How to choose dog boarding or day care in Tamworth and Lichfield

Eleven dog boarders, kennels and day cares are listed across this town's three areas: five in Tamworth, two in Lichfield, and four in Rugeley & Burntwood. What matters most when choosing depends on whether you want home boarding or a stay at a kennels or day-care premises.

Home boarding or kennels

Four of the eleven are home boarders, caring for dogs in the boarder's own home rather than a kennel block: Auntie Amie's Dog Walking and Pet Services and Bark N Bunk, both in Tamworth, and Absolute Pet Care and My Best Friend Dog Care, both based in Burntwood. A home boarder usually takes far fewer dogs at a time than a kennels business, so ask how many other dogs will be in the house during your dates. The other seven run from a commercial premises. Best Friends Doggy Day Care, Classic Canines Day Care and Where'z Wally Dog Grooming & Doggy Day Care Ltd, all in Tamworth, run day care rather than overnight boarding, and two of the three also offer grooming. Grove Kennels Ltd and Brookfields Luxury Boarding, both in Lichfield, and Edial Boarding Kennels & Cattery and Old Barn Kennels, both in the Rugeley & Burntwood area, run boarding kennels; Edial also takes cats alongside dogs.

Rugeley itself is thin on this list

The Rugeley & Burntwood area name covers two different councils. All four businesses currently listed under it — Absolute Pet Care, My Best Friend Dog Care, Edial Boarding Kennels & Cattery and Old Barn Kennels — are licensed by Lichfield District Council and sit on the Burntwood side. Cannock Chase District Council, which licenses Rugeley itself, publishes its register through a mirror site that gives no address at all for any of its licence holders, so almost none of its licensees could be placed with confidence in Rugeley rather than in Cannock or Hednesford, several miles away. If you are specifically in or near Rugeley, it is worth asking a Cannock Chase-licensed business directly where it is based, since the register alone cannot currently confirm that.

How the council licence registers work here

Every business here is licensed by one of three councils: Tamworth Borough Council, Lichfield District Council or Cannock Chase District Council. None of the three publishes its own searchable register; the licence facts shown on these listings — licence number, expiry date and licence type — are read from a third-party mirror site that republishes council licensing data, not a page any of the three councils run themselves: Tamworth Borough Council's list, Lichfield District Council's list and Cannock Chase District Council's list. Because of that, this town shows a licence number and an expiry date but not a star rating for any business. One listing, Auntie Amie's Dog Walking and Pet Services, has a home boarding licence whose recorded expiry (6 August 2026) has already passed on the mirror's own record; ask directly whether it has since been renewed before booking.

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.

• Can I see your current council licence, and does its expiry date match what the register shows?
• 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?
• How many other dogs will be boarding or staying at the same time as mine?
• 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, so ask rather than assume an answer either way.

Prices

Two of the eleven businesses listed publish a price; see our Tamworth and Lichfield 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 and whether collection is priced separately.