How to choose dog boarding or day care in Stevenage

Nine dog boarders, day cares and kennels are listed for Stevenage, a town whose ten defined areas sit under three different licensing councils: Stevenage Borough Council, North Hertfordshire District Council and Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council. Seven of the nine are home boarders and two run boarding kennels and day care from a fixed site. Businesses currently appear in four of the ten areas: Baldock (four), Chells & Great Ashby (two), Hitchin (two) and Shephall, Longmeadow & Manor (one).

Home boarding, day care or kennels

Seven businesses board dogs in the boarder's own home rather than a kennel block: Little Dave and Charlie and We Love Pets Stevenage in Chells & Great Ashby; TopDog in Shephall, Longmeadow & Manor; K9 Interaction and Happy Waggy Tails near Baldock; and We Love Pets Hitchin and Wagalot Dogs in Hitchin. A home boarder usually takes far fewer dogs at a time than a kennel, so ask how many other dogs will be in the house during your dates, and whether they are all from one family or several. We Love Pets Stevenage and We Love Pets Hitchin are branches of the same national franchise and currently share one booking number by design, so either branch can answer when you call — ask which branch, and which host, will actually look after your dog. Country Boarding Kennels and Sentabarcs, both near Baldock, run boarding kennels and day care from a dedicated site rather than a private home; Country Boarding Kennels also runs a cattery, and Sentabarcs also runs a dog adventure park alongside its day care and boarding.

Three councils, three different registers

Which council licenses a Stevenage business, and how much its register shows, depends on where in the town it sits. Little Dave and Charlie, TopDog and We Love Pets Stevenage are licensed by Stevenage Borough Council, whose own website carries no animal licensing register of its own; what is shown here is read from a third-party mirror of the council's list, and because that mirror is not the council's own register, no star rating is shown for any of the three here. Country Boarding Kennels, Sentabarcs, K9 Interaction and We Love Pets Hitchin are licensed by North Hertfordshire District Council, whose own PDF register does give a star rating, so it is shown here; that same PDF lists mostly just a trading name and a star, with no address and only occasionally a licence number, which is one reason Happy Waggy Tails and Wagalot Dogs, both stating a North Herts licence on their own sites, could not be matched against it this round and carry no licence panel here. Welwyn & Welwyn Garden City sits under a third authority, Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council, but no business there could be confirmed with a working phone number this round, so none is listed for that area yet.

Areas with nothing listed yet

Six of Stevenage's ten areas have no business listed this round: Stevenage Old Town, Stevenage town centre, Bedwell & Pin Green, Broadwater & Symonds Green, Knebworth & Woolmer Green, Letchworth Garden City, and Welwyn & Welwyn Garden City. This is a gap in what could be confirmed with a working phone number, not a sign that nothing operates in any of these areas: Stevenage Borough Council's own register gives only a postcode for most of its home boarders, not a street address, so several could not be placed confidently in Old Town or the town centre rather than a neighbouring area, and register entries were found for both Broadwater & Symonds Green and Welwyn without a phone number that could be verified this round. If you are in one of these areas, it is worth calling Stevenage Borough Council, North Hertfordshire District Council or Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council directly for their current list of licensed boarders.

Questions worth asking about vaccinations, breed rules and insurance

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 is medication given during a stay, and is there an extra charge for it?
• What happens if my dog needs a vet while in your care?

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

Four of the nine businesses listed publish a price; see our Stevenage 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.