How to choose dog boarding or day care in Northampton

Nineteen dog boarders, day cares and kennels are listed for Northampton, spread unevenly across the town's seven areas: five in Wootton, four in Daventry, three each in Weston Favell and Towcester, two each in the town centre and Kingsthorpe, and none currently found in Duston, though Northampton Dog Walker and Teddy's Dog Care both say they cover it as part of a wider round rather than being based there. What matters most when choosing depends on which of home boarding, day care or kennels you need.

Home boarding, day care or kennels

Thirteen of the nineteen are home boarders, taking your dog into their own house rather than a purpose-built site: Hound Dogs and Andrea's Animals in the town centre area; 4-Paws and Northampton Dog Walker in Kingsthorpe; Dennylini's Dog Hotel, The Little Pooch House and Parklands Pooches in Weston Favell; Maddie's Home from Home, Pearson Paws and Hunsbury Dog Services in Wootton; and Paws for a Break and Barking Mad - Towcester and West Northants around Towcester. Happy Hounds Towcester also holds a home boarding licence for existing day-care customers only, run from its Towcester premises rather than a private house. The other six run from a dedicated site: Teddy's Dog Care and Scoobys Doggy Day Care & Spa in Wootton run day care; Stone House Boarding Kennels, Hazel Tree Country Boarding Kennels & Cattery and Cottage Garden Cattery & Kennels near Daventry run boarding kennels (Hazel Tree and Cottage Garden also board cats); and Doggies Friend Daycare Centre runs day care in Daventry itself. 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 family or several.

The council licence in West Northamptonshire

Northampton, Daventry and Towcester have shared a single licensing authority, West Northamptonshire Council, since 2021. Nine of the nineteen businesses listed are matched against the council's published star-rating register, with a current licence and, where the council has assigned one, a star rating from 1 to 5: Hound Dogs, 4-Paws, Maddie's Home from Home, Dennylini's Dog Hotel, Pearson Paws, Andrea's Animals, The Little Pooch House, Teddy's Dog Care and Parklands Pooches. A star rating is the council's own inspection score, not a customer review, and should be read the way you would a food hygiene rating. The remaining ten, mostly based around Daventry and Towcester, are not currently matched against that register even though several state their own licence number on their own site; the council's published register appears not yet to cover every licence holder in the former Daventry and South Northamptonshire districts, so these ten are shown without a licence block rather than with an unverified one. Ask any of these ten businesses to see their current licence certificate directly, and check the number yourself once West Northamptonshire publishes its promised new database.

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?
• How many other dogs, and from how many households, will be there during my dates?
• 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?
• Can I see your current council licence certificate?

See our Northampton prices guide for what the five businesses that publish a figure charge, and ask every other business what a second dog, a bank holiday or collection would add to the total before you book.