Dog Boarding Over Christmas and New Year in Bangalore

Christmas Day 2026 falls on a Friday, and so does New Year’s Day 2027. If you’re leaving Bangalore for either weekend, or for the week in between, whoever looks after your dog needs to be asked, met and briefed well before you pack.

The dates

• Friday 25 December is a general holiday in Karnataka’s 2026 list, so 25 to 27 December is a long weekend. Christmas Eve, Thursday 24 December, is only a restricted holiday, an optional day off (state staff may take any two of these a year) (Karnataka 2026 holiday list, checked 20 Oct 2026).
• Friday 1 January 2027 belongs to the 2027 list, which wasn’t out when we checked. In the 2026 list, New Year’s Day was only a restricted holiday, so check your own office’s calendar.
• Four days of leave (28 to 31 December), plus 1 January if your office gives it, makes ten days away from 25 December to 3 January. That’s the stretch to plan care for.

Sort it out early, and ask about holiday rates

Three Bangalore boarders we checked say on their own sites that holidays cost more or need arranging ahead (all checked 20 Oct 2026):

• PawSpace lists ₹899 a night for dog boarding and ₹1,350 for an overnight pet sitter, and says festive season rates are 25 to 30% higher (boarding, pet sitting).
• Premium Pet lists standard boarding from ₹650 a night, says holiday surcharges may apply at Diwali, Christmas and New Year, recommends booking early, and may ask for a small advance to hold a holiday slot (Premium Pet pricing).
• Venus Pet Care in BSK 6th Stage recommends advance booking “especially during holidays and weekends” (Venus Pet Care).

Over the 2025 year-end holidays, Bangalore home boarders told Deccan Herald they had more enquiries and capped admissions so each pet got enough attention, and one said stays had grown to two weeks from a week or less (Deccan Herald, 1 Jan 2026). We found no figures on how fast places fill up. When you call, ask whether 24 December to 3 January is charged at a holiday rate, whether a deposit is needed, and what happens if your return is delayed.

Boarding, a sitter or a friend

For the full comparison, see pet sitter or dog boarding and dog boarding and pet sitting in Bangalore. Over the holidays, a few things change:

• New Year’s Eve noise. With a pet sitter, your dog spends the loudest night at home, where it already has its hiding places. In boarding, it spends that night somewhere new. If your dog panics at crackers, this may decide it.
• Overnight or drop-in. Ask a sitter whether they’ll be with your dog at midnight on 31 December or only doing daytime drop-in visits. Drop-in visits leave your dog alone when the crackers start.
• A friend or neighbour who knows your dog. The neighbour or relative who usually helps may be away the same week, so ask early. If your dog moves to their home, it’s a new place on a loud night, so treat it like boarding: same paperwork, same briefing.
• Puppies. A puppy still in its vaccine series shouldn’t mix with unknown dogs (puppy vaccination schedule), and some boarders only take puppies once their first vaccinations are done: Venus Pet Care accepts them from 3 months, “after completing initial vaccinations”. A sitter at home may suit a young puppy better. Ask your vet.

Do a trial stay in November

If your dog has never boarded, Premium Pet suggests a one-night trial stay before a longer trip (Premium Pet, April 2025), and PawSpace suggests a meet-and-greet with the person who’ll look after your dog. With a sitter, have them over for a walk and a feed first.

Do it in November, not the week before you leave, and not in Deepavali week (8 to 10 November), when crackers make a first night away harder. If your dog won’t eat, cries all night or doesn’t get on with the other dogs, you still have time to try somewhere else.

Vaccines and tick treatment: get the timing right

Vaccination records are “mandatory for most facilities”, says the wagNbush boarding marketplace (wagNbush, checked 20 Oct 2026). Premium Pet’s boarding guide lists DHPPi, rabies and kennel cough as the usual requirements, given or confirmed at least 14 days before boarding. Ask each boarder for their list, and see our guide to vaccines for dog boarding.

• Check the vaccination card now. If your dog’s yearly rabies or DHPPi+L booster falls due during the trip, ask your vet whether to give it before you go.
• Kennel cough is optional for dogs that stay home, but boarders often ask for it (puppy vaccination schedule). Its maker says the nasal Nobivac KC protects against Bordetella 72 hours after the dose but against parainfluenza only after 3 weeks, and advises giving an unvaccinated dog its dose at least 3 weeks before kennelling (MSD Animal Health). For a 24 December drop-off, that’s 3 December at the latest.
• Ticks. Brown dog ticks live in and around homes and kennels, and can pass between dogs housed together (CAPC). Keep your dog’s tick chew, collar or spot-on on schedule. If a dose falls due during the stay, pack it and write the date down for the carer. Check your dog for ticks when it comes home. For products, see tick fever in Bangalore.

Ask your vet first before changing your dog’s schedule.

New Year’s Eve: plan for crackers

Fireworks “lit up the skyline” in Bengaluru as 2026 began, ANI reported (Times of Oman, 1 Jan 2026). A 2018 Supreme Court order allows Christmas and New Year’s Eve fireworks only from 11:55 pm to 12:30 am (SCC Online, 2018). We found no Bengaluru order for 31 December 2026 yet. At Deepavali 2025 the city allowed crackers only from 8 to 10 pm on two nights, yet feeders said they were still going off a week later (Deccan Herald). Plan for noise before and after midnight.

Our Deepavali crackers guide covers calming a scared dog and what to do if one runs. Send it to your carer, and add:

• Where your dog hides at home and how it reacts to bangs.
• A number on the ID tag that will be answered. If you’ll be on a flight or out of range at midnight, add the carer’s number too.

Pick-up and drop on 31 December: on New Year’s Eve 2025, police closed several roads in the CBD, Koramangala and Indiranagar to private vehicles from 8 pm to 2 am, and shut every flyover except the airport one from 11 pm to 6 am (Deccan Herald, 29 Dec 2025). Don’t plan a pick-up or drop through those areas that night.

What to leave with the carer

Our packing list for dog boarding covers the basics. For the holidays, also leave:

• Extra food, in case your return slips. wagNbush suggests at least two days more than the trip.
• Your vet’s number, and a clinic that’s open on 25 December and 1 January. Call your vet in early December and ask about holiday hours.
• A local contact who can make decisions and collect your dog if you can’t get back.
• A note on festive food. Christmas plum cake usually has raisins, which can damage a dog’s kidneys, and can contain rum (alcohol is on the same list); chocolate can cause vomiting, seizures and even death (ASPCA). Ask the carer to keep both out of reach, and to call your vet straight away if your dog eats either.

Taking your dog along

• Flying: Air India and Akasa Air take dogs up to 10 kg, carrier included, in the cabin on domestic flights, at a published ₹7,500. Heavier dogs fly in the hold, but Air India doesn’t accept snub-nosed breeds such as pugs and Shih Tzus there. IndiGo carries no pets apart from guide dogs (Business Today, 10 Oct 2026).
• Train: dogs can travel in AC First Class or First Class if you book a whole coupe or cabin, or otherwise in the brake van. The dog has to reach the parcel office at least 3 hours before departure, with its vaccination records (Citizen Matters, Dec 2021). Check the current rules before you book.