Day care vs dog Walker

[cashmerekisses]

We have a Labrador, he's very easy going and doesn't mind being left at home alone (I wfh so it's rarely for more than an hour or so at the moment but he has done a couple of 3hr stints when picking kids up and taking them to after school clubs etc)).
However I'm thinking ahead to the summer holidays when hopefully, restrictions permitting, we will be able to venture out a bit more. We will include him in most of our plans but for days when I want to take the DC in to London for the day sightseeing etc I'm wondering if I'm better putting him in to daycare or getting a dog Walker to come after 2/3 hrs and take him out for a couple of hours then he should be ok for another few hours and we would be home! (We have family nearby should we be delayed but I don't want to rely on them for the day care).

Anyone had experience with either option? I'm thinking because it would be so ad hoc - maybe 3 or 4 days in the whole summer holidays - that the dog Walker would be better?

We do daycare if we are going to be out for longer than 4 hours. That way we don’t have to worry about being a bit late back. Plus I don’t like leaving ddog at then coming home for a bit and leaving him again, which is what a dog walker would effectively be doing. Our daycare lady is wonderful and I give her a rough pick up time when I drop him off but text her if it’s going to be any later (obviously we don’t take the piss though).

Daycare if it’s a day out. To be honest I find a whole days fees for daycare is much better value than a dog walker

The only issue you might have with daycare is many of them fill up very quickly over the holidays and you may not get an ad/hoc space. They have legal limits on the number of dogs allowed so if you're late booking you're a bit stuck.

If you're going to leave him with anyone it would be best to find someone now so your dog can get to know them and you can make sure you're happy with the provider.

Daycares must be licensed by law so make sure you ask to see all their paperwork. Dog walking is an unregulated industry but a good walker will have insurance, first aid qualifications and knowledge of canine body language and behaviour. Don't leave your dog with anyone who doesn't at least have good insurance and decent references.

Ours goes to daycare. He loves it. Agree with pp it's much better value for money than a dog walker.
I think it really depends on your dog though. Ours loves other dogs and is also prone to separation anxiety so daycare is the better option for us.
From a selfish point of view it also means I can relax on a day out and not clock watch or worry about him.
Ours mainly goes due to work but we have occasionally used it for when we have things on at the weekend.

Ooh, another thing to remember is that many daycares don't operate at weekends, it's just Monday-Friday unless you're paying for overnight boarding.

All the local ones here do daycare Monday-Friday and then boarding only at weekends.

As a previous poster said dog walkers are unlicensed make sure you check the experience and qualifications they have before you put your pet in their care. The same goes for dog daycare not all staff have the experience.

Thank you for all your replies and advice, we are very rural so options for daycare are limited, it's more care from someone's home so I'll check all the qualifications and insurances are in place.

@cashmerekisses

Thank you for all your replies and advice, we are very rural so options for daycare are limited, it's more care from someone's home so I'll check all the qualifications and insurances are in place.

If someone has your dog in their home, they still need to be council licensed.

However, if they come to your house and stay there with the dog, they don't require a license, but obviously insurance etc. is a must :)