Home boarding or kennels in Southampton?

Of the 15 dog boarders and day-care businesses listed for Southampton, 10 are home boarders and 4 run boarding kennels; New Forest District Council's register confirms the Totton and Hythe licences, while the Southampton City Council ones are the businesses' own statements, since that council publishes no register. One business, Sirius Doggy Daycare & Grooming, offers day care only and sits outside both categories. Home boarding is clearly the more common model in this town, which matches the pattern seen across most of the towns this site covers.

Home boarding

A home boarder takes your dog into their own house, usually alongside their own family and dogs rather than dogs from several households kennelled separately. Because it's somebody's home, we show a home boarder's area and town only, never a full address — you're given the exact address once you've booked. Southampton's ten home boarders cover all five areas: Totton (Ann Dyson Limited, Forest Farm Dog Care, Maggie's Mates, Pet Carers Ltd), Bitterne (Barney's Dog Boarding & Day Care, Amy K's Dog Boarding & Daycare, Nathan's Paw Trails), Shirley (Animals2Go Pet Care Services), Hythe (Homely Dogs) and the city centre (Barking Mad Southampton, a host-family franchise rather than a single fixed address).

Boarding kennels

A boarding kennel is purpose-built premises with individual runs and fixed drop-off and collection windows, run as a business rather than a household, generally able to take more dogs at once than a single home boarder can. Southampton's four are Copied Hall Kennels (Totton), Chilworth Kennels and Cattery, Hampshire Dog Boarding and Delvallie Boarding Kennels (all in the Shirley/Nursling area) — the last of which has been trading for over 30 years.

Which suits your dog

A dog that settles well as part of a family and around other household dogs often does better with a home boarder. A dog that prefers its own space, or needs a strict feeding and exercise routine, may suit purpose-built kennels better. Ask each business how many dogs are on site at once, and whether your dog will have company or be alone for parts of the day, rather than assuming from the licence type alone. See how home boarding works and how boarding kennels work across the site.

Booking ahead and cost

Home boarders in this directory generally take on fewer dogs at once than a kennels business, so the more established ones can book up well ahead of school holidays and other peak periods — it's worth asking early rather than assuming a place will be free. Few of Southampton's businesses, of either kind, publish a price list online; where a figure is published, it's set out in the town's prices guide, and for everyone else a phone call is still the only way to get a quote.

None of Southampton's four kennels businesses currently combines boarding with home boarding at the same address, unlike Reading's Stablecroft Pet Services — in Southampton, the two models are run by entirely separate businesses.