How to choose dog boarding or day care in Bradford

Ten dog boarders, kennels and catteries are listed for Bradford, a large district where licensed businesses cluster in the semi-rural west and north rather than the city itself: five are in the Ilkley & Menston area, three in Queensbury, Clayton Heights & Thornton, one in Bingley, and one in Bradford city centre & inner Bradford. Idle, Thackley & Apperley Bridge, Eccleshill, Bolton & Fagley and Shipley, Baildon & Saltaire have no listed business with a confirmed phone number yet, even though the council's own licence register holds home boarders in those areas. Inner Bradford (the BD1, BD6, BD7 and BD8 postcodes) and Wyke & Low Moor (BD12) are thinner still on the register itself, not just on this listing: the council holds very few licensed dog boarders or home boarders there at all. What matters most when choosing depends on whether you want home boarding or a kennels stay.

Home boarding or kennels

Four of the ten are home boarders, caring for dogs in the boarder's own home rather than a kennel block: Petstay Leeds and Ilkley Branch and Tatty's Dog Walking and Pet Care, both publishing under the Ilkley & Menston area, and Cullingworth Pooches Playground and A Home from Home for Dogs in Queensbury, Clayton Heights & Thornton. A home boarder usually takes far fewer dogs at a time than a kennel, so ask how many other dogs will be in the house during your dates. The other six run premises kennels or a cattery: Padagan Boarding Kennels & Cattery in Bradford city centre & inner Bradford, The Springs Boarding Kennels & Cattery in Bingley, Morton Villa Pet Hotel in Queensbury, Clayton Heights & Thornton, and The Rhyddings Kennels, Wharfedale Kennels and Cattery and Sunnymead Ltd in the Ilkley & Menston area. Three of these six — Morton Villa, The Rhyddings and Wharfedale — also run day care from the same site, and five of the six, all except The Rhyddings Kennels, take cats alongside dogs.

How Bradford's council licence register works

Every business listed holds, or has held, a licence from City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council, the single authority for the whole district including the LS29 postcodes around Ilkley. Bradford's own website does not publish a searchable register; the licence facts shown on these listings are read from a third-party mirror site that republishes council licensing data, not from a page the council runs itself, so we show the licence number and expiry date but not a star rating for this town. The council's own register lists many more licensed home boarders across the district than currently publish a confirmed phone number here: most have a valid licence but no independently checkable website, social page or number, so they are not published yet. Two of the ten listed here, Morton Villa Pet Hotel and Sunnymead Ltd, have a licence whose recorded expiry on the register has already passed; both are shown with that flagged rather than presented as currently licensed, so ask to see a current, valid licence before booking either one.

Questions worth asking

None of these are things this directory can answer on a business's behalf; they are worth putting to the business directly before you book.

• Can I see your current council licence, and does its expiry date match what the register shows?
• What vaccinations do you require, and how long before the stay do you need to see proof of them?
• Do you have a policy on kennel cough, and what is it?
• Do you have any breed restrictions or conditions, including for an XL Bully with a valid exemption certificate?
• How many other dogs will be boarding or staying at the same time as mine?
• What happens if my dog needs a vet while in your care?

None of the businesses listed here publish a vaccination schedule or a stated insurance position beyond what appears on their own licence, so ask rather than assume an answer either way.

Prices

Two of the ten businesses listed publish a price; see our Bradford prices guide for the published figures and what they cover. Whichever type of boarding or day care you choose, ask what a second dog from the same household costs and whether collection is priced separately.