How to Start a Dog Daycare Business in India (2026)
A dog daycare looks after dogs during the day while their parents are at work, then sends them home in the evening. No overnight stays, no kennels to clean at midnight, and most of the demand falls on weekdays.
This guide covers what it costs, what the law says, how to price it, how to keep a group of dogs safe, and how to run the day.
In short: a daycare costs less to set up than a boarding facility because it has no overnight kennels. Ask your State Animal Welfare Board in writing whether you must register (Rs 5,000 for 2 years). Check vaccination records at intake. Set a daily dog limit you can staff. Sell prepaid passes so weekdays stay full.
Looking for prices as a parent? This guide is for people starting a daycare. The dog daycare and boarding pricing guide for India has the city-by-city rate tables.
Want overnight stays too? See the dog boarding business guide for India.
Daycare vs boarding: what changes
| Daycare | Boarding | |
|---|---|---|
| Hours | Daytime, usually 8 to 10 hours | 24 hours a day |
| Busiest days | Weekdays | Weekends and holidays |
| Space you need | Open play area and a quiet rest area | Individual kennels or rooms |
| How parents pay | Prepaid passes (for example, 10 or 20 days) | Per night, per stay |
| Main risk | Dogs playing in a group | Dogs away from home for days |
Many operators run both. Daycare fills the weekdays and boarding fills the holidays.
Is a dog daycare profitable in India?
It can be, if the play floor stays full on weekdays. Here is a worked example. Every number below is an assumption. Replace each one with your own quotes.
| Per month | |
|---|---|
| 10 dogs a day × Rs 700 × 22 weekdays | Rs 1,54,000 |
| Rent (small ground-floor space with an open area) | Rs 40,000 |
| Two handlers at Rs 15,000 each | Rs 30,000 |
| Food, treats and cleaning at Rs 50 per dog per day | Rs 11,000 |
| Electricity, water and internet | Rs 8,000 |
| Left before your own salary and tax | about Rs 65,000 |
Rs 700 a day sits inside the standard metro range in our pricing guide. The number that decides profit is not the price. It is how many dogs come every weekday. Five dogs a day brings in Rs 77,000, which does not cover the same Rs 89,000 of costs. You lose money until the floor is fuller.
Setup costs
A daycare skips overnight kennels and bedding, so it costs less than a boarding facility. Our boarding guide puts home setups at Rs 50,000 to 1 lakh and facilities at Rs 8 to 15 lakh. Plan your daycare from the lower end of each range.
Get local quotes for:
- Fencing and double gates. Two gates with a small space between them, so a dog cannot run out when a parent walks in.
- Flooring that you can wash and that is not slippery when wet.
- A separate rest area with a few crates or pens, away from the play area.
- Shade and water in every play area.
- CCTV, so you can show parents what happened if two dogs scuffle.
- Cleaning supplies and a first-aid kit.
Do you need a licence to run a dog daycare in India?
Short answer: possibly, and the national rule is unclear. Here is what it actually says, so you can ask the right office.
The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Dog Breeding and Marketing) Rules, 2017 (G.S.R. 496(E), 23 May 2017) are the only national rules we found that mention boarding:
- Rule 2(1)(d): a "boarding kennel operator" includes anyone who keeps "pet dogs and pups for temporary housing in kennel or any other establishment".
- Rule 2(1)(c): a "breeder" includes a boarding kennel operator.
- Rule 3(1): a breeder needs a certificate of registration from the State Animal Welfare Board. Under Rule 4, the fee is Rs 5,000 and the certificate is valid for 2 years.
Two things are unclear. Rule 3(1) is worded around "breeding and sale of dogs and pups". And the rules do not say whether looking after dogs during the day only counts as "temporary housing". We found no court ruling or Animal Welfare Board of India circular that settles either point. Ask your State Animal Welfare Board in writing, and keep the reply.
Also check:
- Municipal trade licence. Ask your ward or zonal health office.
- Shops and Establishments registration. Each state has its own Act and its own thresholds. Check with your state labour department whether yours covers your premises.
- GST registration once your turnover from services crosses Rs 20 lakh in a financial year (Rs 10 lakh in special category states), under section 22 of the CGST Act.
Sources: Dog Breeding and Marketing Rules, 2017 (as reprinted in the Odisha Gazette) · CGST Act, section 22 (CBIC). This is a summary, not legal advice.
Can you run it from home?
Sometimes. Check three things first: your housing society's by-laws, your rental agreement, and your municipality. An Animal Welfare Board of India advisory to housing societies says they cannot ban residents from keeping pet dogs. That advisory is about owning pets, not running a business. A group of dogs playing all day is louder than one pet, so talk to your neighbours before your first paying client.
Vaccinations and health checks
Dogs in a daycare share water bowls, toys and air all day. Check records at intake, before the first visit.
The WSAVA 2024 vaccination guidelines say:
- Core for every dog: vaccines against canine distemper virus, canine adenovirus and canine parvovirus.
- Rabies is core wherever rabies is endemic, which includes India.
- Kennel cough (Bordetella bronchiseptica and canine parainfluenza) vaccines are non-core. They "cannot prevent infection but may reduce disease severity".
So a vaccinated dog can still catch and pass on kennel cough. Write a simple rule: any dog that coughs, has diarrhoea or seems unwell goes home and comes back when it is better. Ask a local vet which vaccines to require, and put the rule in your terms.
Keeping a group of dogs safe
Group play is what parents pay for, and it is also the main risk.
- Trial day first. Meet every new dog for a short visit before you accept it. Watch how it reacts to other dogs.
- Separate by size and energy. Keep small dogs away from large, rough players.
- Know which dogs do not get along. Write it down so every staff member knows.
- Rest time. Tired dogs get irritable. Plan quiet time in the afternoon.
- Set your own dog-to-staff limit. We found no official dog-to-staff ratio for daycares in India. Decide yours based on your space and your dogs, and never take more bookings than your staff on duty can watch.
How to price it
Our pricing guide has the full tables. In summary, a full day (8 to 10 hours) in a metro runs about Rs 400 to 500 at a budget daycare, Rs 600 to 800 at a standard one and Rs 1,000 to 1,500 at a premium one. Half days are usually 50 to 60% of a full day.
Sell prepaid passes (for example, 10 or 20 days). A pass keeps the weekdays full, and the parent pays before the visits, not after.
Running the day
- Morning drop-off: check each dog in, note anything the parent tells you (food, medicine, mood), and check today's count against your limit.
- During the day: play, rest, meals and any medicine at the right time.
- Photo updates: one or two photos per dog on WhatsApp. This is what makes parents book again.
- Evening pick-up: check each dog out, tell the parent how the day went, and note what is owed.
- Every week: check who is running low on their pass and remind them to top up.
Software to run your daycare
Once you have more than a handful of regular dogs, a WhatsApp group and a notebook start to miss things: a pass that ran out, a vaccination that fell overdue, a day that was overbooked.
petboard's daycare page covers weekly recurring bookings, a daily capacity limit, a different staff member for each visit, intake with vaccination records, photo updates from your own WhatsApp number, prepaid daycare passes that go down after each visit, bills with a UPI pay link (GST invoices if you add your GSTIN) and reports for revenue and occupancy. Plans start at Rs 199/month, the first booking is free, and parents do not need to download any app. If your clients are already in a sheet or in another tool, free data migration brings them in.
Should you do this?
A daycare is a weekday job with a lot of cleaning and a lot of dogs who want attention at the same time. But the hours are regular, you sleep at home, and you see the same dogs every week.
Start small. Run a trial week with a few friends' dogs, count how many dogs one staff member can safely watch, and then decide how big to go.
More resources:
- Pet Daycare Management: Capacity, Check-ins and Bookings (running the day)
- Dog Daycare and Boarding Pricing in India (what to charge)
- How to Start a Dog Boarding Business in India (adding overnight stays)