How to choose dog boarding or day care in Wigan and Skelmersdale
Nine dog boarders, day cares and kennels are listed for Wigan and Skelmersdale, spread across seven areas from Wigan centre to Skelmersdale in West Lancashire. Three run boarding kennels (Talbot House Kennels & Cattery, Dukes Barn Farm Boarding Kennels & Cattery and Upholland Luxury Kennels & Cattery, which also offers day care and grooming), three run day care from a fixed site (Canine Companions Indoor Play Centre & Day Care for Dogs, Woofits Doggy Day Care and Upholland again), and four are home boarders taking dogs into their own home (Pet Getaway, Barking Beauties, Digs for Dogs (Wigan) and We Love Pets Wigan, the last two being local franchise branches).
Home boarding, day care or kennels
A home boarder usually takes far fewer dogs at a time than a kennel block, so ask how many other dogs will be sharing the house during your dates and whether they are all from one household. Pet Getaway and Barking Beauties are both run by an individual from their own home in the Hindley & Platt Bridge area; Digs for Dogs (Wigan) and We Love Pets Wigan are franchise branches, each covering a wider stretch of the borough under their own franchisee. Talbot House Kennels & Cattery and Dukes Barn Farm run purpose-built kennels near Standish and Pemberton, with set collection and drop-off times rather than all-day access. Canine Companions and Woofits run day care from a dedicated unit or farm rather than a home, and Upholland Luxury Kennels & Cattery combines kennels, a cattery, day care and grooming on one site near Up Holland.
The council licence position here
Two councils license the businesses on this page. Wigan Council covers Wigan centre, Hindley & Platt Bridge, Pemberton & Winstanley, Ashton-in-Makerfield, Orrell & Billinge and Standish & Shevington, and publishes its own public register with a star rating for every entry: Talbot House (3 stars), Dukes Barn Farm (1 star), Pet Getaway (5 stars), Canine Companions (1 star), Barking Beauties (2 stars), Digs for Dogs (3 stars) and We Love Pets Wigan (3 stars) are all shown here exactly as the register gives them. West Lancashire Borough Council covers Skelmersdale, and its own register file is dated 13 September 2025; against that file, both Woofits Doggy Day Care and Upholland Luxury Kennels & Cattery already show a licence expiry that has since passed, so no licence panel is shown for either on this site, and neither figure is repeated here as if it were still current. Ask each one directly whether its licence has been renewed since that file was published.
Two of the page's seven areas, Pemberton & Winstanley and Ashton-in-Makerfield, have no dog boarder or day care with a confirmed phone number listed yet; if you are in either area, the nearest listed businesses are in Hindley & Platt Bridge, Wigan centre or Orrell & Billinge.
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.
- 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 many other dogs will be at the property, or in the group, on my dates?
- What happens if my dog needs a vet while in your care?
See our Wigan and Skelmersdale prices guide for what the four businesses that publish a figure charge, and ask everyone else directly.