Last updated 2026-07-23
TL;DR
"Doggies Inc" is a generic name people search when looking for dog boarding services, but there's no single national chain by that exact name. Boarding typically costs $25-$85 per night depending on region and amenities [1]. Registering a dog means either a city/county license (usually $10-$25/year) or breed registry papers (AKC, around $35+), which are two very different things.
What is Doggies Inc and is it a real boarding chain?
"Doggies Inc" isn't a registered national franchise the way Dogtopia or Camp Bow Wow is. It's the kind of name a lot of independent boarding kennels, daycares, and mobile groomers use locally, and it's also a common search phrase for people typing loosely ("doggies inc dog boarding") when they mean "a place that boards doggies." If you're searching for a specific business by that name, check your county's business license lookup or your state's Secretary of State business search. LLC names like "Doggies Inc" or "Doggie's Inc." get registered constantly at the state level for small, single-location operators. What's more useful here is the actual question underneath the search: how does dog boarding pricing work, and how do you get a dog licensed or registered. That question comes up whether the reader is a pet owner comparing kennels or the person opening the business. This article covers both, using real cost data and real regulatory sources instead of guessing at a specific company's rates. If you're comparing options for your own dog, our guides on dog boarding and pet boarding break down what to look for in a facility beyond price.
How much does dog boarding cost?
Dog boarding in the US generally runs $25 to $85 per night, with most standard kennel stays landing between $35 and $65 depending on your region and the dog's size [1]. Luxury "dog hotel" suites with webcams, private play yards, and daily one-on-one time can run $75-$150+ per night in major metro areas. Daycare (no overnight stay) is usually cheaper, often $20-$40 per day. A few things move the price a lot. Location matters more than almost anything else. Boarding in rural Ohio might cost $25/night while a comparable stay in San Francisco or Manhattan can hit $80-$100/night just for a standard run. Facility type matters too: a traditional kennel with concrete runs is cheapest, a cage-free daycare-boarding hybrid (the Dogtopia/Camp Bow Wow model) sits in the middle, and in-home pet sitting through apps like Rover or Wag often lands somewhere between $30-$75/night depending on the sitter's experience and your dog's needs. Add-ons stack up fast. Expect extra charges for medication administration ($5-$15/day), grooming or bath before pickup ($20-$60), extra playtime or one-on-one walks ($10-$20/session), and holiday surcharges (many kennels tack on $5-$15/night around Thanksgiving, Christmas, and July 4th because demand spikes). Multi-dog discounts are common if you're boarding two dogs from the same household together in one run, often 10-20% off the second dog. If you're the one opening a facility rather than booking one, our doggy day care and dog kennels guides walk through how operators actually set their rate cards, and what determines whether $40/night is profitable or a loss leader in your area.
How much is dog boarding compared to daycare and pet sitting?
| Traditional kennel boarding | $25-$50/night | Concrete runs, limited playtime, often cheapest option | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cage-free / daycare-style boarding | $40-$85/night | Group play, webcams common, higher labor cost passed to owner | |
| Luxury dog hotel suites | $75-$150+/night | Private rooms, TV, extended one-on-one time | |
| In-home pet sitting (app-based) | $30-$75/night | Varies heavily by sitter experience and location | |
| Daycare only (no overnight) | $20-$40/day | Common add-on for boarding facilities too | These figures come from aggregated industry pricing reports and are consistent with what boarding and daycare operators report charging in most US metro and suburban markets [1]. If a quoted price is way outside these bands in either direction, ask why. Too cheap can mean minimal supervision or no vaccination requirements. Too expensive should come with a clear explanation, like extra staff ratios, private suites, or 24-hour on-site care. |
Here's a rough national comparison. These are ranges, not fixed prices, since no national price database tracks every kennel and every city. | Service type | Typical price range | Notes |
How do you register a dog?
"Registering a dog" usually means one of two very different things, and mixing them up causes a lot of confusion. The first is a municipal dog license, a legal requirement in many cities and counties that you register your dog with local animal control, usually tied to proof of rabies vaccination. The second is breed registration with an organization like the American Kennel Club (AKC), which has nothing to do with the law and everything to do with pedigree paperwork. For a municipal dog license: you typically go to your county or city clerk's office, animal control department, or their website, bring proof of a current rabies vaccination from your vet, pay a fee (often $10-$25/year, sometimes less for spayed/neutered dogs), and get a tag. Many counties now let you register online. This is the registration most cities legally require, and failing to do it can result in fines in some jurisdictions. For breed registry papers: that's a separate process covered in detail below, and it's optional unless you plan to show, breed, or compete with your dog.
How do you get a dog license?
Getting a dog license means contacting your city or county animal control office or clerk, since licensing rules are set locally, not by any single federal agency. There is no national dog license. Every state defers this to county or municipal governments, so the exact process, fee, and renewal period varies by where you live. The general steps are consistent almost everywhere. First, get your dog's rabies vaccination current. Nearly every county requires proof of rabies vaccination from a licensed veterinarian before they'll issue a license. Second, find your county or city's animal control or clerk's office, usually searchable as "[Your County] dog license" on a .gov site. Third, bring or upload proof of vaccination, your dog's basic info (breed, age, sex, spay/neuter status), and payment. Fourth, you'll get a tag, which should stay on your dog's collar; if your dog is ever picked up as a stray, that tag is often the fastest way animal control gets them back to you. Renewal is usually annual or every 1-3 years depending on the jurisdiction, often timed to your rabies vaccination schedule (since many vets now give 3-year rabies vaccines, some counties allow 3-year license terms to match). Fees are typically lower for spayed/neutered dogs; some counties charge $10 for altered dogs and $30-$50 for intact dogs specifically to encourage spay/neuter compliance. Check your specific county clerk or animal control .gov page for exact numbers, since we can't give you a fee that applies everywhere.
How do you get papers for a dog (AKC and breed registration)?
"Getting papers" for a dog means registering it with a breed registry, most commonly the American Kennel Club (AKC), which documents pedigree and confirms a dog's lineage traces back to registered purebred parents. This has nothing to do with legal ownership or your city's dog license. It's paperwork for pedigree, not proof you own a dog legally. The most common path: if you bought a purebred puppy from an AKC-registered litter, the breeder should give you an AKC registration form (or tell you it's been submitted online) at the time of purchase. You then complete registration in your own name, which currently costs around $35-$45 for standard registration through AKC, though exact current fees are set by AKC and can change [2]. If your breeder didn't register the litter, you generally cannot get AKC papers after the fact; AKC registration starts with the breeder registering the litter, not the individual dog buyer retroactively. A common scam risk: sellers claiming a dog is "AKC registerable" or has "papers coming" with no litter registration number are sometimes selling puppies that will never get real papers. Ask for the litter registration number and the breeder's AKC registration status before you pay, not after. If your dog is a mixed breed or you got it from a shelter, standard purebred registries won't apply, but AKC does offer a Canine Partners program for mixed-breed dogs to participate in some AKC events, which is a different and separate registration than pedigree papers.
How can I get papers for my dog if I don't have them already?
If you already own a dog and don't have papers, your options are limited and depend heavily on why you don't have them. If your dog is purebred and the breeder registered the litter but you never completed your individual registration, contact the breeder for the litter number and complete it yourself through AKC. If the breeder never registered the litter at all, in most cases you cannot retroactively get full AKC pedigree papers, because AKC registration requires documentation tracing back to registered parents, more than visual breed identification. Some owners pursue DNA-based breed identification services instead. These confirm likely ancestry but are not the same as pedigree registration and won't get you AKC papers. If you're planning to breed your own dog and want future puppies to have proper papers, the fix starts now: register your breeding dog properly, keep every health test and pedigree document, and register litters as they're born, which is covered next.
How do you become a dog breeder legally?
Becoming a legal dog breeder means clearing three separate layers: state/local licensing, possibly a USDA license, and your own record-keeping for buyers and registries. Skipping any one of these is the most common mistake new breeders make. At the federal level, the USDA's Animal Welfare Act requires a license if you sell puppies wholesale (to pet stores or brokers) or if you sell directly to the public sight unseen (online sales without the buyer meeting the dog and facility in person). Breeders who sell through these channels generally need a Class A or Class B license regardless of exact litter count; the specific definitions and any numeric thresholds are set out in USDA APHIS regulations under the Animal Welfare Act, and you should check the current rule directly since language has been revised over time [3]. The regulatory definition of "dealer" at 9 CFR 1.1 is what triggers this, and it's written around how animals are sold, not simply how many litters a breeder produces [3]. At the state level, many states require a separate breeder or kennel license once you exceed a certain number of breeding females or litters per year, and these thresholds vary widely: some states set the bar at 3 or more breeding females, others use different litter-count triggers. Check your state Department of Agriculture's page directly, since state breeder statutes are amended fairly often and a number that was accurate two years ago may not be current now. At the local level, your county or city zoning ordinance likely has its own rules about how many dogs you can keep on a residential property before it's classified as a kennel requiring a conditional use permit or zoning variance. This is often the part new breeders miss entirely, showing up to buy property or start breeding without checking whether local zoning even permits it. For operators planning boarding or daycare on top of breeding (a common combination), the packet and process differ by whether you're structuring the operation as a kennel, a breeding facility, or both. We built a $149 one-time Kennel License & Zoning Packet specifically to walk you through gathering the right state, county, and USDA documentation in one place rather than hunting across a dozen government sites. It doesn't file anything for you or replace a lawyer or your local zoning board; it organizes what you need to bring to them.
What USDA thresholds apply to dog breeders and sellers?
USDA licensing under the Animal Welfare Act (AWA), 7 U.S.C. 2131 et seq., hinges on how you sell dogs, more than how many you sell. The regulations define "dealer" broadly at 9 CFR 1.1, and licensing generally applies to anyone who breeds and sells dogs at wholesale for resale, or who sells dogs to the public without the buyer and the animal meeting in person before the sale completes (this covers most online and shipped-puppy sales) [3]. A long-standing exemption exists for retail pet stores and for breeders who sell directly to buyers who physically visit the facility, since Congress intended the AWA to regulate the wholesale/commercial pipeline more than small in-person hobby breeders. That exemption was narrowed by a 2013 USDA final rule that closed a loophole letting large internet-based breeders avoid licensing (78 FR 57227, published September 18, 2013), so a breeder who sells even a modest number of dogs entirely online, sight-unseen, may now need a license where they wouldn't have a decade ago [4]. Because the exact exemption language and licensing categories (Class A breeder-dealer vs Class B dealer) are technical and get amended, don't rely on secondhand paraphrases, including this one, for a final compliance decision. Read 9 CFR Part 1 and Part 2 directly through the Electronic Code of Federal Regulations [5], or call your regional USDA APHIS Animal Care office before assuming you're exempt. Separately, states layer their own thresholds on top. It's common for a state to trigger its commercial breeder license requirement at a specific number of breeding females (numbers like 3, 5, or 10 show up across different state statutes), meaning you can be well under any federal threshold and still need a state kennel or breeder license. Always check both.
How do zoning rules affect boarding, daycare, and breeding operations?
Zoning is usually the part that surprises new operators most, because it's entirely separate from state licensing and USDA registration, and it's set at the county or city level rather than the state. A property zoned residential often prohibits commercial kennels outright, or allows them only with a conditional use permit (CUP) after a public hearing. Before signing a lease or buying property for boarding, daycare, or breeding, call the county zoning or planning department directly and ask specifically whether "commercial kennel" or "animal boarding facility" is a permitted use, a conditional use, or prohibited in that zone. Many counties publish zoning maps and use tables online, but the terminology varies (some call it "kennel," others "animal care facility" or "veterinary/boarding use"), so a phone call or email to the planner on duty is often faster than guessing from a PDF. If you need a conditional use permit, expect a public hearing where neighbors can object, typically over noise and odor concerns. Preparing for that hearing (sound mitigation plans, waste management plans, traffic/parking plans) matters as much as the paperwork itself. Our guides on dogtopia-style facility build-outs and dog hotels near me cover what inspectors and zoning boards commonly ask for in these hearings.
What facility standards do boarding and breeding operations need to meet?
Facility standards come from two directions: USDA Animal Welfare Act regulations if you're federally licensed, and your state/county's own kennel or boarding facility rules, which are often stricter on things like square footage per dog, temperature control, and sanitation schedules. USDA's AWA regulations at 9 CFR Part 3, Subpart A set baseline standards for licensed dog breeders and dealers, covering minimum enclosure size scaled to the dog's size, ambient temperature limits, and required veterinary care programs [6]. States and counties frequently add their own layer on top: many require specific staff-to-dog supervision ratios for daycare, separate isolation areas for sick or newly arrived animals, specific ventilation and drainage standards for kennel runs, and fire/emergency evacuation plans. A practical note for boarding operators specifically: vaccination requirements (rabies, plus commonly bordetella and canine influenza) are usually enforced at the facility level even where they're not strictly a licensing requirement. Insurance carriers and liability exposure push operators to require them anyway.
How much does it cost to license a boarding or breeding facility overall?
Total licensing cost for opening a boarding, daycare, or breeding facility is genuinely a range, since it stacks state license fees, county zoning/permit fees, USDA license fees (if applicable), and any required inspection fees, and every one of those varies by jurisdiction. State kennel or breeder licenses commonly run somewhere in the low hundreds of dollars annually, county zoning permits and conditional use permit application fees can run from under $100 to well over $1,000 depending on whether a public hearing and site plan review are required, and USDA license fees are tiered by the number of animals and license class [3]. Because no single number is accurate nationwide, the honest answer is: budget for a state fee, a separate county fee, and (if you cross USDA thresholds) a federal fee, and confirm all three directly with the relevant .gov office before finalizing your business plan. That's also exactly the gap our Kennel License & Zoning Packet is built to close. Instead of tracking down your state Department of Agriculture, your county zoning office, and USDA APHIS separately, it organizes the checklist and paperwork prep into one $149 one-time packet. It's a document organization tool, not a law firm, and it doesn't guarantee approval from any board.
Frequently asked questions
How much does dog boarding cost per night?
Most dog boarding runs $25-$85 per night depending on region and facility type, with traditional kennels on the low end and cage-free or luxury dog hotels on the high end [1]. Add-ons like medication administration, grooming, and holiday surcharges can push the total higher, so always ask for an itemized quote before booking.
How much is dog boarding for a week?
A week of boarding typically costs $175-$595 based on a $25-$85/night range, though many facilities offer a modest multi-night or weekly discount, often 5-15% off. Confirm whether the facility's quoted nightly rate already includes basic daycare/playtime or charges it separately, since that changes the real weekly total.
How do you register a dog with the city?
Contact your city or county animal control office or clerk, bring proof of current rabies vaccination from your vet, pay the licensing fee (commonly $10-$25/year, often less for spayed/neutered dogs), and you'll receive a tag. This is a legal municipal requirement in many areas and is separate from AKC or breed registration.
How do you get a dog license?
Get your dog's rabies vaccination current, find your county or city's animal control or clerk's office (search "[your county] dog license" on a .gov site), submit proof of vaccination and your dog's details, and pay the fee. Renewal is usually annual or every 1-3 years depending on your jurisdiction's rules.
How do you get papers for a dog?
"Papers" means breed registry documentation, most commonly through AKC, which requires the breeder to have registered the litter first. You then complete individual registration in your name, currently around $35-$45 through AKC [2]. If the litter was never registered, standard pedigree papers generally can't be added retroactively.
How can I get papers for my dog if the breeder didn't register the litter?
In most cases you can't get full AKC pedigree papers after the fact, since registration requires documented lineage back to registered parents, more than visual identification. DNA breed-identification tests can estimate ancestry but aren't a substitute for pedigree registration and won't produce official papers.
How do you become a dog breeder legally?
Check three layers: your state Department of Agriculture's breeder licensing rules, your county zoning ordinance for kennel/breeding use permissions, and USDA APHIS requirements if you sell wholesale or sight-unseen online [3]. Most new breeders miss the zoning layer, so confirm with your county planning office before committing to a property.
What USDA threshold requires a breeder to get a federal license?
USDA licensing under the Animal Welfare Act hinges mainly on sales method: breeders selling wholesale for resale, or selling dogs to buyers who never see the animal or facility in person before purchase (typical online/shipped sales), generally need a license under the 9 CFR 1.1 dealer definition regardless of exact volume [3]. Exemptions for in-person retail sales exist but were narrowed by a 2013 rule change, so check current regulation text directly.
Do I need a kennel license just to run a home-based dog boarding business?
Very likely yes, in most jurisdictions. Even a small home-based boarding or pet-sitting business that houses other people's dogs overnight counts as a commercial kennel use under local zoning and may require a state or county kennel license. Requirements vary widely, so confirm with your county zoning office and state Department of Agriculture before taking paying clients.
What's the difference between a dog license and AKC registration papers?
A dog license is a legal municipal requirement tied to rabies vaccination proof, issued by your city or county, usually $10-$25/year. AKC registration papers document pedigree and breed lineage and have zero legal bearing on ownership; you can legally own an unregistered dog with no papers as long as it's properly licensed locally.
How much does a USDA breeder or dealer license cost?
USDA APHIS license fees are tiered by license class (Class A breeder vs Class B dealer) and the number of animals involved, under the AWA regulations at 9 CFR Part 2 [5]. Because fees are adjusted periodically, check the current fee schedule directly rather than relying on an older quoted figure.
Can I board dogs in my house without any license at all?
Almost certainly not legally, if you're charging money and boarding dogs that aren't yours regularly. Most counties classify paid overnight care for other people's animals as a commercial kennel use requiring zoning approval and often a state or county license, regardless of whether it happens in a home rather than a standalone facility.
Sources
- Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, 9 CFR Part 1, Section 1.1 (definitions, including "dealer"): Federal AWA dealer definition and licensing triggers based on wholesale and sight-unseen sales
- Federal Register, USDA APHIS final rule amending Animal Welfare Act regulations to define retail pet store and close the internet sales loophole, 78 FR 57227 (September 18, 2013): 2013 rule change narrowing the retail exemption for internet-based dog sellers
- Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, 9 CFR Part 2 (licensing): Licensing categories and requirements including Class A and Class B licenses under the AWA
- Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, 9 CFR Part 3, Subpart A (specifications for humane handling, care, treatment, and transportation of dogs): AWA facility standards for licensed dog breeders and dealers, including enclosure size and temperature limits
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Animal Welfare Act and Animal Welfare Regulations (statutory text, 7 U.S.C. 2131 et seq.): Statutory basis of the Animal Welfare Act licensing scheme for dog breeders and dealers
- Cornell Legal Information Institute, 7 U.S.C. 2132 (definitions under the Animal Welfare Act): Federal statutory definitions underlying dealer and exhibitor licensing categories referenced in the AWA