How to choose dog boarding or day care in Basildon
Basildon Borough Council covers every part of this directory's patch — Basildon town centre, Laindon, Pitsea, Vange, Bowers Gifford, Billericay and Wickford — so it is the one register to check for a boarding kennels, home boarder or day care licensed here. Of the 19 businesses listed, 9 are boarding kennels (some also board cats), one is a day care with its own premises, and the other 9 are home boarders, licensed to keep dogs in their own house rather than a purpose-built kennel.
Kennels, home boarding or day care?
A boarding kennels — Isadene, Kingstown, Tudor Lodge, Pawfection, Kristie, Bullyview, Essex Pooch Palace, Essex Luxury Dog Boarding and Oatcakes Pet Lodge among them — means your dog has its own kennel and run on a site built for it, with set feeding and exercise times. A home boarder — Purrfection Pets, Pawfect Pals Essex, Small Paws, the Daisy Hotel for Dachshunds, Helen's Home Boarding, Holly's Hounds, the Little Doggy Inn, George's Doggy Daycare and Paw Prints — means your dog lives in somebody's house instead, usually with only one household's dogs at a time; the address is given once you book, not published here. Lucky Pups Essex is a day care with its own site rather than a kennels or a home: dogs go in for the day and come home in the evening, and it only takes dogs by collection and drop-off rather than a walk-in drop-off. None of the businesses we found are based in Langdon Hills; the nearest options sit in Basildon town centre and Vange.
What the council licence actually tells you
In England, boarding kennels, home boarding and day care are all licensed activities, and Basildon Borough Council issues and renews the licence for every one of them. Some licences also carry a star rating from 1 to 5, based on a council inspection — it is a government inspection score, not a customer review, and this directory shows it in its own "Council licence" panel rather than alongside any rating. Seven of the licences listed here carry a stated 5-star rating on the council's own register: Tudor Lodge, Purrfection Pets, Pawfect Pals Essex, Small Paws, Helen's Home Boarding, Holly's Hounds and Lucky Pups Essex. The rest are licensed but the register we checked does not show a star figure for them, which does not mean they scored lower; it may simply not be recorded on the page we used. Ask to see the licence certificate and its number when you visit or book, and you can check the register for yourself online.
Questions worth asking before you book
- What vaccinations do you need before the stay, and how far in advance?
- Does the business have any breed policies, including for an XL Bully — ask directly rather than assuming either way.
- Does the business say it holds public liability insurance? If so, ask to see it rather than taking the claim on trust.
- For a kennels: will my dog share a kennel, run or exercise area with other dogs, and how often?
- For a home boarder: how many other dogs will be in the house at the same time as mine?
- What happens if my dog needs a vet while boarding, and who decides that and pays for it?
- Is there a discount for a second dog from the same household, and is there a surcharge for a bank holiday or for collection outside the usual area?
Reviews
None of the businesses listed here show a Google, Trustpilot, Fresha, Booksy or Yelp rating we could verify at the time of writing — that is no ratings yet, not a mark against them. Check for yourself and ask when you call.