How to choose dog boarding or day care in Macclesfield, Wilmslow and Congleton

Seventeen dog boarders, day cares and kennels are listed across Macclesfield, Wilmslow & Alderley Edge, Poynton & Bramhall and Congleton. Ten are licensed for home boarding and seven hold a boarding kennels licence; one of the seven, Country Kennels near Congleton, also holds a day care licence. Licensing splits between two councils: thirteen of the seventeen are licensed by Cheshire East Council, which covers Macclesfield, Wilmslow & Alderley Edge and Congleton, plus the Poynton side of Poynton & Bramhall, and four by Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council, which covers the Bramhall side of Poynton & Bramhall. What matters most when choosing depends on which type of care you need and which council licensed it.

Home boarding or kennels

Ten businesses board dogs in the boarder's own home rather than a kennel block: Rookery Retreat, Liz's Pet Solutions and Tiny Paws Pet Services in the Macclesfield area; Woof Squad, Barking Mad Stockport and Penny's Pooches in Poynton & Bramhall; The Woofpack Wilmslow and Barking Mad Wilmslow & South Manchester in Wilmslow & Alderley Edge; and Hounddog Hotel and Katie's K9s in Congleton. A home boarder usually takes far fewer dogs at a time than a kennels would, so ask how many other dogs will be in the house during your dates, and whether they are all from one family or several. Seven businesses run boarding kennels from a dedicated site rather than a home: Windyway Kennels & Cattery in Macclesfield; Coppice Boarding Kennels & Cattery and Birch Hall Boarding Kennels & Cattery in Poynton & Bramhall; Newgate Kennels & Cattery and Studholme Kennels & Cattery in Wilmslow & Alderley Edge; and Country Kennels and Grove House Boarding Kennels in Congleton. Six of these seven also take cats alongside dogs; Grove House takes dogs only.

The council licence: two different registers

Every business listed holds, or has been checked against, a current council licence: it is a legal requirement in England for dog boarding, home boarding and day care, not an optional extra. Cheshire East Council's licences could be read this round only through a third-party mirror of its register rather than a page the council runs itself, so no star rating is shown for any Cheshire East business here; the licence type, number and expiry are stated and the Source link on each listing goes to the mirror entry. Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council runs its own planning and licensing portal, which gives a licence number and expiry but does not publish a star rating at all — so the four Stockport-licensed businesses here (Birch Hall Boarding Kennels & Cattery, Woof Squad, Barking Mad Stockport and Penny's Pooches) are shown with a licence but no stars either. Where a council star rating does appear on this site, it runs from 1 to 5 and reflects the council's own inspection, not a customer review; none is shown for this town.

Two listings need a specific word of caution. Windyway Kennels & Cattery's own site quotes a Cheshire East licence number, but this could not be independently matched to the council's public register, so no licence details are shown on its listing at all; ask to see its current certificate directly. Country Kennels holds a Cheshire East licence for boarding kennels, cat boarding and day care, but the register's own expiry date, January 2026, has already passed as of this guide, so its listing carries no licence block either; ask when you call whether the licence has been renewed.

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 policies or conditions, including for an XL Bully with a valid exemption certificate?
• Are you insured, and can you show evidence of current cover?
• How is medication given during a stay, and is there an extra charge for it?
• What happens if my dog needs a vet while it is in your care?
• How many other dogs, and from how many households, will be there during my dates?

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

Prices

Five of the seventeen businesses listed publish a price; see our 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, whether bank holidays are charged at a higher rate, and whether collection is included or priced separately.