Royvon play days
Get your dog ready for the best days of their lives! Royon Play Days is the perfect addition to your dog’s weekly routine: exciting, progressive, social and packed full of activities that nurture your dog’s talents and passion
Royvon Play Days is our newest service that is looking to revolutionise the traditional dog daycare experience. Royvon Play Days offers a mix of socialising, bespoke enrichment, play and rest, carefully planned out so that your dog comes home happy, refreshed and fulfilled. Learn about why a balanced day is a happy day for your dog in this blog post.
Royvon was founded in 1959 and we have been constantly seeking ways to help more dogs to live a happy life ever since. Our mission is to provide positive, force-free experiences, delivered by our expert dog trainers and care team staff.
Who is Royvon Play Days for?
Dogs over six months old are welcome for Royvon Play Days. For those who are younger, we also have a “Puppy Play” service.
Our aim isn’t to run your dog ragged all day in oversized groups with very little opportunity to rest or to use their brains for mental stimulation or one-on-one time, like a traditional doggy daycare. We want to provide individually tailored, thoughtful and most importantly, beneficial experiences for your dog so that they still come home tired and happy, but without the bad habits, frustration and exhaustion that often goes with regular daycares. We believe in quality over quantity.
You might be looking for a new daycare option, switching from a current option that doesn’t give your dog enough to do or even having your dog refused from daycare for the way that they play with other dogs or behave. Or your dog may have just completed Royvon Day School training and be ready to join the fun and give you some regular time when you know your dog is exercised and stimulated, even if you aren’t able to get out with them.



What does the Royvon Play Days timetable include?
Your dog joins us for half a day of activities, either morning or afternoon:
Playtime: Your dog gets the chance to make friends and have a good explore and sniff about in our play paddock, with toys and equipment for dogs to play their own way.
Adventure walk: A fun-filled walk in our beautiful surroundings, giving your dog quality, one-on-one attention with our staff and an opportunity to take part in some of their favourite activities. This may include toys, treats or whatever your dog enjoys.
Breaktime: So that your dog gets the most out of their activities, there is suitable rest time in between in one of our cosy and comfortable kennels, including some yummy enrichment your dog can crunch, chew or lick! Contrary to popular belief, dogs don’t need to run around all day to the point of exhaustion to be content. You can read a blog that we published about the importance of balancing exercise, training and rest here.
Extra-Curricular: The main event of Royvon Play Days! We will be exploring whatever it is your dog loves and developing their special skills into fun and enriching activities such as scent work, trick training and learning new games with toys. We will share these activities and their progress so you can continue their favourite exercises at home.
After Play Club: You can extend your dog’s morning of play to a full day for an extra charge, giving you the flexibility to pick up or drop off and make the most of your day.
What does the Royvon Play Days timetable include?
Your dog joins us for half a day of activities, either morning or afternoon:

Playtime
Your dog gets the chance to make friends and have a good explore and sniff about in our play paddock, with toys and equipment for dogs to play their own way.

Adventure walk
A fun-filled walk in our beautiful surroundings, giving your dog quality, one-on-one attention with our staff and an opportunity to take part in some of their favourite activities. This may include toys, treats or whatever your dog enjoys.

Breaktime
So that your dog gets the most out of their activities, there is suitable rest time in between in one of our cosy and comfortable kennels, including some yummy enrichment your dog can crunch, chew or lick! Contrary to popular belief, dogs don’t need to run around all day to the point of exhaustion to be content. You can read a blog that we published about the importance of balancing exercise, training and rest here.

Extra-Curricular
The main event of Royvon Play Days! We will be exploring whatever it is your dog loves and developing their special skills into fun and enriching activities such as scent work, trick training and learning new games with toys. We will share these activities and their progress so you can continue their favourite exercises at home.

After Play Club
You can extend your dog’s morning of play to a full day for an extra charge, giving you the flexibility to pick up or drop off and make the most of your day.
Ready to treat your dog?
Take advantage of our free trial and give your dog the play day they deserve.

When are Royvon Play Days?
Morning session: 8am to 12pm
Afternoon session: 1pm to 5pm
What’s included?
Activities tailored to the dog’s needs
Group or single play
Adventure walk
If your dog has training needs, you can explore Royvon Day School where their time also includes training sessions with one of our expert teams.
Prices can be viewed here.

What our clients think about our services
When we went back for our top up session, Orphy was super excited to drive through the gates and could not wait to get out of the car! We did about an hour with Charlie, going over techniques to keep Orphy interested and help us with her ongoing training while she’s at home. The refresher appointments are a nice touch and definitely worthwhile!
We absolutely recommend Royvon and are so grateful to have found them!
I chose Royvon for dog training because they specifically told me they use positive reinforcement methods, which is incredibly important to me. However, my experience was completely at odds with what they claimed.
When I arrived, one of the first things they suggested was putting a grot (prong) collar on my dog – something I never would have agreed to had I known that was part of their approach. Despite my hesitation, they eventually fitted it and proceeded to “train” him by pulling him around and choking him. There was nothing positive or kind about the methods I witnessed.
I had planned to board my dog here for three weeks of training, but after seeing how they handled him in just one session, I cancelled immediately. I honestly dread to think what three weeks of that kind of treatment would have done to my dog.
Please be mindful when trusting companies that say they use positive reinforcement – unfortunately, in my experience, this was not the case with Royvon.
A very special mention to Tilly who was absolutely amazing with my boy and he loved her. Tilly went above and beyond to make sure my boy felt comfortable, loved and well looked after especially as he’s very anxious.
I got regular updates, pictures and videos and could tell he was having the best time, which gave me such peace of mind while we were apart.
I highly recommend Royvon to anyone looking for a trustworthy and caring place for their furry friend.
We want to say a huge thank you to Romeo, Kelsey, and the entire care team at Royvon. You took amazing care of Buddy, giving daily updates of his training sessions and group plays, which really helped to put our minds at ease. Buddy has built a lovely bond with Romeo and the team, and I’m sure he will look forward to any day plays there in the future.
Jasper was extremely reactive to just about everything, including people, dogs and traffic.
Through a lot of hard work, we have made so much progress with Romeo and Kelsey. They have really gone above and beyond to try and make him more manageable, and what a difference it’s made.
He is still reactive, mainly to dogs, but he can do so much more now. As with any German Shepherd puppy, we still have lots of work to do, but we believe we now have the tools to succeed thanks to Royvon.
We will still be coming back as Jasper has built a stone bond with both of his trainers, but we thoroughly recommend Royvon for anyone struggling with a difficult dog, or just a dog that needs training!
The choice of services available makes boarding here a seamless home away from home experience for our Labrador, Dune. The staff are friendly, welcoming and professional and our dog is always very well looked after. The daily updates and photos alongside Royvon's insta posts give us the confidence to leave our furry family member in their capable hands.
When we are away, we appreciate all the photos and comments about Dexter’s day! We are using you again next month! Thank you!
Dogs and their owners get a warm, professional welcome from Ioana &. Joanna, and our dog has a packed day being looked after by Leanne’s wonderful team of kind, experienced canine carers.
The whole team is a credit to Royvon’s owners, we feel lucky to have them as our trusted home from home for a special member of our family!
Richard, her evaluator, has been wonderful with her, gave us plenty of feed back and we had a report and lots of pictures as well. Our dog had clearly bonded with Richard already and we feel much happier about leaving her for longer next time. Thank you for caring for Jumika as well as you did, it really showed!
We were experiencing difficulties when walking both dogs on the lead and both had become protective, reactive and nervous of other people and sometimes dogs, making our walks difficult and stressful.
Well what can I say, the improvement we have seen in both dogs is brilliant, they are more confident and focused now and their reactivity levels have dropped significantly. We have some additional 1:1 training sessions to complete over the next few weeks to ensure that we can keep up the training.
During the training programme, Romeo and Kelsey sent us video updates of the dog’s progress, enabling us to see how they were getting on and responding to the training. This was invaluable to us.
In addition, the team at Royvon took really good care of both dogs and we received reports on how they were settling in/getting on during their group playtime and time spent in kennels, plus daily photo updates.
I wouldn’t hesitate to board our dogs at Royvon again, we were very happy with the dogs care.
Thank you to Romeo, Kelsey and the rest of the team at Royvon!
£1130.43 for 13 days / £86.96 per day during Christmas Period + £120 for Shuttle to Royvon Merthyr total (£60 each way).
- Our boxer lost 4.5kg during his 13 day stay with fur malting and ribs visible (34.5kg to 30kg) - he ate like he was starving when we got him home (they also returned some of the food we provided to be eaten during his stay). When I requested an update on how he was eating during his stay, they said via email that he was 'eating well'.
- He had horrible breath that smelled like he'd been eating his own poo (which he has never done before).
- He was walked on a slip lead repeatedly despite us asking them not to use a slip lead with him.
- The base price per day (£35 or £45 per day during Peak Season) includes no toilet breaks / walks or anything apart from the kennel and an "Enrichment Report". You have to add on at least a couple of 10 minute toilet opportunities (daytime £3.20 / bedtime £8.60) or woodland walks (£10 for 20 minutes).
- "Enrichment reports" consist of a few photos during the woodland walk or play/enrichment/training sessions you pay extra for - no photos of other activities / in the kennel unless you specifically request via email (e.g. we asked for a photo of him in his kennel and one of him enjoying his daily Kong we paid for (£2.70) and then received that as well). Only 1 written report was provided with the photos in 13 day stay and 1 video. When I complained via email, I did get a more detailed response on how he was getting on which was appreciated.
○ At this premium price, we were expecting lots of videos and photos as well as a detailed report every day on how he was getting on and what he'd been up to, which is not the case and is not what is suggested on social media (e.g. King (Dec-24) where they show a detailed written update on how the dog is doing as well as photos).
○ The walks and enrichment activities looked lovely from the pictures on the whole (apart from when he was being walked on the slip lead).
- We booked one training session as well during his stay (£17) and received a 2 min video of this which looked good, but received no report or feedback otherwise on how it went / what went well / what they worked on.
- We were provided with a WhatsApp number to message if we wanted more updates, but no-one ever responded to this number.
Will not be booking again.
Maslow went for 3 weeks residential and spent a lot of his time with Charlie who is fantastic. She sent regular updates including videos and pictures which we could go through in preparation for getting him home. We had updates daily from the report team to let me know that his report was ready. He had a great time.
I cannot recommend Charlie and the team enough. Definitely worth the money and he has come home ready to carry on with the training and is listening to me and eager to learn. If you're having issues with your dog then give the team at Royvon a call, it's made my life a lot easier already.
Molly's trainer during her stay was Charlie who was brilliant. She was able to quickly build up a strong relationship with her and it was easy to see that Molly felt really comfortable. Charlie sent photos and videos from each training session which helped me to track her progress and are great to refer back to now that Molly is back home. Charlie quickly identified Molly's strong herding instinct and was able to direct this positively into various "games" which are great outlet.
Throughout her stay, I also received daily photos from the care team taken during her group play sessions as well as enrichment reports. She was initially only socialised with one older, calmer collie to build up her confidence before being introduced to a larger group. It was great to see her confidence grow.
Molly is much more focused on walks and confident around other dogs and cars. Thank you to Charlie and the team at Royvon!
We needn’t have worried…she had the life of Reilly with the professionals.
The team at Royvon are extremely professional and facilities there are first class. Everything was organised in advance and the hand over seamless. We booked a larger room, play and walks…it was well worth doing so. The updates we received daily showed us just how much fun Pip was having and reassured us that this was the right decision.
I cannot thank the team enough for looking after Pip and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Royvon Esher. I am more than happy to book Pip in again…money well spent - my last review I said if I could give 6 ⭐️ I would; a small amendment it’s now a firm 7 out of 5 😁.
I would not hesitate to recommend that you leave your beloved pet with Royvon, they can certainly be trusted
Royvon Play Days FAQ’s
What if my dog has special needs?
Every dog is a unique blend of their genetics, character, environment, history and family. Our expert staff have various specialisms to help dogs of all personalities – from energetic working dogs to distracted puppies, confident dogs that don’t always have their ears switched on to those who might suffer from anxiety or fear and be reactive as a result.
The training sessions are set around your goals so the aims and outcomes are personalised for the needs of you and your dog.
What if my dog has specific dietary or medical needs?
When you register your dog, you will be required to fill in any information such as this before your dog arrives for the first time so that the care team know exactly what is needed and when. This all goes on your dog’s digital record at Royvon. Please ensure that any medicines or food needed for their stay are brought with you and taken home each time.


How do you ensure the dogs get along?
Not all dogs feel the same about socialising and playing with other dogs and many dogs are selectively social, meaning they have preferences of size, personality and play style. Dogs are carefully selected for our small groups, taking into consideration their individual preferences to ensure all the dogs feel comfortable and enjoy themselves.
Will my dog be safe during playtime with other dogs?
Dogs are not left unattended during play sessions. Dogs that are not suited to group play are entertained with other stimulating activities and when certain dogs just don’t hit it off, we can rearrange the groups to find them more suitable companions.
How do I track my dog’s activities?
Photos and video clips will be taken throughout your dog’s day so you can see how much fun they’re having! Monthly reports will keep you up-to- date with your dog’s activities, with the schedule changing each month to keep things varied.
Can I visit or observe a session before enrolling my dog in Play days?
We offer site tours to see our facilities and introduce your dog to our spaces. Alternatively, booking and assessment will give you a chance to spend one-on-one time with one of our trainers and discuss what services would be best suited for your dog.


What if my dog is nervous around new environments?
We are used to looking after dogs of all personalities, including those who feel anxious in some environments or situations. As with all of the services at Royvon, we suggest small steps to help dogs who feel like this adjust. This might start with a site tour or an assessment so that they can start to build a connection with our team, if you would like to discuss your dog’s specific needs you can email us or send a WhatsApp.