How to choose dog boarding or day care in Hull

Thirteen dog day cares, boarding kennels and home boarders are listed for Hull, split across two licensing councils: Hull City Council for the city itself, and East Riding of Yorkshire Council for the edge-of-city districts around Hedon, parts of Sutton, Cottingham, Hessle and Willerby & Kirk Ella. This is a thinner list than some towns of Hull's size: Hull City Council's own register lists roughly thirty further home boarding licences, almost all under a personal name with no findable public trading presence, which are left out here rather than published against someone's private name.

Home boarding, day care or kennels

Five businesses board dogs in the boarder's own home: Wright Dog Walker Hedon in Hedon, Sue's Dog Boarding - Hull and Cockapoo Hotel in Sutton, Tailz 'n' Trailz in Cottingham, and PetStay - Hull, East Riding & Yorkshire, whose office sits in Hessle but which covers the whole city through a network of carers. A sixth business, Positively Responsible Animal Services, also arranges home boarding through a named coordinator, but runs it from its own day-care unit in Brough rather than boarding from a private house itself. Six businesses hold a day-care licence type: Noah's Ark Dog Day School and Oakwood Dog Day School in west Hull, Burstwick Doggy Day Care and Windy Hill Cats & Dogs Hotel near Hedon (both alongside kennels), Tailz 'n' Trailz as an add-on to home boarding, and Positively Responsible Animal Services in Brough. Five run boarding kennels: Burstwick and Windy Hill again, plus Battery Cottage Boarding Kennels and Bilton Kennels & Cattery, both thin listings worth confirming by phone, and Prestige Boarding Kennels in Sutton, licensed for up to 60 dogs. A home boarder or a small kennels usually takes far fewer dogs at a time than a large site, so ask how many other dogs will be there during your dates.

The council licence in Hull and East Riding

Two of the thirteen listings are confirmed against Hull City Council's own downloadable register, both by a clear name match: Noah's Ark Dog Day School and Prestige Boarding Kennels. Sue's Dog Boarding - Hull states a licence, number 146816, that closely matches an entry on the register under a different name, Mrs Sue Spiers, so this is not treated as a confirmed match here. Hull's register also shows two different licence numbers against the name Noah's Ark trades under, and a third-party directory attaches one of those same numbers to Oakwood Dog Day School instead; this is not resolved, so Oakwood is shown with no licence number rather than a guessed one. East Riding of Yorkshire Council's own public register could not be read for this research — it returned a bot-check page to every attempt — so every other East Riding-side business's licence number here (Burstwick Doggy Day Care, Wright Dog Walker Hedon, Cockapoo Hotel and Tailz 'n' Trailz) is the business's own published number, not something checked against the council's list. Ask to see the current licence certificate for any of these, and treat a star rating quoted by the business itself, rather than read from a register, as unconfirmed.

Areas with little or nothing listed

Four of Hull's nine defined areas have no business actually based within them. Hull city centre & Fruit Market, North Hull, and Anlaby have no listing at all. Willerby & Kirk Ella has one, Positively Responsible Animal Services, but its address is in Brough, outside every district on this page; it is shown under Willerby & Kirk Ella only because it names Willerby directly as an area it covers. If your area shows little or nothing, it is worth calling Hull City Council or East Riding of Yorkshire Council directly and asking for their current list of licensed boarders, since a new or small operator can take time to appear in research like this.

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.

• 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, and from how many other households, will be there during my dates?
• If you are a home boarder, when is the address given, and how is a first meeting arranged?
• How is medication given during a stay, and is there an extra charge for it?

None of the businesses listed here publish a vaccination schedule or a stated insurance position beyond what appears on their own website or Facebook page, so ask rather than assume an answer either way. See our Hull prices guide for what the five businesses that publish a price charge, and ask everyone else what a second dog, a bank holiday or collection would add to the total.