Home boarding or kennels in Sunderland?

Overnight boarding in Sunderland comes in two different shapes: a home boarder, who takes your dog into their own house, or a fixed kennels or boarding centre, where dogs stay on a dedicated site. Five of the twelve businesses listed for Sunderland are home boarders; four run boarding kennels or a larger boarding centre. The remaining three — Take The Lead Doggy Day Care and the two Mighty Mutt House sites — offer day care only, with no overnight stays, so they sit outside this comparison.

Home boarding

Sunderland's five listed home boarders are Barking Mad – Sunderland and Durham, a host-family franchise covering the whole area and run locally by Roy McHugh; Alpha Omega – Dog Walking Sunderland and Dogs Are Us, both single-operator home boarders in the Silksworth & Ryhope area; Maid in the North East, trading since 2016 in the Houghton-le-Spring area; and Adrian's Dog Buddy in the Seaham area. As with any home boarder, only the area and town are shown on the listing; the address is given once you book. Three of the five — Barking Mad, Alpha Omega and Adrian's Dog Buddy — publish a price for overnight boarding; see our prices guide for the figures. Ask how many other dogs will be in the house during your dates.

Boarding kennels and centres

Sunderland's four fixed-site boarders are Ferry Farm Boarding Kennels & Cattery near South Hylton, West Hall Boarding Kennels on Cleadon Lane, Doggy Digzzz and Cat Club in the Southwick & Castletown area, and MyPetStop, a large multi-service pet centre in Washington that also offers grooming, training and hydrotherapy alongside boarding. All four also take cats, either as a cattery alongside the kennels or, at MyPetStop, small animals and birds too. Opening hours vary between them: West Hall's day boarding runs Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm, and it is closed on Sundays and bank holidays; Ferry Farm offers viewings by appointment, daily between 1pm and 3pm; and MyPetStop opens Monday to Friday 8am to 5.30pm and weekends 9am to 5pm. None of the four currently publishes a price for boarding; ask each directly once you have your dog's size and dates ready.

Which suits your dog

A nervous dog, or one used to a lot of one-to-one attention, may settle better with a home boarder than in a kennel block, while a dog that copes well away from a family home, or an owner who wants a fixed, staffed site with set hours, may prefer a kennels or boarding centre. A dog used to living with other pets may also settle more easily with a home boarder such as Barking Mad, where the host's own household often includes other dogs, than in a kennel run alone between walks. Ask either type of business how it introduces a new dog to its routine, and see our first stay guide for what a trial visit usually covers.