How to choose dog boarding or day care in Torquay

Twenty-eight dog boarders, day cares and kennels are listed for Torquay, spread across eight areas and three different councils: Torbay Council (Torquay town centre, Paignton and Brixham, 21 businesses), Teignbridge District Council (Newton Abbot and Teignmouth & Dawlish, four businesses) and South Hams District Council (Totnes, Kingsbridge & Salcombe and Dartmouth, three businesses). No business with a confirmed phone number was found for Totnes at the time of research, so that area currently shows none; see the council licence section below for why.

Home boarding, day care or kennels

Twenty-three of the twenty-eight are home boarders, taking your dog into the boarder's own house rather than a kennel block: all six in Torquay town centre, twelve of the thirteen in Paignton, both in Brixham, both in Teignmouth & Dawlish and the one in Dartmouth. A home boarder usually takes far fewer dogs at a time than a kennels, and several also run day care alongside boarding, so ask how many other dogs will be in the house during your dates, and whether they are all from one family or several. Four businesses run boarding kennels from a dedicated site: Cary Boarding Kennels and Castleford Pet Centre near Newton Abbot, and The Dog Lodge and Blackdown Rings Kennels & Cattery near Kingsbridge, the last two also taking cats. Happy Dogs R Us, in Paignton, is the only listed business that runs day care alone from a dedicated unit rather than a home or a kennels.

What the council licence means, and what each register shows

Every business listed holds, or states it holds, a licence: this is a legal requirement in England for dog boarding, home boarding and day care, not an optional extra, though how much can be independently checked varies by council here. Torbay Council's own register lists all 21 of its businesses by name, address and phone, but shows no licence numbers and no star ratings at all, so none of the Torbay-licensed listings here carry a star rating, whatever a business's own marketing might say elsewhere. Two Teignbridge-licensed businesses, Monty's Friends and Wickham Walkies, are confirmed with a licence number on the animal-licensing.uk mirror of the council's register, also with no star shown; the other two, Cary Boarding Kennels and Castleford Pet Centre, quote their own licence number, but this could not be matched against a council-run register, so ask to see the current certificate. South Hams District Council's own online register is a JavaScript application that could not be read for this research, so all three South Hams-area businesses — The Dog Lodge, Blackdown Rings Kennels & Cattery and Dartmouth Canine Care — are shown on their own stated licence only; ask to see the licence, and consider ringing South Hams District Council directly if you want it confirmed independently.

Questions worth asking before you book

None of these are things this directory can answer on a business's behalf; they are worth putting to the business directly.

• What vaccinations do you require, and how long before the stay do you need to see proof of them?
• What is your policy on kennel cough?
• 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?
• How many other dogs, and from how many households, will be there during my dates?

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 Torquay prices guide for what the three businesses that publish a price actually charge.