Home boarding or kennels in Hemel Hempstead and Chesham?
Of the twelve dog boarding, day-care and home-boarding businesses listed across Hemel Hempstead and Chesham, six are home boarders, licensed to keep dogs in their own house: Pet Relief, Cosy Paws Dog Boarding and Auntie Kelz Dog Home Boarder and Day Creche, all in Hemel Hempstead; Poos and Doodles in Berkhamsted & Tring; The Puppy Dog Hotel in Chesham & Amersham; and Friends Paw Life, covering the Great Missenden area. Two more, The Old Pastures Boarding Kennels near Tring and Arklow Kennels in Chalfont St Giles, run purpose-built kennels instead. The remaining four run day care only, from premises rather than either a home or a kennels block: K&M Animal Care, Harts and Hounds @ The Hayfields, Schnoodles Doggy Daycare and Dogtopia of Amersham.
What a boarding kennels gives you
A boarding kennels means your dog has its own space on a site built for it, with set feeding and exercise times. The Old Pastures Boarding Kennels, at Icknield Farm near Tring, has ten kennels including two separate units kept apart from the main run for nervous dogs, and prices boarding from £32.50 a day for one dog or £45.50 for two dogs sharing. Arklow Kennels, in Chalfont St Giles, has been family run for over 30 years by Dot and Peter, boards both dogs and cats, and asks for a separate kennel cough vaccination for dogs.
What a home boarder gives you
A home boarder means your dog lives in somebody's house instead, usually alongside only one household's own dogs at a time; the address is given once you book, not published here. Pet Relief has run since 1995, by a former veterinary nurse and her husband, and covers a wide area stretching from Hemel Hempstead to St Albans, Harpenden and Welwyn Garden City. Cosy Paws Dog Boarding works from a house with a securely enclosed, CCTV-monitored garden. Auntie Kelz Dog Home Boarder and Day Creche, run by Kelly Ryan, is contactable seven days a week. Poos and Doodles, in Berkhamsted & Tring, specialises in poodle-mix breeds and also offers a dog 'wedding chaperone' service. The Puppy Dog Hotel, in Chesham, also offers dog walking, day care, a pet taxi and training alongside home boarding. Friends Paw Life, covering the route between Great Missenden and Aylesbury, offers a free meet-and-greet and sends owners photo and video updates during a stay.
The day-care-only premises
K&M Animal Care, in Hemel Hempstead, calls itself a 'doggy day school' and requires an assessment before a new dog's first booking. Harts and Hounds @ The Hayfields runs daycare on five acres of farmland near Tring with a van collection service. Schnoodles Doggy Daycare, based on a field outside Chesham, offers pickup across five towns. Dogtopia of Amersham, a locally run franchise, combines day care with overnight boarding from the same premises, so it sits between the two categories on this page.
Which suits your dog
A kennels tends to suit a dog that is happy with its own space and a set routine; a home boarder tends to suit a dog that finds a kennels environment stressful, or one that is used to living in a house rather than a run. Neither type is licensed to a higher standard than the other by default: both Dacorum Borough Council and Buckinghamshire Council licence home boarding and kennels under the same 2018 regulations, so asking to see the certificate is the same question either way. See our council licences guide for which of the twelve have a star rating confirmed directly.