How to choose dog boarding or day care in Leicester

Thirty dog boarders, day cares and kennels are listed for Leicester, spread across eight areas that sit under five separate licensing councils: Leicester City Council, Oadby and Wigston Borough Council, Blaby District Council, Charnwood Borough Council and Harborough District Council, plus one business over the county line licensed by Kettering Borough Council in Northamptonshire. Twenty-three of the thirty are home boarders, licensed to board dogs in their own house; the other seven run from a fixed site, five of them boarding kennels (Riverside Boarding Kennels, The Grange Boarding Kennels, Debdale Grange, High Barn Farm Kennels & Cattery and Wooden House Kennels) and two running day care from a dedicated or salon premises (WAGS - Oadby Dog Grooming and Precious Paws Leicester Ltd).

Home boarding, day care or kennels

A home boarder takes your dog into their own house, usually in far smaller numbers than a kennels would take at once: Leicester's twenty-three home boarders are spread from Furry Friends Pet Care Services and Happy Paws Leicester in the Leicester centre area to Yappy Tails Dog Services in the village of Hallaton, near Market Harborough. Ask how many other dogs will be in the house during your dates, and whether they are all from one family or several — licensed capacities vary a good deal from one home boarder to the next, from Four Paws and Trails' two separate licences (a 10-dog and a 6-dog capacity) in Enderby down to a boarder with no stated capacity at all, so this is worth asking about directly rather than assuming. Boarding kennels suit a dog that would rather have its own run: The Grange Boarding Kennels in Whetstone is licensed for up to 40 dogs, while Debdale Grange, High Barn Farm Kennels & Cattery and Wooden House Kennels all combine dog kennels with a cattery or grooming on the same site. Day care, for a dog that needs looking after through a working day rather than overnight, is offered by eight of the thirty businesses, including the two fixed-site day cares above and several home boarders who take dogs for the day as well as overnight.

Five councils, one region

Leicester's eight areas are small enough to look like one town but sit across five licensing authorities, because Leicester City is a compact unitary authority ringed by Leicestershire district councils. Leicester City Council licenses three businesses in the Leicester centre area, reachable through its own open-data register. Oadby and Wigston Borough Council licenses eight businesses across Oadby and Wigston. Its PDF register unusually gives a full address, phone and star rating in one table. Blaby District Council licenses four businesses (Furry Friends Pet Care Services, The Grange Boarding Kennels, Four Paws and Trails and Dog Nanny Leicester) through the animal-licensing.uk platform. Charnwood Borough Council licenses five businesses around Syston, Anstey and Birstall, also on animal-licensing.uk. Harborough District Council licenses five businesses around Market Harborough, from its own PDF register. One further business, Wooden House Kennels near Braybrooke, sits just over the county line; its own site states it is licensed by Kettering Borough Council instead, even though its postcode reads as Market Harborough, but this could not be confirmed against Kettering's own published register.

What the licence does and doesn't show

Every business shown with a council licence here holds a current one: it is a legal requirement in England for dog boarding, home boarding and day care, not something a business can opt out of. Where the council's own register gives a star rating, it runs from 1 to 5 and reflects the council's own inspection, not a customer review — treat it the way you would a food hygiene rating rather than a Google star. Five businesses currently show no licence block at all. Minezara Home Boarding Services, TailTroopers and Doggy Day Care Leicester are clearly trading with a phone and a public listing, but could not be matched to an exact register entry within this round of research, which may be a gap in the research rather than a sign the business is unlicensed. Porter's Paw Patrol and Wooden House Kennels both state their own licence details on their own websites, but neither could be confirmed against the relevant council's own published register within this round, so no licence block is shown for either. Ask any of these five directly which council licensed them, and for their licence number, before booking.

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.

• Which council licensed you, and what is your licence number? Look it up on the council's own register rather than taking a website's word for it.
• 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 there during my dates, and from how many households?

None of the Leicester 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.

A thin area, and prices

Braunstone Town, Braunstone Park & Thorpe Astley currently has only one listed business, Four Paws and Trails, a dog training and walking academy whose Blaby licence also covers boarding; this looks like a genuine gap in what is licensed in that specific area rather than a research miss, so it is worth calling Blaby District Council directly if you are searching there. Three of the thirty businesses listed for Leicester publish a price; see our Leicester prices guide for the published figures and what they cover. Whichever type of boarding or day care you choose, ask what a second dog from the same household costs, whether bank holidays are charged at a higher rate, and whether collection is included or priced separately.