Vaccinations, licences and what to ask in Northampton

West Northamptonshire Council is the single licensing authority for every one of the 19 dog boarders, day cares and kennels listed across Northampton, Daventry and Towcester. A licence is not a guarantee about any one stay, but it is the one document worth asking to see before you book, alongside a plain answer on vaccinations and any breed policy.

Vaccinations

Every home boarder, day care and kennels here sets its own vaccination policy, and this varies from one business to the next, so ask what they require and how long before the stay you need to show proof, rather than assuming a fixed rule applies across the town. Several also have their own view on kennel-cough cover; practice differs by business, so raise it directly when you call.

Licences across Northampton, Daventry and Towcester

Nine of the 19 businesses listed are matched against West Northamptonshire Council's published star-rating register: Hound Dogs, 4-Paws, Maddie's Home from Home, Dennylini's Dog Hotel, Pearson Paws, Andrea's Animals, The Little Pooch House, Teddy's Dog Care and Parklands Pooches. The other ten, mostly based around Daventry and Towcester, are not currently matched against that register even though several state their own licence number on their own site; the council's published register appears not yet to cover every licence holder in the former Daventry and South Northamptonshire districts, so these ten are shown without a licence block rather than with an unverified one. Ask any of these ten to see their current licence certificate directly.

Breed policies and insurance

A boarding or day-care business is entitled to ask about a dog's breed and to set its own conditions, including for an XL Bully with a valid exemption certificate, so ask directly rather than assuming either way. None of the businesses listed here states a public liability insurance position on its own site; if one ever does, treat it as something the business says about itself, since Roskosh has no way to check an insurance claim independently.

Questions to ask before you book

• What vaccinations do you need before the stay, and how far in advance?
• Do you have a policy on kennel cough cover?
• Do you have any breed policies I should know about, including for an XL Bully?
• How many other dogs, and from how many households, will be there during my dates?
• What happens if my dog needs a vet while staying with you, and who decides that?
• Can I see your current council licence certificate?

What a licence covers, and what it doesn't

A licence covers premises standards, record-keeping and how many dogs a business may keep at once; it does not fix a price, guarantee a particular room, or promise a certain group size, so ask those questions separately even once you have confirmed the licence. Hunsbury Dog Services, for example, caps its own boarding at four dogs at a time and does not take bitches in season or puppies under a year old — a limit the business sets itself, not one this directory can confirm against a register entry.