Vaccinations, licences and what to ask in Bracknell and Crowthorne

Fourteen dog day cares, boarding kennels and home boarders are listed for Bracknell and Crowthorne, and every one of them needs a licence to operate in England, whether it runs from a fixed kennels, a day-care site or a home boarder's own house. A licence is not optional signage a business chooses to display: it is a legal requirement, checked and renewed by a council. This guide sets out what is worth asking about the licence, your dog's health and the stay itself.

Check the licence, and which council issued it

Thirteen of the fourteen listings here sit under Bracknell Forest Council; the fourteenth, Claire's Canines in the Sandhurst and Yateley area, is licensed by Hart District Council instead. Bracknell Forest Council's own register is not reachable directly online, so every licence shown on this page comes from a third-party mirror the council has not adopted as its own, which is why no council star rating is shown for any Bracknell Forest-licensed business here, even where the mirror itself records one. Nine of the fourteen – Berkshire Canine Company, The Little Pup Lodge, Hot Dogs Grooming and Doggy Day Care, Poochies Palace, Active Paws, Tails on Trails, Bravo Dog Training, The Dog Boss and Happy Dogz and Catz – carry a current, in-date licence number and expiry. Two more, 4 Paws and Pals and Amy's Animal Allsorts, have a recorded licence that has passed its expiry date with no renewal showing, so ask either directly for its current licence position before booking. Ryslip Group Ltd and Katy's K9s could not be matched to a council register under their trading name at all; ask both to show their current licence certificate.

Vaccinations and kennel cough

Ask the business what vaccinations it requires before a stay, and how long in advance it needs to see proof. Requirements and timing vary between operators, so there is no single schedule to quote here, and this directory does not set or check one. Ask separately about its policy on kennel cough, since that also varies from one boarder or kennels to the next.

Group size and what's on offer

Several of Bracknell and Crowthorne's home boarders publish a licensed capacity: The Little Pup Lodge is licensed for up to three dogs alongside the boarder's own resident dog, Active Paws for up to six dogs alongside three resident dogs, and Poochies Palace for up to eight dogs at a time. Ryslip Group Ltd, the town's one boarding kennels, is a much larger, purpose-built site that also runs pet travel, export and quarantine services from the same Church Lane premises near Binfield. Ask how many other dogs, and from how many households, will be there during your dates.

Medication, breed policies and a vet emergency

• Ask how medication is given during a stay, and whether there is an extra charge for it.
• Ask whether the business has any breed policies or conditions, including for an XL Bully with a valid exemption certificate.
• Ask what happens if your dog needs a vet while in the business's care, and who decides and pays.
• Ask whether the business holds public liability insurance, and ask to see evidence rather than take a website's claim on trust; The Dog Boss is the one business here that states on its own site that it carries £5 million of public liability cover.

Beyond that one exception, none of the businesses listed here publish an insurance position or a vaccination schedule, so put these questions directly to the business. See our council licences guide for the detail behind each business's licence.