Doggy daycare looks simpler than boarding: the dogs go home every night, you aren't heating kennels at 3am and the income comes in every week. In practice it has its own challenges. Space, staffing and group management decide whether a daycare is safe and whether it makes money. This guide goes through starting one, step by step.
Step 1: home or premises?
Small daycares often start in the owner's home with a handful of dogs. It keeps costs low, but in England, day care in your own home is licensed as home boarding, with its conditions on rooms, gardens and how many dogs you can take. We cover what that means in our guide to running a dog business from home.
Dedicated premises, usually an industrial unit or a converted farm building, let you take more dogs, run separate groups and grow. They also bring rent, fit-out costs and planning permission.
Step 2: licensing and planning
In England, dog day care is a licensable activity under the 2018 Animal Activities Licensing regulations, issued by your council. Scotland and Wales license boarding, including day care, under the 1963 Act. In Northern Ireland, ask DAERA. The UK licensing guide covers each one, and our licence cost guide has real council fees.
A few of England's day care conditions shape your whole plan:
- At least one member of staff for every 10 dogs (one full-time for every 8 to meet the higher standard)
- At least 6 m² of space per dog, indoors and outdoors combined
- Dogs kept in compatible groups, with a written policy for introducing new dogs
- Rest areas, and a temperature between 10°C and 26°C
- No dog kept in a crate for more than an hour in any eight, and only with the owner's consent
- No overnight stays: that needs a boarding licence
Planning permission is separate from the licence. Daycare premises are often treated as their own use class, so talk to your local planning authority before you sign a lease.
Step 3: find and fit out the space
Work backwards from the number of dogs you want. At 6 m² a dog, 30 dogs need at least 180 m² of usable space, before reception, storage, a quiet room and staff areas. Look for:
- Flooring that is non-slip, easy to clean and kind on joints
- Drainage and somewhere to wash down
- Secure outdoor space with double gates at every exit
- Room for at least two groups, such as small dogs and large dogs
- A quiet area for dogs that need a break from the group
- Parking and a drop-off point, because everyone arrives at once
- Neighbours who won't object to barking
Step 4: insurance
Daycare insurance usually covers care, custody and control of the dogs, public liability and employer's liability. Group play carries more risk than dogs in separate kennels, so make sure your insurer knows you run group sessions. Ask how vet bills after a scuffle are handled.
Step 5: pricing and packages
Most daycares sell full days, half days and packages. Packages, such as ten days paid up front, give you cash in advance and keep owners coming back. Monthly memberships go further. We compared the options in flat rate vs packages vs subscriptions. Look at what other licensed daycares nearby charge, then price from your costs, not theirs.
Step 6: policies
- An assessment or trial day before a dog joins a group
- Vaccination requirements, checked before the first visit
- Rules on entire males, bitches in season and dogs that become reactive in groups
- Drop-off and collection times, with a charge for late collection
- Cancellation terms for booked days
- Consent for group play and for photos on social media
Step 7: staff
Staff are your biggest cost and the thing the licence checks most closely. With 30 dogs you need at least three people on the floor at all times, and more to meet the higher standards, with cover for breaks, holidays and sickness. Hire people who can read dog body language and stay calm when a play session tips over. Our article on hiring and training kennel staff covers what works.
Step 8: bookings, packages and check-in
Daycare admin is different from boarding. The same dogs come two or three times a week, people pay in bundles, and they all arrive within forty minutes. You need a daily limit that stops bookings when you're full, recurring bookings for regulars, packages that track what's been used, quick check-in, and vaccination alerts. Our guide to dog daycare software has a week-long test you can run on any system.
Is doggy daycare profitable?
Daycare income is steadier than boarding because regulars book every week, including January. What decides profit is how full you are on an average day against how many staff you need. As a simple illustration, not a forecast:
| Average dogs per day | At £30 a day, 250 days a year | Staff needed at 1 to 10 |
|---|---|---|
| 15 | £112,500 | 2 |
| 25 | £187,500 | 3 |
| 35 | £262,500 | 4 |
Revenue = dogs × £30 × 250 days. Use your own price, opening days and attendance. Costs such as wages, rent, insurance and the licence come off before profit.
The jump in staffing comes in steps. Going from 20 dogs to 21 can mean one more person on the payroll, so the most profitable days are the ones where each member of staff has close to the maximum number of dogs. That's why packages and recurring bookings matter: they keep attendance predictable. If you're weighing daycare against boarding, read daycare vs boarding: which is more profitable, and for boarding margins see is a dog boarding business profitable.
Where KennelBooker fits
KennelBooker handles daycare in every plan: a daily limit that blocks online bookings when you're full, full day, half day and hourly bookings, recurring bookings up to three years ahead, packages and credits that apply at checkout, evaluation checks before a first daycare booking, quick check-in and vaccination alerts. Boarding sits on the same calendar if you add it later. Plans start at $49.99 a month for 10 daycare spaces, with larger plans for 30, 60 and unlimited spaces, and the 14-day trial needs no card.
Frequently asked questions
How do I start my own doggy daycare?
Decide whether you'll run it from your home or from premises, check licensing and planning with your council, find a space with enough room per dog and secure outdoor areas, arrange insurance, set your prices and packages, write your policies, set up online booking, and recruit staff before you reach the numbers your licence allows.
Is doggy daycare a profitable business?
It can be. Daycare income is steadier than boarding, because regulars book every week whatever the season. The costs that decide profit are staff, because licence ratios set how many people you need, and premises. Work out your numbers at realistic attendance, not full capacity.
How much money do I need to start a doggy daycare?
It varies hugely. A home-based daycare may need little more than fencing, equipment, a licence and insurance. Leased premises need a deposit, fit-out, flooring, fencing, drainage and several months of rent and wages before regulars build up. Build a budget for both the set-up and the first six months of running costs.
Do I need a licence for doggy daycare?
In England, yes: dog day care is a licensable activity under the 2018 regulations, and day care in your own home is licensed as home boarding. Scotland and Wales license through councils under the 1963 Act. Check with your council before you sign a lease.
Is it hard to start a doggy daycare?
The hard parts are finding suitable premises with planning permission, managing groups of dogs safely, and getting enough regulars to cover your staff costs. The dog care itself is the part most owners are best prepared for.