How to choose dog boarding or day care in Hinckley and Earl Shilton

Nine dog boarders, day cares and kennels are listed for Hinckley and Earl Shilton. Three run boarding kennels, three are home boarders whose address is given only when you book, one more offers home boarding from a farm rather than an ordinary house, and six offer day care in some form, several of them alongside boarding. Which type suits your dog depends on how much space it's used to and how it copes with other dogs around it.

Boarding kennels, home boarding or day care

Wags Dog Care, Stanmaur Farm Boarding Kennels and A47 Boarding Kennels and Cattery all run boarding kennels from farm sites in the Earl Shilton & Barwell area, with individual kennel runs rather than a shared house; Stanmaur and A47 also run a cattery on the same site. Watson's Dogs and Pampered Pets Inn, both in Hinckley & Burbage, and Desford Dog Care, in Earl Shilton & Barwell, board dogs in the boarder's own home instead, which usually means far fewer other dogs around at once; none of the three publishes their address here, since a home boarder's address is only given once you book. Best Buddies Petcare also offers home boarding, but from a farm with several acres of paddock rather than a house, so ask how it compares to a kennel stay if that distinction matters to you. For day care, Nilz and Harley Pet Services and Doggy Daycare at the Willows run it as their main service, while Watson's Dogs, Wags Dog Care, Best Buddies Petcare and Desford Dog Care all offer day care alongside boarding.

Hinckley & Burbage is thin

Only two of the nine listed businesses sit in Hinckley & Burbage itself, and both are home boarders. Every boarding kennels, both dedicated day care centres and the two remaining home-boarding options are in the Earl Shilton & Barwell area, mostly on farms towards Desford, Barwell and Elmesthorpe. If you live in Hinckley or Burbage and want a kennel stay or a day care centre rather than a home boarder, expect a short drive out of town.

The council licence position in this area

Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council licenses boarding kennels, home boarding and day care, as every council in England must under the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) Regulations 2018. Unlike some neighbouring authorities, it does not publish a public register you can check online: its own boarding animals licence page states that anyone wanting to know whether a specific business is licensed should contact the council directly, rather than look it up. That means none of the nine businesses on this page carries a council licence panel here, even though several state on their own site that they hold a licence, and in a couple of cases quote a specific licence number or star rating (Watson's Dogs mentions 4 stars, Doggy Daycare at the Willows mentions 5). Those are the business's own claims, not something checked against a register, so treat them as a starting point for a question rather than a confirmed fact. Ask to see the current licence certificate when you visit or collect your dog, and ask what star rating, if any, is written on it and when it was last inspected.

Questions worth asking

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

• Can I see your current council licence certificate, and what star rating and expiry date does it show?
• 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?
• Are you insured, and can you show evidence of current cover?
• How many other dogs will be boarding or in day care at the same time as mine?
• What happens if my dog needs a vet while in your care?

See our Hinckley and Earl Shilton prices guide for what the three businesses that publish a price actually charge.