If you are planning to board a pet over Thanksgiving or the December holidays, the deadline that catches South Bay owners out is not the reservation. It is the paperwork and the first visit, and both are measured in weeks.
A rabbit getting its first RHDV2 vaccination needs two shots about three weeks apart before most rabbit boarding facilities will take it. A dog new to Down Dog Lodge in El Segundo has to clear a two-phase temperament test on two separate days, then a monitored trial period, then at least one full daycare visit. Dogtopia of South Bay in Torrance will not even schedule a new dog’s meet and greet until the dog has lived in your home six to eight weeks. None of that can be compressed in the week before a trip.
Below is what each kind of animal needs, who takes it, and what to pack. Dogs and cats have real choice here. Rabbits, guinea pigs, birds and reptiles have one or two options each, and horses have none of the kind people expect.
How early should you book holiday pet boarding?
Only one operator in this roundup publishes an answer, and it is a rabbit shelter. Rabbit Rescue in Paramount puts it plainly: “Our boarding is a popular service, so we encourage rabbit owners to schedule boarding roughly 2 weeks – 2 months before travel.” Down Dog Lodge requires reservations “at least 24 hours in advance” and says “Holidays are our busiest times of the year!” without naming a date. Everyone else publishes nothing on timing.
The table below is our reading of each operator’s published requirements rather than dates they give, working backward from Thanksgiving, Thursday, November 26, 2026, and Christmas Day, Friday, December 25, 2026.
| If your pet is | Start this far ahead | Because |
|---|---|---|
| A dog already registered somewhere | 2 to 4 weeks | Holiday dates and the rooms people want go first |
| A dog new to the facility | 4 to 8 weeks | Evaluations, trial days and ownership waiting periods |
| A cat | 2 to 4 weeks | Fewer cat spaces exist, and they are not interchangeable with dog runs |
| A rabbit never vaccinated for RHDV2 | 6 to 8 weeks | A two-shot series about three weeks apart, then a booking |
| A rabbit already vaccinated | 2 weeks to 2 months | The shelter’s own published window |
| A guinea pig, rat, hamster or chinchilla | 4 to 6 weeks | A vet wellness note within the last twelve months, and few operators |
| A bird or reptile | 3 to 4 weeks | One South Bay operator, and it publishes almost no booking terms |
| A horse | Not applicable | No local barn publishes short stays |
What will a boarding facility require from your vet?
This is the part worth doing first, because your vet controls the timing and some of these vaccines are a series rather than a single shot.
For dogs, every South Bay facility that publishes requirements asks for rabies, Bordetella and a distemper and parvovirus combination, written on their records in various ways as DHLPP, DHPP or DAPP. Those four are the floor. Down Dog Lodge requires canine influenza and leptospirosis as well, and each of those needs two rounds plus a seven-day wait, which is the longest veterinary lead time for a dog here. South Park Doggie in Gardena recommends influenza and leptospirosis without requiring them.
For cats, the requirement is rabies plus the feline distemper combination, written as FVRCP. El Segundo Pet Resort, PetSmart PetsHotel and Family Pet Clinic of Redondo Beach all publish that pair.
For rabbits, the requirement is RHDV2, the vaccine for rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus type 2. Sunshine Rabbit Center in Long Beach publishes the schedule plainly: “The first time rabbits get the vaccine, they need two shots roughly three weeks apart,” then an annual booster. Bun Chia Burrow requires proof of both doses. BunnyLuv requires the vaccine “within 1 YEAR of the time of their stay” and wants the record emailed with the reservation. If your rabbit has never had it, this is the reason to call your vet in October rather than December. The two rescue-run options, Rabbit Rescue and Bunny World Foundation, publish no vaccination requirement at all, so ask rather than assume.
For guinea pigs, rats, hamsters and chinchillas, Bun Chia Burrow asks for a vet wellness note on letterhead from within the last twelve months rather than a vaccine. For exotics generally, All Animals Veterinary Hospital in Calabasas publishes the simplest version: “The only requirement is to have a current annual physical examination.”
Three more things your vet may need to supply. Proof of being parasite free, which Family Pet Clinic requires of all boarders. Records in a form the facility accepts, and PetSmart PetsHotel states that titer tests and rabies tags are not accepted in place of veterinary records. And spay or neuter status, since Dogtopia requires dogs seven months and older to be altered, South Park Doggie limits unaltered dogs over seven months to individual play, and Sunshine Rabbit Center no longer boards unfixed rabbits at all.
One operator will handle this for you. Canine Retreat in Harbor City says its care team will “coordinate directly with your vet for required health records,” which is the only published offer of that kind we found.
Where can you board a dog in the South Bay?
There is no commercial dog boarding or daycare facility on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, in Manhattan Beach or in Hermosa Beach. Peninsula and beach city owners drive to El Segundo, Torrance, Gardena, Harbor City, Redondo Beach or San Pedro.
Canine Retreat, 25930 Belle Porte Avenue, Harbor City, (310) 530-0800, is the closest cage-free option to the Peninsula and names all four Peninsula cities plus Torrance, San Pedro, Lomita and Redondo Beach in its own service area. Boarding is $80 a night with a full day of play included, and staff sleep in the parks overnight. New clients complete a social evaluation, a discounted trial day of at least four hours. It publishes the clearest holiday calendar of any operator here, with a $10 holiday surcharge. For the coming holidays: Wednesday, November 25, 6:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. with no daycare, and Thanksgiving Day closed. Thursday, December 24, 6:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. with no daycare, and Christmas Day closed. Read that as a planning constraint: you cannot collect a dog on Thanksgiving Day or Christmas Day, and the day before each, the door shuts at 1:00 p.m.
Down Dog Lodge, 1501 E. El Segundo Boulevard, El Segundo, (310) 606-5507. Cage-free, staffed around the clock, dogs only. Boarding starts at $100 a night for one dog and $92 for each additional dog. Peak rates add $10 per dog per day, and the site lists its peak windows without years, including Thanksgiving as 11/24 to 11/30 and the holiday season as 12/19 to 1/3. The two-phase temperament test is $80, and for stays of three nights or more the facility would rather a dog try a single overnight first.
El Segundo Pet Resort, 231 E. Franklin Avenue, El Segundo, (310) 322-6506. The one facility here that takes dogs, cats and exotics, boards 365 days a year with staff on site around the clock, and asks nothing of a new pet beforehand: “We do not need to have an interview or ‘test run’ for your pet.” Dog kennels run $46 to $90 a night by size, cottages $74 to $96, with a second dog in the same space at half price. A first-time client pays a 50 percent deposit, a returning client 20 percent, refundable with at least seven days notice. Reception is closed on New Year’s Day, Easter, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day, and reception hours are the real constraint the rest of the year: Monday to Friday 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., weekends 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Dogtopia of South Bay, 2360 W. 205th Street, Torrance, (310) 953-9321. Boarding $75 or $85 a night depending on package, suite upgrade $10, with a $15 holiday service fee on overnight stays on major holidays. Which holidays carry the fee is not published. Daycare is closed on July 4, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day.
South Park Doggie Adventureland, 945 W. 190th Street, Gardena, (310) 756-6110. Boarding from $97 a night for small dogs and $103 for large, with room upgrades on top. Cancel at least 48 hours ahead for a full refund. Every new dog completes a trial assessment of two to four hours. The Gardena page says the front desk is closed on all major holidays while the FAQ gives holiday check-in hours of 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Those two statements sit on the same website and we are reporting both rather than choosing.
PetSmart PetsHotel, 3855-59 Sepulveda Boulevard, Torrance, (310) 316-9047, takes dogs and cats from four months old. Rates, deposits, cancellation terms and holiday policies are not published on any PetSmart page we could read, so call for them.
Family Pet Clinic of Redondo Beach, 2006 Artesia Boulevard, (310) 376-0072, boards dogs and cats, which suits a dog that does not do group play. Pets are supervised 7:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. seven days a week. The catch is the front door: the clinic is closed on Saturdays and Sundays and on New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, July 4, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and December 25.
Where can you board a cat?
Cat rooms are priced by size, from a condo to a penthouse, so ask which room the quote covers.
Cat boarding is a smaller market than dog boarding and the spaces are not interchangeable, which is why it is worth booking on the same schedule as a dog.
Canine Retreat in Harbor City boards cats at $35 a night in private suites it describes as entirely separate from the dogs, in Regular and Deluxe sizes. El Segundo Pet Resort boards cats at $46 a night in Kitty Condos and $64 in the Kitty Penthouse, with a second cat in the same space at half price.
VCA Kennel Club Resort & Spa, 3301 Fujita Street, Torrance, (310) 539-2201, boards cats from $39 a day. Holiday bookings there require a minimum $100 deposit, deposits are forfeited if you cancel past the cancellation date, and the facility states “We do not offer check-in or check-out on holidays.”
Family Pet Clinic of Redondo Beach boards cats in a dog-free room, subject to the weekend and holiday closures above. PetSmart PetsHotel in Torrance takes cats and requires FVRCP.
Where can you board a rabbit or a guinea pig?
A rabbit can stay in the South Bay, and a guinea pig can stay in Torrance. Both answers are narrow, and the two rescue-run options publish the least about their terms, so plan on a phone call rather than a booking page.
Bunny World Foundation runs a boarding program it calls the Bunny Château, and its boarding page lists Redondo Beach among its locations, alongside Pasadena, Silverlake, Studio City and Venice. It is an all-volunteer 501(c)(3) rabbit rescue and states that all boarding proceeds benefit the rabbits it rescues. The page describes private, licensed 24-hour care in a gated and insured facility, exotic vet access, care for senior and special needs rabbits, medication administration, organic vegetables three times a day, unlimited hay and daily pellets, plus grooming on site. Rooms come in four sizes, from a 4 foot by 2.5 foot space up to a 4 foot by 8 foot suite. Reach them at (310) 498-8600. They publish no street address for any location, no rates, no minimum stay, no vaccination requirement and no cancellation terms. Rates come as a quote after their questionnaire.
Rabbit Rescue, 7640 Rosecrans Avenue, Paramount, (562) 862-8844. Farther out than the Long Beach options, and the one that publishes the most useful planning line here. Rabbits only. Boarding is at the shelter, in a custom-built pen five and a half feet long by a yard across, with fresh hay, pellets and leafy greens daily, central air and temperature regulation, grooming on request, and daily care from staff and volunteers. They can take most rabbits with special or medical needs if you say so when you book. Cost varies by how many rabbits, whether they are single or bonded, whether they are fixed, and whether they need extra care.
The constraint at Rabbit Rescue is the opening hours, because there is no weekday morning drop-off at all: Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays 2:00 to 6:00 p.m., Saturdays noon to 5:00 p.m., Sundays 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays. They are volunteer run and ask you to call during those hours rather than email, noting that a delay can cost you the boarding date you wanted.
For guinea pigs, VCA Kennel Club Resort & Spa in Torrance is the only South Bay facility that names the species: “Guinea pigs and other critters are welcome,” from $39 a day, and “We do ask that you provide litter and food.”
Two Long Beach operators publish far more detail, and both are roughly 20 to 25 miles from the Peninsula and the Beach Cities. Sunshine Rabbit Center, 4202 Atlantic Avenue, Unit 201, (562) 231-7116, takes rabbits and guinea pigs. A single rabbit is $25 a day including the drop-off and pickup days, a bonded pair $40, a bonded trio $50, with a three-day minimum. Drop-off and pickup are available every day, including national holidays and days the center is closed to the public, which makes it unusually flexible for a holiday trip.
Bun Chia Burrow, 4103 N. Viking Way, Suite D, Long Beach, (714) 485-8383, is the most fully documented operator in this roundup. Rabbits plus guinea pigs, chinchillas, hamsters and rats. Nothing to pack: “No! We provide everything,” though they ask you to leave the carrier in case of emergency. Rates run from $60 a night to $230 for a 96 square foot Free Roam Suite. A 50 percent deposit is due at booking. The cancellation terms are the strictest here and they matter for the holidays: peak season requires 30 days notice, and inside that the full deposit is forfeited. Thanksgiving and the winter holidays are listed as peak, and published rates change on January 1, 2027.
BunnyLuv Rabbit Resource Center, 10626 Magnolia Boulevard, North Hollywood, (818) 988-4488, boards rabbits at $30 a day for one and $35 for two sharing a pen, and guinea pigs at $15 per pen. The constraint is the drop-off window: Tuesday and Thursday noon to 7:00 p.m., Saturday 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Sunday noon to 3:00 p.m., closed Monday, Wednesday and Friday. They note space is limited especially during holidays.
SoCal Guinea Pig Rescue boards guinea pigs only, at $20 a day for one, $30 a pair and $35 a trio. Boarding happens in volunteer homes across Los Angeles and Orange counties and the rescue publishes no addresses, so you will not know the drive until you ask. Higher rates apply at Thanksgiving and the winter holidays. Their transport rule is worth copying whatever animal you own: bring them in a secure, well-ventilated pet carrier, not a cardboard box or a plastic bin.
One operator is on a clock. Bunny Boarding LA, in the Hollywood area, states “After 14+ years, we will be closing our doors on April 1st, 2027.” Its holiday minimum stays are the longest published anywhere here: four days over holiday weekends, six days at Thanksgiving and seven at Christmas, charged whether or not you use them.
Where can you board a bird or a reptile?
One business in the South Bay publishes boarding for either, and it is in Lomita. Agustin’s Exotic Birds & Reptiles, 2408 Lomita Boulevard, (310) 378-3052. In their words: “Boarding for all Birds and Reptiles starts at $17 per day. All pets are kept in their own enclosures, checked multiple times a day and are secured in their own areas.” Boarding runs seven days a week, and the shop says it is open seven days a week with the exception of major holidays. Whose enclosure “their own enclosures” means is unclear from the page, and the shop publishes no species list, no health requirement, no deposit and no cancellation terms, so those are questions for the phone call.
Beyond Lomita the choice thins quickly. All Animals Veterinary Hospital in Calabasas, roughly 35 miles out, publishes the only specific exotic species list in Los Angeles County, covering reptiles, rats, mice, rabbits, chinchillas, guinea pigs, sugar gliders, spiders, fish, insects and livestock. Guests stay in a temperature and humidity controlled exotic ward with daily technician checks, and the only requirement is a current annual physical examination. Rates are not published.
Allan’s Pet Center, 3330 Pico Boulevard, Santa Monica, (424) 832-3009, boards “birds, reptiles, frogs, chameleons, bettas, insects, and more” at $15 a day or $70 a week, provides cages and food, and asks you to call the day before and book early for major holidays. Bird Sitting and Boarding Los Angeles, in Leimert Park, (323) 419-4211, boards birds by size band in the owner’s home: $30 a day for small birds, $35 for medium and $42 for large including macaws, cockatoos and African greys.
Two reptile specialists serve Los Angeles from private homes and publish no street address. Cutie-Saurus Small Reptile Boarding, (818) 732-4465, in the San Fernando Valley, keeps animals in the enclosure you bring and is open every day of the year. Its published service area lists roughly 60 cities and includes no South Bay city, with Culver City and Marina del Rey the nearest.
Worth knowing before you call anyone: not one facility in this research publishes whether it accepts venomous snakes or large constrictors, and not one publishes how feeding is handled during a stay. For a snake owner those are the two questions with no published answer anywhere in the region.
Can you board a horse for a week on the Peninsula?
No. If you keep a horse on the Palos Verdes Peninsula and you are traveling, the answer is not boarding. It is care where the horse already lives.
No facility on the Peninsula publishes short-term, temporary or vacation horse boarding. Every published rate is monthly, and two barns say so outright. The Peter Weber Equestrian Center at Ernie Howlett Park, 26401 Crenshaw Boulevard, Rolling Hills Estates, (310) 541-9487, heads its price list “Stall Prices, All rates are monthly,” running from $921 for an uncovered pipe stall to $1,600 for a double. Portuguese Bend Riding Club, 40 Narcissa Drive, Rancho Palos Verdes, marks every stall rate per month, from $990 for a pipe corral to $1,200 for a double box stall. Palos Verdes Stables, 4057 Via Opata, (310) 493-2239, publishes $900 for a box stall for a Palos Verdes Estates resident and $950 for a non-resident, and states no period at all.
Empty Saddle Club does not board. It is a private members club for western riding on member-owned land, and membership requires three sponsors from the current membership and a $5,000 refundable applicant fee.
What these barns do sell by the occurrence is care, and that is the practical route for a trip. Peter Weber prices individual turnouts at $10 per request, individual lunges and hand walks at $25 each, and blanketing at $60 a month for full service. Portuguese Bend prices a single turn-out at $25, a hand walk at $30, lunging at $40 and blanketing at $15 per time. Those are services for a horse already living there, not short stays, and a rate sheet can read like day boarding if you are scanning quickly.
There is a zoning reason private arrangements fill this space, and it is useful if you are buying. Rancho Palos Verdes permits horses in four Equestrian Overlay districts, along Palos Verdes Drive East and in Portuguese Bend, Ridgecrest and Via Campesina, and its code states that “No more than four large domestic animals will be boarded on any developed lot,” defining boarding as keeping animals that are not owned by the owners or lessees of the lot. So a homeowner in one of those districts may legally keep up to four horses belonging to someone else. Rolling Hills goes further: every lot must be developed with a stable and corral or set aside at least 1,000 square feet for one. Rolling Hills Estates allows a maximum of four horses on a property in its Horse Overlay zone, with at least 800 square feet of horsekeeping area for the first horse and 300 for each additional one, kept at least 35 feet from any dwelling.
Two cautions. We found no barn on or near the Peninsula that publishes a waiting list or a wait time, so the widely repeated belief that Peninsula stables have long waits is not something we can source. And whether a horse counts as a domestic animal on a Palos Verdes Estates residential lot could not be determined from the city’s code, so we are not saying either way.
The animals nobody here boards
Some searches end in a straight no, and it is better to know now than in November.
Ferrets. We found no ferret boarding in the South Bay, the surrounding cities or Los Angeles County. There is a legal reason: California restricts the Mustelidae family under Title 14, Section 671 of the California Code of Regulations, and the domestic ferret is not among the listed exceptions. Veterinary care exists, but boarding does not. Hedgehogs, with no boarding found anywhere in California. Chickens and backyard poultry, with none in the search area. And gerbils, which no operator in the region names.
If you own one of these, the plan is in-home care, and it is worth lining up a sitter now rather than in the week of the trip.
What should you pack?
The answer runs opposite to what most people assume, and getting it wrong costs you a trip home for a cage.
The rabbit and small-mammal specialists supply everything and would rather you brought nothing. Bun Chia Burrow covers pellets, vegetables, hay, flooring, treats, toys, pens, water and bedding, and asks you to leave the carrier with them in case of emergency. BunnyLuv says “We provide everything, just bring your bunny in a carrier!” Sunshine Rabbit Center supplies all animal care supplies and asks you specifically not to bring large houses or hides, automatic feeders, cameras or sentimental items. Rabbit Rescue supplies the pen, the hay, the pellets and the greens.
The general boarding facilities are the reverse. VCA Kennel Club Resort & Spa asks that you provide litter and food. El Segundo Pet Resort is well equipped but recommends bringing your own food to avoid changing your pet’s routine, which is the better practice anyway. Family Pet Clinic allows one toy and one blanket and wants food pre-portioned. PetSmart feeds owner-supplied food at no charge.
Reptile owners generally bring the habitat. Cutie-Saurus keeps animals in the enclosure you bring and monitors temperature, lighting and humidity by species, so plan to hand over the enclosure, the heat source and the UVB lamp, the ultraviolet light most reptiles need.
Medication travels with a paper trail and a price. PetSmart requires medication in its original packaging, clearly labeled, and requires a veterinarian’s dosage recommendation for anything over the counter. Administration is usually billed: BunnyLuv charges $10 a day, Sunshine Rabbit Center $5 a day per dose, Bunny Boarding LA $1.50 a dose, and Portuguese Bend Riding Club $3.50 per time plus supplies.
A short packing list that works almost everywhere: the carrier, food measured out by meal in labeled bags, medication in its original container with written dosing, your vet’s name and number, your own mobile number and a second contact who can make a decision if you cannot be reached, and written authorization for treatment with a spending limit you have set yourself.
Who to call if something goes wrong while you are away
Ask the facility two questions before you leave: which veterinarian they use, and what transport costs. Sunshine Rabbit Center charges $100 for up to three hours of staff time for emergency vet transport, then $30 an hour, with vet fees on top. Bun Chia Burrow charges separately for transport as well.
Hospitals open around the clock in the South Bay: Veterinary Emergency Group in Manhattan Beach and Torrance, open 24 hours and walk-in. VCA Advanced Veterinary Care Center, 15926 Hawthorne Boulevard, Lawndale, (310) 542-8018, open 24 hours. And ACCESS Specialty Animal Hospitals South Bay in Torrance.
For birds, rabbits, rodents and reptiles, confirm species coverage before you travel rather than on the night, because the overnight hospitals publish emergency care without publishing which species they accept. Places that do publish exotic or avian medicine: Veterinary Cancer Group South Bay in Torrance, which states it sees dogs, cats, pocket pets and exotics though it is not an emergency hospital. Avalon Animal Hospital & Bird Clinic, 22404 S. Avalon Boulevard, Carson, (310) 835-0111. Long Beach Animal Hospital, 3816 East Anaheim Street, (562) 434-9966, which treats birds, rabbits, ferrets, reptiles and rodents and keeps the latest reception hours in the area, to 10:00 p.m. daily. And the Exotic Animal Veterinary Center, 171 N. Altadena Drive, Pasadena, (626) 405-1777.
Family Pet Clinic of Redondo Beach treats rabbits, rats, mice and hamsters, and states it is not able to treat birds at this time. One more worth knowing if you own a horse: Los Angeles County Animal Care handles transport for horses, but its own guidance states sheltering is available only for small animals and only for up to 30 days.
If the trip is a move rather than a holiday, our Moving With Pets page in South Bay Locals covers the vet records, the carrier rules and the first week in a new house, and South Bay Dog Parks lists where the dog can run once you are back.
What we report next
Operator terms, rates and holiday hours change, and several of the ones above are dated. We will recheck every facility here in early November, before Thanksgiving booking closes, and again in early January. Published changes we already know are coming: Bun Chia Burrow’s rates change January 1, 2027, and Bunny Boarding LA closes April 1, 2027.
We do our very best to supply facts drawn from official sources so that the information you find here is reliable and accurate. If we find conflicting information, we report on all of it.
Everything above was read on each operator’s own website on October 16, 2026. We did not call or email any business. Prices, hours, vaccination requirements and holiday closures are set by each operator and change without notice, so confirm the details that matter to you directly with the facility before you book. This is general information, not veterinary, medical, legal or real estate advice, and not a recommendation of any business. For what your own animal needs before a stay, ask your veterinarian.
Buying, selling, or still deciding if the South Bay is where you’ll settle down next?
Neil Chhabria, Broker
Chhabria Real Estate Company, DRE 01821437
310.798.3122, neil@chhabriare.com
Sources
Every operator fact above was read on that operator’s own website on October 16, 2026. Boarding and daycare: Canine Retreat, Down Dog Lodge, El Segundo Pet Resort, Dogtopia of South Bay, South Park Doggie, PetSmart PetsHotel, Family Pet Clinic of Redondo Beach, VCA Kennel Club Resort & Spa. Small mammals, birds and reptiles: Rabbit Rescue, Bunny World Foundation, Agustin’s Exotic Birds & Reptiles, Sunshine Rabbit Center, Bun Chia Burrow, BunnyLuv, Bunny Boarding LA, SoCal Guinea Pig Rescue, All Animals Veterinary Hospital, Allan’s Pet Center, Bird Sitting and Boarding Los Angeles, Cutie-Saurus, California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Equestrian and zoning: Peter Weber Equestrian Center, Portuguese Bend Riding Club, Palos Verdes Stables, Empty Saddle Club, Rancho Palos Verdes Equestrian Q District, City of Rolling Hills, Rolling Hills Estates. Emergency hospitals were verified October 2, 2026.
