Vaccinations, licences and what to ask in Liverpool

Twenty dog boarders, day cares and kennels are listed for Liverpool, licensed across three councils. Before booking any of them, a short list of questions works better than assuming the answer, especially on vaccination policy and on exactly how current a licence still is.

Vaccinations and health

No business listed here publishes a fixed vaccination schedule, and this site does not state one on anyone's behalf, since practice genuinely differs between individual boarders, day cares and vets. Ask what vaccinations a business requires and how long before your dog's stay it needs to see proof, and ask separately what its policy is on kennel cough.

Licence questions

Every one of the 20 needs a council licence, whether from Liverpool City Council, Sefton Council or Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council. All three councils' registers reach this site through the animal-licensing.uk mirror rather than a council-hosted page directly, and give a licence number and expiry date for most entries but no star rating for any of them. A handful of the confirmed licences here had already reached their expiry date by the time this was researched, so it is worth asking specifically whether a licence is still current rather than assuming a listed one is. Diamond Doggycare and PetStay Liverpool & Knowsley could not be matched to a named register entry at all, and Nursery Farm Boarding Kennels, Liverpool's only boarding kennels, advertises a rating that could not be checked against anything either — ask all three to show you their current certificate directly.

Group size and household mix

A home boarder usually takes far fewer dogs at a time than a day care or a kennels, but "far fewer" can still mean more than one household's dogs sharing a house and garden. Ask how many other dogs will be there during your dates and whether they come from one household or several, especially if your own dog is nervous around unfamiliar dogs or prefers to be the only one in the house.

Questions worth asking

• Can I see your current council licence certificate and its expiry date?
• What vaccinations do you require, and how long before my dog's stay do you need to see proof?
• What is your policy on kennel cough?
• How many other dogs, and from how many households, will be there during my dates?
• How is medication given, and is there an extra charge for it?
• Do you have any breed policies, including for an XL Bully with a valid exemption certificate?
• What happens if my dog needs a vet while it is in your care, and who decides and pays?

None of this is a checklist this directory can complete on a business's behalf: it is a list of things worth putting to whichever of Liverpool's 20 boarders, day cares or kennels you are considering, before you commit to a date. See our Liverpool choosing guide for more on how the three councils' registers compare.