A first stay at a Tamworth and Lichfield boarder or day care
Eleven dog boarders, kennels and day cares are listed across Tamworth, Lichfield and Rugeley & Burntwood: four home boarders, four boarding kennels and three day cares. Whichever type you choose, a little preparation before the first stay makes the handover easier for you and your dog.
Before you book: ask about a trial
Many boarders and day cares offer a short trial visit or a single day before a longer stay, so your dog meets the household or the group while you are still nearby. Ask what a trial involves and how it's arranged, since this varies between businesses and is worth confirming rather than assuming.
Seeing where your dog will stay
A look round in person, rather than only a description by phone, is a reasonable thing to ask for before a first booking. Grove Kennels Ltd, near Lichfield, sets fixed viewing hours of 12pm to 1pm daily, and Edial Boarding Kennels & Cattery, in Burntwood, also sets fixed viewing times rather than open access — call ahead to arrange a time with either, and ask any business what its own viewing arrangements are.
What to pack
Take your dog's usual food for the length of the stay, along with any bedding or a toy that smells of home, current contact details for yourself and your own vet, and anything your dog is on a schedule for. Label everything, and confirm with the business what it already provides so you don't duplicate or leave a gap.
Group size and who else is there
Ask how many other dogs will be there during your dates. Bark N Bunk, a home boarder on the north side of Tamworth, takes only one dog or one household's dogs at a time, so day care and overnight stays there are one-to-one rather than group-based; a kennels such as Brookfields Luxury Boarding, a 28-room purpose-built centre at Little Hay, or Old Barn Kennels, a smaller site at Blithbury with 13 cabins and 10 kennels, will typically have more dogs on site at once. Ask each business directly how it manages this during your dates.
Collection
Brookfields Luxury Boarding offers its own dog taxi and collection service; most other businesses here expect you to drop off and collect in person. Ask about collection options, and what a late collection costs, before the day itself.
Home boarders and privacy
The four home boarders here — Auntie Amie's, Bark N Bunk, Absolute Pet Care and My Best Friend Dog Care — are shown by area and town only, not by street address; the exact address is theirs to give you once you've booked.
See our guide to choosing a boarder for how the eleven listed businesses compare, and our vaccinations and licences guide for what to ask before you book.