Reserve Your Dog's Overnight Stay!
Call us today to get your dog started with our Temperament Test!
Cage-Free Nights, Staffed Straight Through Till Morning
Leaving town shouldn’t mean your dog spends a week behind a latch. We’d rather the whole thing feel closer to a sleepover: an open, cage-free 12,000-square-foot floor, other dogs to settle in beside, and a staff member physically present every hour of the day and night, holidays included.
For families in Hermosa Beach, that’s the practical difference — boarding where somebody is genuinely on the floor overnight, not a facility that locks up at closing and reopens in the morning.
Down Dog Lodge opened in 2017 around exactly that idea, and it’s grown from one small team’s plan into the place South Bay dog owners recommend to each other first.
What’s Included in Every Overnight
Every dog who boards with us gets:
- Little dogs and big dogs, separate rooms: smaller guests settle into the Mini Lodge while larger ones take the Big Pen, and both rooms open onto their own outdoor area
- Twelve thousand square feet to stretch out in: nobody spends the night confined to a crate-sized footprint — there’s actual floor to cross
- Fresh water wherever they wander: bowls sit throughout both play areas and get checked and topped off continuously, day and night
- Real people on shift at 3 a.m.: our caregivers work every hour of every day, holidays included, so no dog here is ever the only one awake
Rates & Policies
What Does Dog Boarding Cost Near Hermosa Beach?
One dog stays the night for $100. A second dog from the same household is $92. Both figures already cover meals and any medication your dog needs while they’re here — neither one shows up as a separate line on your bill.
Drop-Off/Pick-Up
Business hours are weekdays 7AM–7:30PM and weekends/holidays 10AM–5:30PM. On a case-by-case basis, and for a fee of $25/dog/service, we can sometimes accommodate a drop-off or pick-up outside those hours. The earliest we can manage is 6AM and the latest is 10PM. Please call ahead to arrange it.
Overnight Boarding
- One dog: $100
- Additional dog: +$92
Boarding Pick-Up
- Pick-up before noon: no additional daycare charge
- 12PM-1PM: $22/dog
- 1PM-2PM: $44/dog
- After 2PM: full daycare = $62/first dog + $56/additional
Peak Rates
Holidays are our busiest times of the year! To keep up with our high demand and increased staffing, an additional charge of $10/dog/day applies to daycare and boarding.
- Ski Week: 2/9 – 2/17
- Spring Break: 4/3 – 4/13
- Memorial Day: 5/23 – 5/26
- July 4th: 7/1 – 7/6
- Labor Day: 9/5 – 9/8
- Thanksgiving: 11/24 – 11/30
- Holiday Season: 12/19 – 1/3
Discounts*
- Veterinary: 10% off
- Military: 15% off
- Police Department: 15% off
- Fire Department: 15% off
- Paramedics: 15% off
* Supporting documents required. Discounts do not apply to prepaid packages.
Getting Your Dog Cleared to Board
Before a first overnight — and this applies to every Hermosa Beach dog the same as anyone else — your dog works through our two-phase Temperament Test. The point isn’t to weed dogs out. It’s to find out whether a cage-free group setting is somewhere your dog will actually be comfortable rather than just endure. Clear both phases, put in one full day of daycare, and boarding opens up.
Planning something long — three nights or more? Book a single overnight first if you can. Dogs who’ve already done one night settle into an extended stay noticeably faster than dogs whose first night is also night one of seven. The trial run is worth the extra trip.
New to Down Dog Lodge? Visit our New Clients page to get started.
Why Hermosa Beach Dogs Settle In Here
Cage-free only works when somebody’s there to run it — and that’s the part most facilities quietly skip. What Hermosa Beach dog owners get from us:
- Nobody joins the group untested. The two-phase Temperament Test happens before a first stay, which is how we know the dogs sharing a room are ones your dog will actually get along with.
- Food and medication are baked into the nightly rate. Neither one turns up as a surprise line item when you settle up.
- Proof of a good day, every day. Our Instagram (@downdoglodge) fills up with whoever’s staying with us, so you can check in from wherever you are.
- The floor is never empty. Staffing runs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year — Christmas morning and 2 a.m. on a Tuesday included.
Serving pets and their people in Redondo Beach, El Segundo, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Hawthorne, Lawndale, Torrance, and the greater South Bay.
Dog Boarding FAQ
What vaccinations are required for boarding?
All guests must be current on Rabies, DA2PP, Bordetella, K9 Influenza (2 rounds + 7-day wait), and Leptospirosis (2 rounds + 7-day wait). We do not accept Titer Tests in lieu of updated vaccinations.
Spay/Neuter Policy: Puppies between three and six months old are welcome intact. After six months, spay/neuter is required for admittance to Down Dog Lodge.
Does my dog need a Temperament Test before boarding?
Yes, all new dogs must complete our two-phase Temperament Test ($40/dog x 2 days) before their first boarding stay. We also recommend at least one full daycare visit prior to the first overnight.
Can I bring my dog's own food?
Yes, and we encourage it. If possible, we request that owners pre-bag and label each meal separately; this massively helps our team manage an efficient feeding for many dogs. If you’re unable to bring food or run out during your stay, we have dry & wet house food available for purchase.
What are your check-in and check-out times?
Check-in and check-out take place during lobby hours: weekdays from 7AM to 7:30PM, weekends/holidays from 10AM to 5:30PM. Early drop-off and late pick-up outside of these hours are available for a flat fee of $25/dog/service.
What are Peak Rates?
Holidays are our busiest times of the year! To keep up with our high demand and increased staffing, an additional charge of $10/dog/day applies to daycare and boarding.
- Ski Week: 2/9 – 2/17
- Spring Break: 4/3 – 4/13
- Memorial Day: 5/23 – 5/26
- July 4th: 7/1 – 7/6
- Labor Day: 9/5 – 9/8
- Thanksgiving: 11/24 – 11/30
- Holiday Season: 12/19 – 1/3
Can I pick-up or drop-off outside of business hours?
We always prefer drop-offs and pick-ups to fall within our normal business hours, since that ensures the smoothest possible transaction with our Front Desk.
- Weekdays: 7AM–7:30PM
- Weekends/Holidays: 10AM–5:30PM
We understand that certain circumstances call for an early drop-off or late pick-up. Outside those hours we can sometimes accommodate a drop-off or pick-up as early as 6AM or as late as 10PM, on a case-by-case basis. Any early drop-off or late pick-up incurs a flat fee of $25/dog/service. Please give us a call to arrange it.
Other Services We Offer
Dog Daycare near Hermosa Beach, CA
Not quite ready to leave them overnight? Daycare runs on the same cage-free, size-separated setup — a full day of supervised company, useful on its own and useful as a warm-up before a first boarding stay.
Dog Grooming near Hermosa Beach, CA
Tack a bath or a nail trim onto any stay and skip the separate appointment entirely — they’ll head home clean as well as tired out.
Puppy Program near Hermosa Beach, CA
Spay or neuter status doesn’t have to stall things. Puppies between three and six months can join the Puppy Program right away, picking up supervised socialization during the weeks it counts for the most.
What Brings Hermosa Beach Dog Owners to Down Dog Lodge
Owning a dog in Hermosa Beach comes with a particular wrinkle: the sand is off-limits. City ordinance keeps dogs off the beach entirely, leashes are required everywhere else in public, and the city has no public dog park at all. So the routine here gets built around the Greenbelt — that soft, tree-lined path running the length of Valley Drive — plus leashed laps on the Strand and time at the larger parks. It works, but it’s walking. Very little of it is the loose, off-leash, dog-meets-dog kind of play that most dogs are actually wired for.
Which is where we come in, and not only when you’re leaving town. Down Dog Lodge gives Hermosa Beach dogs a supervised group to be part of — a cage-free floor where they can play with dogs their own size, indoors and out, without a leash clipped on. For a work trip or a long weekend, that same space becomes an overnight home where somebody’s on duty all night. Either way, it’s about ten or fifteen minutes up the coast from Hermosa, which turns out to be an easy addition to a morning that’s already heading north.
How to Get Here from Hermosa Beach
Starting out in Hermosa Beach, pick up Hermosa Avenue and follow it to Gould Avenue, which carries you the mile and a half over to CA-1 — signed as S Sepulveda Boulevard where you meet it. Turn left there and stay with CA-1 heading north for the next three miles; a Taco Bell on your left about half a mile in tells you you’re still on track. When E El Segundo Boulevard comes up, slide into either of the two left lanes and turn left. From that corner it’s another two-tenths of a mile to our door at 1501 E El Segundo Blvd, El Segundo, CA 90245. Figure on fifteen minutes or so door to door.