Day care or boarding in Durham and Chester-le-Street?
Day care and overnight boarding solve two different problems, and the fourteen dog boarders, day cares and kennels listed for Durham and Chester-le-Street split across both: five hold a day-care licence and nine are licensed for overnight boarding, either in kennels or as a home boarder.
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. Five businesses on this page hold a day-care licence: Day Care 4 Paws in Consett, which also publishes a price list and offers grooming and dog walking; Greencroft Dog Day Care Limited and Day School of Dogs, both in Stanley, the latter running structured training alongside day care and requiring an induction session before new dogs can join; Cooper's Creche Limited in Spennymoor & Crook, which combines day care with a wider pet-sitting round; and Petsercise, also in Stanley, licensed here for day care at its Tantobie site as part of a wider brand that describes running several sites and services across the North East, including overnight home boarding elsewhere — ask which of its services and sites apply before booking.
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. Seven businesses run boarding kennels: Shincliffe Mill Kennels and Cattery and Dovecote Farm Boarding Kennels and Cattery in Durham city, Lanchester Pet Resort in Durham villages & Brandon, Tendercare Boarding Kennels and Cattery Ltd and Fondley Sett Farm in Stanley, Hunwick Boarding Kennels in Spennymoor & Crook, and Mahon House Kennels and Cattery in Ferryhill. Two further businesses, Walk The Line Dog Walking and Pet Care and Willington Pet Services, are licensed for home boarding instead; see our home boarding or kennels guide for how the two compare.
Hours matter more for day care
Because day care runs around a working day rather than overnight, its opening hours matter more than a kennels' visiting times. Day Care 4 Paws opens Monday to Friday, 7:30am to 6:30pm, and is closed at weekends; Day School of Dogs opens Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm, with early starts and late pick-up available. Neither publishes weekend cover, so a weekend day-care need is better matched by asking a home boarder or a kennels that also offers day visits.
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. If you are going away and need overnight cover, you need either boarding kennels or a home boarder. Only Hunwick Boarding Kennels publishes an overnight price, from £18 a night; see our Durham and Chester-le-Street prices guide for the figures. Whichever you choose, ask about a trial visit first; see our first stay guide for what to expect.