Vaccinations, licences and what to ask in Eastleigh, Hedge End and Romsey

Twelve dog day cares and home boarders are listed across Eastleigh, Chandler's Ford, Hedge End & Bursledon, Romsey and North Baddesley, and every one of them needs a licence to operate in England, whether it takes place in a boarder's own home or, in one case, a purpose-built day-care site. A licence is not optional signage a business chooses to display: it is a legal requirement, checked and renewed by the relevant council. This guide sets out what is worth asking about the licence, your dog's health and the stay itself, rather than assuming any of it.

Check the licence, and which council issued it

All twelve listings carry a licence matched against a council register, split evenly between two councils. Eastleigh Borough Council licenses six: Paws for a While and Woof and Meow Pet Services in Eastleigh, Let Fi Take the Lead and Pet Carers, Chandler's Ford in Chandler's Ford, and All the B's Pet Services and Purdys Paws in Hedge End & Bursledon. Test Valley Borough Council licenses the other six: Able Canines in Chandler's Ford, and Wags with Willow, Country Pooch, Paw Prints Pet Care and The Dog Listener in Romsey, plus Pet Carers, North Baddesley. Eastleigh's own site could not be reached directly for this research, so its register is read from a third-party mirror rather than the council's own page, and no star rating is shown for any of its six licensees as a result; Test Valley's own published register carries no star-rating column at all, so none is shown for its six either. Three of the Eastleigh-licensed businesses — Paws for a While, Woof and Meow Pet Services and Let Fi Take the Lead — currently show a licence expiry date that has already passed on the mirror, most likely because a renewal has not yet been reflected there rather than because the licence has lapsed; ask any of the three to show you its current certificate rather than relying on the register date alone.

Vaccinations and kennel cough

Ask whichever business you are considering 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 a business's policy on kennel cough, since that too varies from one home boarder to the next.

Group size and what's on offer

Eleven of the twelve businesses here are home boarders, meaning your dog would stay in someone's own house rather than a kennel block, usually alongside far fewer other dogs than a larger site would take at once. Paws for a While has a qualified veterinary nurse on its team; All the B's Pet Services offers an unusually wide range covering guinea pigs, rabbits, birds and reptiles alongside dog boarding; and Purdys Paws requires any dog it boards to be at least a year old and neutered, which is worth asking any home boarder about as an example of a booking condition rather than assuming none apply. Country Pooch, near Ower on the edge of Romsey, is the exception: a purpose-built day-care site with an outdoor garden, an indoor barn and a running paddock, run from dedicated premises rather than a home, though it does not offer overnight stays.

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.

None of the twelve businesses listed here publish a vaccination schedule or a stated insurance position, so put these questions directly to whichever one you are considering. See our council licences guide for more on how each council's register works.