How Reading's councils license dog boarders
Reading's seven areas sit across four licensing councils, and each publishes licensing information differently. This matters because a council's own register is the one place a licence claim can be checked independently, rather than taken on a business's word, and because England's licensing rules give every boarding, home boarding and day-care premises a 1-to-5 star rating on inspection, tied to how long the licence runs before it needs renewing.
The four councils
| Council | Businesses here | What this directory could check | Star rating shown |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Oxfordshire District Council | 4 | The council's own licence register, checked directly by reference number | Yes — all 4 currently rated 5 stars |
| Wokingham Borough Council | 9 | A third-party mirror, since the council's own disclosure page links to a spreadsheet this directory could not open | Not shown — the mirror doesn't carry a star-rating field |
| Reading Borough Council | 1 | A third-party mirror, since the council's own "public registers" page did not resolve to a viewable table | Not shown |
| West Berkshire Council | 1 | A third-party mirror, since the council and its licensing partner's own pages could not be reached | Not shown |
What "not shown" means
England's licensing rules give every premises a 1-to-5 star rating on inspection, so a rating exists in principle for every business on this page. "Not shown" means this directory could not independently confirm the figure from a council source, not that the business has no rating or a poor one — ask the business directly, or contact the relevant council, if the star rating matters to your decision. A council licence rating is never the same thing as a customer review, and the two are always kept separate on this site.
What South Oxfordshire's register shows that the others don't
South Oxfordshire District Council is the one council here whose own register could be checked directly, by licence reference number: it gives a full address, the star rating, and the date the licence was granted and renews. That's why Bluejay Dog Wellness, Lead On Henley, Dogs of Henley and Oscar's Daycare Centre carry a specific licence number and expiry date on their listings here, while the other 11 businesses in this directory carry no expiry date, and most carry no number either. The gap isn't a judgement on those 11 businesses — it reflects what each council's own systems make available to check, nothing else.
Every listing links to the register or mirror page it was checked against, marked with the month it was checked.
Checking a licence yourself
To check a licence directly rather than relying on this page: for a South Oxfordshire-licensed business, quote the licence number shown on its listing to the council; for the other three councils, quote the trading name and area to the licensing team by phone or email, since no independently viewable web register was available for this directory to check against at the time of writing. In England, a licence typically runs for one to three years depending on the star rating awarded at inspection, so an older listing is worth a fresh check if you're unsure.