In this article
Start with the care your dog needs, then check the person, place and paperwork. The National Animal Welfare Trust recommends visiting a boarding establishment before booking and asking about its routine and emergency arrangements. It also cautions that dogs who struggle around other dogs or with being left may find kennels difficult1.
A cheerful collection photo tells you something about a business. Your decision needs a fuller picture: where your dog would be, who would be responsible and what would happen if the day went differently from the plan. Keep a short written shortlist so that you can compare the answers after each conversation.
Check the licence for the service and location
England's animal-activity licensing system covers providing or arranging dog boarding, including kennels, home boarding and daycare. Defra's guidance says each facility needs its own licence and rating. Ask which premises and activities the document covers, rather than assuming one business name covers every address2.
The English star rating runs from one to five and combines welfare standards with risk and compliance history. Four or five stars require higher standards. Licences last one to three years; councils should publish licensed businesses and their ratings. A rating may change after inspection, so check the current council record2.
Treat the rating as useful evidence within that system. It cannot answer all your questions about the match for your dog. Write down the licence number, operator, address, activity and expiry date, then compare them with the care you are booking. If a detail does not line up, resolve it with the licensing authority before committing.
Use the right UK licensing route
In Wales and Scotland, GOV.UK directs boarding businesses to the local council for an animal boarding establishment licence. Its guidance includes businesses looking after small numbers in their own homes and says licences renew annually. Councils can inspect and add conditions, so ask the relevant council to confirm the service and premises3.
The same guidance describes suitable accommodation, food, drink, bedding, exercise, emergency protection and infectious-disease precautions, including isolation facilities. These give you useful topics for a visit. They do not turn England's star-rating scheme into a UK-wide label, or tell you what extra conditions a particular council has imposed3.
Northern Ireland has a different route: GOV.UK directs boarding establishments to the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, known as DAERA. The licence renews annually. DAERA may inspect before or after licensing, and applicants need suitable qualifications or experience alongside appropriate care and accommodation4.
For a service whose description is unclear, explain the whole arrangement to the authority: whose home, which premises, daytime or overnight, and whether transport is included. “Pet sitting” can be used casually in an advert. The useful question is what actually happens to your dog during the booking.
Ask a walker about the whole outing
Dogs Trust recommends checking evidence-based handling knowledge, canine first-aid training and third-party liability insurance. Ask to see the policy and its permitted group size. Meet the walker with your dog, seek references and discuss which other dogs would join them, equipment and permission for off-lead exercise5.
Put the agreement in writing. Dogs Trust recommends covering collection and return times, walk length, food or treats, training permissions, cancellations and emergency decisions, including veterinary care and costs. If transport is involved, ask how dogs are secured, how the vehicle is ventilated and temperature-controlled, and how collection rounds work5.
An answer becomes easier to assess when it describes your booking. Ask, for example, “Who would collect my dog on Thursday?” and “What happens if that person cannot come?” Keep the written answer with your booking details. You can then decide whether the arrangement matches what you thought you were buying.
Check the local walking rules too
In England and Wales, Public Spaces Protection Orders can impose local dog restrictions. The Home Office's October 2026 guidance includes limiting how many dogs one person may walk, excluding dogs from designated places, lead requirements and restrictions at particular times. The actual local order matters; another area's rule does not establish the limit on your route6.
Ask the walker which places they use and which current restrictions apply there. Compare that answer with the council's published order and map. A number allowed under an insurance policy does not override a local restriction, and permission to use one park does not establish permission everywhere5, 6.
Save the order or page you checked with the date. If the route changes, make that part of the next conversation. There is no need to turn an initial meeting into a legal quiz, but an answer such as “everyone does it” leaves the question unresolved.
Look for rest and individual care at daycare
England's daycare guidance excludes walkers and sitters caring for dogs in owners' homes from that daycare licensing activity. Within licensed daycare, it says each staff member should care for ten or fewer dogs, with an optional higher standard of one full-time staff member per eight. Space must include six square metres per dog, indoors and outdoors combined7.
The guidance also requires screening before admission, supervision, an area where a dog can avoid seeing others, and current vaccination records or an acceptable veterinary alternative where permitted. It limits crating to one hour in eight, within the dog's normal routine and with owner consent. Ask where rest, separation and health checks happen in practice7.
The six-dog walking maximum in this guidance belongs to the licensed-daycare context. It is not a national permission for every independent walker to take six dogs7.
Ask home boarders about the home itself
England's home-boarding guidance covers qualifying business care in another domestic home, including daytime stays; care in the dog's usual home is excluded from that activity. Dogs must be accommodated inside the home, with suitable separate-room provision and secure outside access. Ask to see the areas your dog would actually use8.
The guidance requires written consent for dogs sharing a designated room and provision to separate them. It also requires written emergency arrangements, including what happens if the home becomes unusable. Discuss resident animals, children, sleeping arrangements and the person providing care, rather than assuming a domestic setting automatically matches your dog's usual home life8.
Make the handover a clear conversation
NAWT recommends asking about staff experience, security, exercise arrangements and emergency veterinary provision. Explain your dog's routine and medical or behavioural needs, and check how any prescribed medicine would be managed. If the provider will not let you visit, its advice is to choose another establishment1.
Your final booking notes
- Exact service, address, responsible person and dates
- Current licence confirmation where required
- Written price, cancellation terms and collection arrangements
- Your dog's routine, equipment and relevant care information
- Emergency contacts and agreed decisions
- Questions still awaiting a clear answer
Read the notes once more before paying or handing over the lead. You should be able to picture the ordinary day and explain the plan to someone else in your household. Leave yourself time to choose another arrangement if the answers do not fit.
Sources and further reading8 sources
The small numbers in the article link to the source behind each fact. Sources open on their own websites.
- Choosing a Boarding Kennel
- Animal activity licensing process: statutory guidance for local authorities
- Animal boarding establishment licence (Wales and Scotland)
- Animal boarding establishment licence (Northern Ireland)
- How to find a good dog walker
- Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014: Anti-social behaviour powers, Statutory guidance for frontline professionals
- Dog day care licensing: statutory guidance for local authorities
- Home boarding for dogs licensing: statutory guidance for local authorities