Verified October 2, 2026
There is no commercial boarding or daycare facility on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, in Manhattan Beach, in Hermosa Beach, or in Lomita. Wherever you live here, boarding your dog means driving to El Segundo, Torrance, Gardena, Harbor City, Redondo Beach or San Pedro. Plan the drop-off around that drive rather than around your flight.
Where are the boarding facilities?
Down Dog Lodge, El Segundo. 1501 E. El Segundo Blvd. (310) 606-5507. Cage-free boarding and daycare in a 12,000 square foot facility, staffed around the clock every day of the year. Rabies, DA2PP, Bordetella, canine influenza and leptospirosis. The last two need two rounds plus a seven-day wait, so start three weeks before you travel. Two-phase evaluation, $80. Puppies from three months, spay or neuter required after six. Dogs only.
El Segundo Pet Resort. 231 E. Franklin Ave. (310) 322-6506. Dogs, cats and exotics. Reception is open Monday through Friday 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM and weekends 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM, with after-hours pickup and drop-off for an extra fee. This is the one place here that asks for no evaluation: they state they do not need an interview or a test run.
Canine Retreat, Harbor City. 25930 Belle Porte Ave. (310) 530-0800. $80 a night, published on their own site, which almost nothing else here does. Cage-free, attendants sleep on site, cat boarding offered separately. The closest cage-free option to the Peninsula, and the only one naming Palos Verdes Estates, Rancho Palos Verdes, Rolling Hills and Rolling Hills Estates in its own service area. Four months and seven pounds minimum, altered by seven months, monthly flea prevention. A newly adopted dog has to have been home two weeks first.
South Park Doggie Adventureland, Gardena. 945 W 190th St. (310) 756-6110. Boarding, daycare, grooming, training and live cameras, with overnight staff on site. Bordetella, DHLPP and rabies required, influenza and leptospirosis recommended. Trial assessment of two to four hours. Dogs over seven months must be altered to join group play, and unaltered dogs are limited to one-on-one. Cancel at least 48 hours ahead or the deposit may go.
Dogtopia of South Bay, Torrance. 2360 W 205th Street, Torrance 90501. (310) 953-9321. Boarding, daycare and webcams. A meet and greet is required. Twelve weeks and up, spay or neuter at seven months. They do not name the individual vaccines on their site, so ask before you assume your dog is covered.
Grateful Dogs Clubhouse, El Segundo. 202 Illinois Street. (310) 364-0011. Boarding, daycare and grooming. Closed noon to 1:00 PM on weekdays, which catches people out. Orientation and screening before the first stay. Rabies, distemper and parvo, canine influenza, Bordetella.
PetSmart PetsHotel, Torrance. 3855-59 Sepulveda Blvd. (310) 316-9047. Dogs and cats. The store page does not publish vaccination requirements or evaluation rules, so everything has to be settled by phone.
What if your dog does not do group play?
Board at a veterinary practice instead. A dog who is old, anxious, recovering from surgery or simply done with other dogs does better somewhere that is not built around a playroom.
Family Pet Clinic of Redondo Beach, 2006 Artesia Blvd, (310) 376-0072, boards dogs and cats with three daily walks in a private park on the property. Office hours are 7:30 AM to 6:00 PM on weekdays and they are closed weekends, so that is your real pickup window. South Shores Pet Clinic, 2318 S Western Ave, San Pedro, (310) 832-5327, boards dogs and cats including animals who are not their patients, and is closed Sunday.
What should you ask before you book?
Which vaccines, and how far ahead. Canine influenza and leptospirosis can take three weeks to complete, which is longer than most people’s notice before a trip.
Whether an evaluation is required, and when they can fit you in. Most of these want the dog assessed before a first overnight, and that appointment is the thing that runs out before the holidays.
What time you can actually collect. Several close for lunch, close on Sunday, or charge by the hour past noon. The pickup window matters more than the nightly rate when your flight lands at 4:00 PM on a Sunday.
What does it cost?
Almost nobody publishes a rate. Canine Retreat is the exception at $80 a night. Down Dog Lodge publishes its $80 evaluation fee but not its nightly rate. Everywhere else quotes by phone, and rates move around the holidays, so ask the price and the availability in the same call.
Which ones take cats?
El Segundo Pet Resort takes dogs, cats and exotics. Canine Retreat offers cat boarding separately from the dog side. PetSmart PetsHotel takes both. Both veterinary options above board cats as well. Down Dog Lodge, South Park Doggie and Dogtopia are dogs only.
If you are new here and have not sorted the paperwork yet, licensing works differently in every South Bay city, and a current rabies certificate is the one document every facility on this page will ask to see.
The boarding and daycare places are listed with their vaccination requirements and evaluation rules in The Local’s Guide to Pets in the South Bay. Download it here.
Sources
- Down Dog Lodge, El Segundo
- El Segundo Pet Resort
- Canine Retreat, Harbor City
- South Park Doggie
- Dogtopia of South Bay
- Family Pet Clinic of Redondo Beach
Grateful Dogs Clubhouse and South Shores Pet Clinic had no reachable website when we checked on October 2, 2026, so their details here come from our October 1, 2026 research and should be confirmed by phone.
