Vaccinations, licences and what to ask in Brighton
Seventeen dog day care, home boarding and boarding-kennel businesses are listed for Brighton, Hove and the villages around it, and every one of them needs a licence from its own council to operate legally. Twelve fall under Brighton & Hove City Council, two under Adur District Council and three under Lewes District Council. A licence is a legal requirement, not a mark of quality on its own, so it is worth knowing what each council's record actually shows before relying on it.
What the licence does and does not tell you
Brighton & Hove City Council's own register lists a name and a star rating from one to five for eleven of the twelve businesses here that fall under it (Waggy Days does not appear under its trading name), but no address, licence number or expiry date for any of them. Adur District Council's and Lewes District Council's own online registers could not be read during research — one returns an empty search form, the other a bot-check page — so none of the five businesses under those two councils has a confirmed register entry on this site. Where a star rating is shown, it is the council's own inspection score, closer to a food hygiene rating than a customer review, and it says nothing about vaccination policy, breed rules or insurance.
Vaccinations
Every business here will ask what vaccinations your dog needs before it boards or attends day care. Ask exactly what each one requires and how long before your dates it needs to see proof, since this is the business's own policy and varies from one to the next rather than being set by a single national rule.
Kennel cough, breed policies and insurance
Kennel cough is a real risk wherever dogs mix, and different boarders take different views on cover for it; ask what the policy is rather than assume one either way. A business can also set its own conditions on breed, including for an XL Bully with a valid certificate of exemption, so ask directly rather than assume a particular breed will or will not be accepted. None of the seventeen businesses listed here states a public liability insurance position that this site can independently confirm, so ask to see evidence of current cover if it matters to you.
Questions worth asking before you book
- Can I see your current licence and its expiry date?
- What vaccinations do you require, and how long before my dates do you need to see proof?
- What is your policy on kennel cough?
- Do you have any breed policies, including for an XL Bully with a valid exemption certificate?
- Do you hold public liability insurance, and can you show evidence of it?
- How many other dogs will be there during my dates, and from how many households?
- How is medication given, and is there a charge for it?
Asking to see the licence in person matters most for the two businesses under Adur District Council, Sticks and Tricks and Little Bones, and the three under Lewes District Council, Mystery Paws, Benwick Kennels & Cattery and Waves & Waggy Tails, since neither council's own register could be read to confirm it here. For the twelve under Brighton & Hove City Council, the register confirms a name and a star rating but nothing else, so still ask about the licence number and expiry date directly.