How to choose dog boarding or day care in Exeter

Twenty-two dog boarders, day cares and kennels are listed for Exeter, spread across the city centre, St Thomas, Pinhoe, Exmouth, Crediton and Tiverton, and licensed by three different councils: Exeter City Council, East Devon District Council and Mid Devon District Council. Thirteen are home boarders, seven hold a day care licence and five hold a boarding kennels licence (three businesses hold more than one licence type, and three combine dog boarding with a cattery). Heavitree and Topsham have no listed business at all at the time of writing; research found a Heavitree dog walker with no boarding or day-care licence, and nothing addressed in Topsham on any register or general search, so treat both as genuine gaps rather than an oversight.

Home boarding, day care or kennels

Thirteen businesses board dogs in the boarder's own home rather than a kennel block: St Thomas Dog Boarding, Outward Hounds, Barking Mad Exeter and Animals at Home Exeter in the Exeter centre and St Thomas areas; Ford Farm Dogs on the edge of St Thomas; and, spread through Exmouth, Just Purr-fect, The Dog Walking Company, Sandy Paws & Waggy Tails, Exe Valley Dog Walking, Tracks and Tails, Coastal Tails and Devon Doggies, plus Happy Holiday Dogs near Tiverton. A home boarder usually takes far fewer dogs at a time than a kennels, so ask how many other dogs will be in the house during your dates, and whether they are all from one household. Home for Hounds, A Dogs Day Out Pinhoe, Dogs Day Care, Exmouth Canine Centre and Tiverton Dog Centre run day care from a dedicated site rather than a home, and Orchard End Kennels & Cattery, Lapford Lodge Boarding Kennels & Cattery, Blackdown Boarding Kennels, Bunkersland Boarding Kennels and Tiverton Dog Centre run boarding kennels for overnight stays; three of these, Orchard End, Lapford Lodge and Blackdown, also run a cattery alongside the dog kennels.

The council licence in this area

Every business listed states that it holds a council licence; how much of that can be independently confirmed depends on which council covers the address. Eleven businesses, mostly in and around Exmouth, are licensed by East Devon District Council, which publishes a current PDF register: eight of these eleven were matched directly against that register (Barking Mad Exeter, Just Purr-fect, The Dog Walking Company, Sandy Paws & Waggy Tails, Exe Valley Dog Walking, Tracks and Tails, Coastal Tails and Dogs Day Care, all rated 5 stars on the register), while Exmouth Canine Centre, Devon Doggies and Animals at Home Exeter could not be matched to a line on that register under their trading names, so their licence details here are self-reported rather than confirmed. Six businesses in Crediton and Tiverton are licensed by Mid Devon District Council, whose own register page confirmed all six (three rated 5 stars, three rated 3 stars). Four businesses in the city centre, St Thomas and Pinhoe state they are licensed by Exeter City Council, but that council's own register could not be checked this time, so all four (St Thomas Dog Boarding, Outward Hounds, Home for Hounds and A Dogs Day Out Pinhoe) are shown here as self-reported licence numbers only; ask to see the current certificate before booking with any of them. Ford Farm Dogs, on the edge of the city, has no licence details on record at all. Where a star rating is confirmed against a register, it is the council's own inspection score, not a customer review, and runs from 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest).

Questions worth asking before you book

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

• Which council licensed you, and what is your licence number? Can I see the current certificate?
• 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 will be there during my dates, and from how many households?
• 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, and who decides and pays?
• Are you insured, and can you show evidence of current cover?

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 Exeter prices guide for what the three businesses that publish a figure actually charge.