Vaccinations, licences and what to ask in Basildon
Basildon Borough Council licenses all 19 dog boarding, day-care and home-boarding businesses on this page, whether they run kennels, a day-care site or board dogs in their own home. A licence is not a guarantee about any one stay, but it is the one document worth asking to see before you book, alongside a straight answer on vaccinations and any breed policy.
Vaccinations
Every boarding kennels, home boarder and day care sets its own vaccination policy, and this varies from one business to the next, so ask what they require and how far in advance, rather than assuming a fixed rule applies everywhere in Basildon. Several also ask about kennel-cough cover specifically; practice differs by business, so raise it directly when you call rather than relying on what a previous kennels asked for.
Licences
Basildon Borough Council's own register page blocks automated access, so this directory reads the council's licensing decisions through a third-party mirror, animal-licensing.uk. That mirror lists a business's trading name and licence type but not a star score for any of the 19 businesses listed here, so no council star rating is shown on this site for a Basildon licence. That is a limit of the source, not a mark against a business: ask to see the licence certificate itself when you visit or book, and you can check the trading name against the register mirror yourself.
Breed policies and insurance
A boarding or day-care business is entitled to ask about a dog's breed and to set its own conditions, including for an XL Bully, so ask directly rather than assuming either way. If a business states on its own site that it holds public liability insurance, treat that as something the business says about itself; Roskosh has no way to check an insurance claim independently, so ask to see evidence if it matters to your decision.
Questions to ask before you book
- What vaccinations do you need before the stay, and how far in advance?
- Do you have a policy on kennel cough cover?
- Do you have any breed policies I should know about, including for an XL Bully?
- Do you say you hold public liability insurance, and can I see evidence of it?
- Will my dog share a kennel, room or exercise area with other dogs, and how often?
- What happens if my dog needs a vet while staying with you, and who decides that?
- Is there a discount for a second dog from the same household, or a surcharge for a bank holiday?
What "licensed" actually covers
A licence covers premises standards, record-keeping and how many dogs a business may keep at once; it does not fix a price, guarantee a particular room or run, or promise a certain group size, so ask those questions separately even once you have confirmed the licence. Basildon's licensed businesses range from Tudor Lodge Luxury Boarding Kennels & Cattery, licensed for up to 60 dogs, to Kristie Boarding & Grooming, which caps itself at 12 dogs by choice rather than by licence limit — a business can run well below its licensed capacity, so a small operation is not necessarily under-licensed.
Getting there
Oatcakes Pet Lodge, off the A127 in Wickford, warns on its own site that satnav postcodes can send drivers to the wrong turning. It is worth asking any business you are considering for directions rather than relying on a postcode search alone, especially for a site off a busy road.