How to choose dog boarding or day care in Slough and Windsor

Eleven dog boarders, day cares and kennels are listed across this page's four areas: Slough town centre, Langley, Windsor & Eton and Maidenhead. They are not spread evenly – Maidenhead alone accounts for six of the eleven, Windsor & Eton has three, and Slough centre and Langley have one each – so if you are in Slough centre or Langley, be ready to travel a little further or to call and ask whether a business based in a neighbouring area will collect. What matters most in choosing depends on whether you need boarding kennels, day care or a home boarder.

Boarding kennels, day care or home boarding

Three businesses run purpose-built boarding kennels rather than a family home: Old Beams Kennels and Cattery and The Tarbay Centre, both near Windsor, and Joe's Folly at Taplow, near Maidenhead, which also takes cats and small animals. Two businesses run day care from a dedicated site or their own home without offering overnight boarding: Bruce's Doggy Day Care in Cookham and Claire's Comfy Canines, based in Burnham. The remaining six are home boarders, taking your dog into their own house rather than a kennel block: Lulu's Home Boarding & Day care, Bertie and Friends and Hound Love in Maidenhead; Datchet Dog Walking in the Langley area; SpeediePAWS in the Windsor & Eton area; and Barking Mad – Windsor & Staines, a matching service that places dogs with vetted host families across Windsor, Eton and Old Windsor rather than boarding them itself. As with any home boarder, only the area and town are shown on these listings; the address is given once you book. One licence, Hound Love's, was issued for home boarding, but the business's own website currently advertises only dog training – ask directly whether boarding is still offered before you get in touch about a stay.

The council licence in this area

This page spans two licensing councils. Slough town centre and Langley fall under Slough Borough Council, whose own register lists only a handful of home boarding licences and no boarding kennels or day care entries for dogs at all; Claire's Comfy Canines, the one business shown for Slough centre, was not found on either Slough's or the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead's register – its own site names a Buckinghamshire Council licence instead, which was not checked this round, so treat that claim as unverified. Windsor & Eton and Maidenhead fall under the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead (RBWM), whose own register is the source for every licence block shown on the other nine listings here, including the council's 1-to-5 star inspection rating where one has been issued. Two further businesses, Joe's Folly and Barking Mad – Windsor & Staines, are shown with no licence block at all: Joe's Folly could not be found on RBWM's current register despite sitting inside its area, and Barking Mad's own premises are in Staines, outside both councils covered here. In both cases, ask to see a current licence before booking. A council star rating, where shown, is the council's own inspection score, not a customer review, and should be read the same way as a food hygiene rating rather than a Google star.

Questions to ask

None of these are things this directory can answer on a business's behalf; put them 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?
• 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 licence or website, so ask rather than assume an answer either way. See our Slough and Windsor prices guide for what the four businesses that publish a price charge.