How to choose dog boarding or day care in Worcester

Nineteen dog boarders, day cares and kennels are listed for Worcester, spread across three licensing councils: Worcester City Council covers the city itself, while Malvern Hills District Council and Wychavon District Council also license businesses that sit inside this page's postcode areas. Nine of the nineteen are home boarders, shown by area and town only; five hold a day care licence and eight hold a boarding kennels licence, with some businesses covering more than one activity under a single licence. What matters most when choosing depends on which of the three you need.

Home boarding, day care or kennels

Nine businesses board dogs in the boarder's own home rather than a kennel block: The DogFather Worcester, Worcester Woofers B&B, Top Paws And Claws and St Johns Walkies around St John's & Dines Green and St Peter's & Kempsey; Wagadoodle in the Worcester centre area; Malvern Happy Paws in Malvern; Bed and Bone Homestays and The Hayloft Pet Services near St John's & Dines Green and Droitwich Spa; and Barklife in the Evesham & Pershore area. As with every home boarder, only the area and town are shown here; the address is given once you book. Two further businesses, Hillview Canine Centre and Archbridge Farm Boarding Kennels, are licensed for home boarding as one of several activities but run from a fixed site rather than a private home, so their full address is shown. The Dog House, The DogFather Worcester, Coco & Yogi's Doggy Daycare and Hillview Canine Centre run day care, and Danemere Kennels & Cattery, Five Oaks Boarding Kennels, Rowan House Boarding Kennels, Archbridge Farm Boarding Kennels, Wits End Kennels, Bolstrode Kennels, Holborn Boarding Kennels and Hillview Canine Centre run boarding kennels for overnight stays. A home boarder usually takes far fewer dogs at once than a kennels, so ask how many other dogs will be there during your dates, and whether they are all from one household or several.

The council licence in this area

All three councils covering Worcester — Worcester City, Malvern Hills and Wychavon — publish their registers through a single shared service, Worcestershire Regulatory Services, with a separate page per council giving licence holder, activity, star rating and expiry date. Worcester City Council licenses seven of the nineteen listed businesses, Malvern Hills District Council licenses three, and Wychavon District Council licenses nine. A star rating, where the register shows one, runs from 1 to 5 and is the council's own inspection score, not a customer review; it is not shown at all for Coco & Yogi's Doggy Daycare, whose register entry carries no expiry date either. Malvern itself is thin on this page: only Malvern Happy Paws is listed there, even though Malvern Hills District Council's own register carries many more entries, because most of them sit in villages elsewhere in the district, such as Welland, Hanley Swan, Castlemorton and Cradley, rather than in Malvern town. Some of those villages share the WR13 postcode, which this page does not currently cover, so a handful of real, licensed businesses close to Malvern are not shown here. Wits End Kennels and Archbridge Farm Boarding Kennels also sit in villages licensed by Wychavon and Malvern Hills district councils rather than Worcester City Council, despite lying close to the city.

Questions worth asking about vaccinations, breed rules and insurance

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 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 other 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 Worcester prices guide for what the four businesses that publish a price actually charge, and ask everyone else for a quote once you have your dates and your dog's details ready.