How to choose dog boarding or day care in Weston-super-Mare and Clevedon

Thirty-one dog boarders, day cares and kennels are listed across Weston-super-Mare, Clevedon, Nailsea & Yatton and Winscombe, Axbridge & Banwell, all falling within a single council area, North Somerset. Twenty-two are home boarders, six run boarding kennels, and three run day care from a dedicated site; two of the premises-based businesses, Whitehouse Kennels & Cattery and Handsome Hounds, could not be found on the council's own register under their trading name. What matters most when choosing depends on which of the three you need.

Home boarding, day care or kennels

Home boarding accounts for most of what is listed here: ten businesses in the Weston-super-Mare area (Barley Cross Dog Boarding, Dog Walkers UK, The Good Dogs Life, Joy Paws, Mulberry Dog Day Care, Parker's Pawsitive Pups, Pawsforpaul, Play Dayz for Woofs Ltd, Puppy Playcation and Worle Pampered Paws), two in the Clevedon area (Happy Dogs Home Boarding and Trap House Dog Boarding), nine in the Nailsea & Yatton area (Arno@home, Hamiltons Dogs, Happy Pawz, Happy Trails, The Muttley Crew, Out of Town Hound, Wanderers Dog Boarding, We Love Pets Nailsea & Backwell and Wendy's Home Boarding) and one in the Winscombe, Axbridge & Banwell area (Team Maxwell). As home boarders, all twenty-two are shown here by area and town only; the exact address is given once you book. Six businesses run boarding kennels instead: Wynhol Farm Kennels & Cattery, in the Clevedon area, also holds a cattery licence; Congresbury Kennels and Congresbury Kennels @ Corner Cottage are two separately licensed premises in the same village, possibly run by the same family; Avery & Co and Highfield Kennels are in the Winscombe, Axbridge & Banwell area; and Whitehouse Kennels & Cattery, near Lympsham, also takes cats but could not be found on the register under this name, so no licence details are shown for it. Three run day care from a dedicated site: Paws and Play Dog Daycare and Handsome Hounds in the Weston-super-Mare area, and Dogs at Day School in Congresbury.

North Somerset Council's own register

Every area on this page sits inside a single unitary council, North Somerset, which licenses dog day care, boarding kennels and home boarding as a legal requirement, not something a business can opt out of. North Somerset publishes its own register as a downloadable spreadsheet, listed on its animal activities licensing page, giving each licence holder's name, general location, telephone number, licence type, expiry date and, for most, a star rating from 1 to 5. Twenty-nine of the thirty-one businesses listed here appear on that register; the remaining two, Whitehouse Kennels & Cattery and Handsome Hounds, could not be found on it under their trading name, so no licence number, star or expiry is shown for either, and their licence status has not been independently confirmed this pass. A council star rating, where shown, is the council's own inspection score, not a customer review, so treat it the way you would a food hygiene rating rather than a Google star.

Questions worth asking

• Can I see your current council licence certificate and its star rating, if it has one?
• 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, and from how many households, will be there during my dates?
• 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?

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. See our Weston-super-Mare and Clevedon prices guide for what the one business that publishes a price charges.