watford?

Day care and overnight boarding solve different problems, and several of Watford's businesses offer both, so the choice is not always between two separate businesses. Of the 16 kennels, home boarders and day cares on this page, seven list day care among their services: We Love Pets Bushey, Pug & Little Paws Boarding, Home from Home Doggy Day Care, The Dogs Residence, Kings Langley Dog Boarding, Scruffs to Crufts and Liz Townsend Home Boarding & Day Care for Dogs.

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. Home from Home Doggy Day Care, run from a farmhouse in the Rickmansworth area with open fields for exercise, is the only one of the seven that offers day care without also boarding dogs overnight; it is shown by area and town only, like the other home-based businesses on this page, even though it does not offer an overnight stay.

When overnight boarding fits

The other fifteen businesses on this page board dogs overnight: three in a kennels — National Animal Welfare Trust Hertfordshire, Canine Karma Resorts and Verulam Farm Kennels and Cattery — and twelve in the boarder's own home. Six of the seven day-care providers — We Love Pets Bushey, Pug & Little Paws Boarding, The Dogs Residence, Kings Langley Dog Boarding, Scruffs to Crufts and Liz Townsend Home Boarding & Day Care for Dogs — also board overnight, so a dog can move between a day visit and a full stay without changing business.

A day-care site under a different licence

Canine Karma Resorts, in Kings Langley, also advertises day care, but its own site says that side of the business runs from a separate site in St Albans, licensed separately by St Albans City and District Council; its Kings Langley premises is licensed by Three Rivers District Council only for boarding kennels. Ask which site your dog would actually attend before booking.

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

National Animal Welfare Trust Hertfordshire and Verulam Farm Kennels and Cattery both board cats alongside dogs, and Whiskers Feathers & Fur, a home boarder in Croxley Green, also takes small pets such as rabbits and guinea pigs. If you have more than one type of pet needing cover at once, ask directly whether a business can take both under one booking.