Home boarding or kennels in Bath and north-east Somerset?

Home boarding and boarding kennels solve the same problem in different ways: one puts your dog into somebody else's house, the other into a purpose-built kennel block. Bath and north-east Somerset has more of the first than the second: nine of the fourteen listings here are home boarders, against two boarding kennels and three dedicated day-care sites that do not board dogs overnight at all.

Home boarding

Bailbrook Dogs, Friends for Pets, Doggy Daycare Bath and Dog and Cat Care board dogs in the boarder's own home in Bath city centre and Widcombe; Paddy Paws and Wags & Walks Pet Service do the same in Bath south and Combe Down; Casico Dog Apartments, Midsomer Mutts and Bella Boarding cover Radstock, Midsomer Norton and Paulton. A home boarder usually takes far fewer dogs at a time than a kennels, often just one household's dogs, and your dog gets a house and a garden rather than a run. As with every home boarder on this site, only the area and town are shown here; the street address is given once you book, which is a privacy choice for the boarder rather than something to be wary of.

Boarding kennels

Hyver Boarding Kennels and Woodborough Gardens Kennels & Cattery, both in Bath south and Combe Down, run purpose-built kennel blocks rather than boarding from a home. A kennels usually has more space for more dogs at once, set feeding and exercise times, and staff on site rather than one family. This can suit a dog that would rather have its own space than share a house with a stranger's routine, and a kennels is often easier to book at short notice in a busy period, since it isn't limited to one household's spare room.

Day care only

Doggy Doos, in Bath city centre and Widcombe, Farm Fields Dog Day Care, in Radstock, Midsomer Norton and Paulton, and WestWoofs, in Bradford-on-Avon, run day care from a dedicated site but do not board dogs overnight. If you need your dog looked after for a working day rather than a night away, one of these three, or one of the businesses above that also offers day care, is the option; see our day care or boarding guide for the full split.

Privacy and premises

A boarding kennels is a business premises in the ordinary sense, so its address is shown on its listing here. A home boarder's licence is issued to a person at their own house, which is a different kind of privacy, so this site shows only the area and town for a home boarder, never a street, and gives the address once you have booked. This is true whether or not the individual business itself publishes an address elsewhere.

Choosing between them

There is no single right answer: a nervous dog that dislikes other dogs' company may do better with a home boarder taking one household at a time, while a very social dog might enjoy a kennels' larger group. Ask a home boarder how many other dogs, and from how many households, will be there during your dates, and ask a kennels about its run and group sizes, before you decide.