How Derby's councils license dog boarders
Derby's built-up area and its nine listed postcode districts sit across four separate licensing councils, and each publishes its register in a different format. Twenty of the twenty-four businesses listed for Derby are matched against one of these four registers directly; the other four are arranger businesses or self-quote a licence number this round's register did not contain (see below).
The four registers
| Council | Covers | Register format | Gives a star rating? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Derby City Council | derby-centre, allestree, chaddesden, spondon, littleover | Downloadable spreadsheet, with licence numbers and expiry dates | Yes |
| South Derbyshire District Council | mickleover, chellaston-melbourne | Downloadable Word document, organised by activity | Yes |
| Erewash Borough Council | ilkeston | Own web page, plain table | Yes, for most entries |
| Amber Valley Borough Council | belper | Downloadable PDF | Yes, in words |
Star ratings, business by business
Derby City Council's register gives every one of its five matched businesses here a star rating: End Cottage Kennels, Furbelicious Paws, Pretty Paws Parlour and Barker's Retreat are each rated 5 stars, and One Paw Ahead is rated 4 stars, all checked September 2026. South Derbyshire's register rates Covert Canine Centre at 5 stars and Longcroft Boarding Kennels & Cattery, Coppice Kennels and Cattery, and Ash Farm Boarding Kennels and Daycare at 3 stars each. Erewash's register rates Dogs R Us, Columbine Farm Kennels and Hound Dog Haven at 5 stars and Barkingham Palace Animal Hotel and Castlefield Kennels at 3 stars; Pet Walk N Stay and K9 Doggy Daycare UK are matched to the same register but carry no star rating on it. Amber Valley's PDF rates Melmo Home Boarding and Imperial Canine at 4 stars and Kilburn K9's at 3 stars.
A council licence rating like this is a government inspection score, not a customer review, so it is shown here as plain text rather than inside a star-icon badge, and is never mixed up with one.
What each register actually tells you
The four registers are not equally detailed. Derby City Council's spreadsheet is the only one of the four to give a licence number and an exact expiry date alongside the star rating; South Derbyshire, Erewash and Amber Valley's registers confirm a star rating but no licence number or expiry date at all. That matters if a business quotes its own licence number to you: only a Derby City Council number can be checked against anything published here, and, as the next section shows, a self-quoted number does not always turn up in the file.
The four without a confirmed match
We Love Paws and Barking Mad Derby arrange home boarding through host families rather than holding a single licensed premises, so neither carries a council licence of its own. Poochie Play Centre and Doggy Daycare/Play Centre Derby both quote a Derby City Council licence number on their own sites that does not appear in the register file checked for this page; ask either business to show its current certificate before booking.
See our vaccinations, licences and what to ask guide for the questions worth putting to any Derby boarder about its licence.