Vaccinations, vet records, and what a daycare should ask for

Dog daycare is a high-density environment. Twenty dogs in a building, breathing the same air, sharing the same water bowls, mouthing the same toys. The single biggest health risk in any daycare is infectious disease transmission, and the single biggest defence against it is the vaccination check at the door.

If a daycare does not ask to see your dog's vaccination record before the first session, they are not running a safe operation. Full stop. Below is what they should ask for, why, and what good operators do on top of the legal minimum.

The legal baseline

Under the DEFRA 2018 regulations, every licensed boarding or daycare operator must have a written policy on vaccinations and verify each dog's status before accepting them. The regulations do not specify which vaccines are required, but the standard interpretation is the full UK core vaccination protocol.

That covers four diseases.

Distemper, hepatitis, parvovirus, leptospirosis (DHP and L)

These are the four core vaccines almost every UK dog receives as a puppy and boosters thereafter. The "DHP" combination is usually given every three years after the initial puppy course. The "L" (leptospirosis) booster is given annually because immunity is shorter.

A daycare should ask for proof that DHP is in date and L was boosted within the last 12 months.

Kennel cough (Bordetella bronchiseptica and parainfluenza)

This is the one many owners are vague about. Kennel cough is not a core vaccine and many dogs do not have it. Most UK daycares will not accept a dog without it because the disease spreads in exactly the kind of environment they run.

The vaccine is usually given intranasally (squirted up the nose) and lasts 12 months. A good daycare will require kennel cough vaccination at least 14 days before the first session, because immunity takes that long to develop, and a top-up annually thereafter.

Some daycares accept the oral version of the vaccine. Most insist on the nasal version because the antibody response is stronger.

Rabies (if travelling)

Not required for UK-only dogs but should be in date if the dog has been imported or is travelling.

What a good operator asks for beyond the minimum

Three things separate a careful daycare from a compliant one.

A vet-signed record, not a photocopy you scribbled on

A good daycare wants the vaccination certificate from your vet, with the vet's signature, practice stamp, and the batch number of each vaccine. A printout from the My Pet app, a photo of an old card, or your word for it is not enough.

Why does it matter. Fake vaccination records are not as rare as you would hope. A handful of breeders and importers have been caught issuing forged paperwork over the years. A daycare that wants the original is a daycare that has thought about this.

Worming and flea treatment evidence

The DEFRA regulations require operators to have a parasite control policy. Most ask for proof of worming within the last three months and flea/tick treatment within the last month.

Lungworm is now established across the south of England and is increasingly common in the North and Scotland. A daycare with an outdoor play area in the South East should be checking that your dog is on a lungworm-protective wormer (milbemycin or moxidectin based).

Health declaration at every visit

A really careful operator asks at every drop-off whether anything has changed. Has the dog been sick. Are they eating. Any limping. Coughing. Diarrhoea. Itching.

A 30-second verbal check at the door catches the start of an outbreak before it spreads. If your daycare does not ask, you can ask yourself - it is the kind of thing a good operator welcomes.

The two questions that filter out bad operators

If you are interviewing daycares, ask these two questions.

**"What happens if a dog comes in with kennel cough?"**

A good answer goes something like - the dog is isolated immediately in a separate area away from the main play space, the owner is called, the dog is collected as soon as possible, the area is deep-cleaned with a disinfectant rated for canine respiratory viruses, the families of every dog that was in the building that day are notified within four hours, and the daycare reports a suspected outbreak to the council if more than two dogs show symptoms within a week.

A bad answer is "we send the dog home and clean up afterwards".

**"What is your isolation area?"**

Every licensed daycare should have a physically separate area where a sick dog can be held away from the main group. It needs separate ventilation if possible, separate water bowls, and ideally a separate entrance for collection. A daycare that uses the same room for sick dogs and well dogs is one shared bowl away from a problem.

What to bring to a first session

Most daycares give you a checklist. If they do not, this is the minimum.

- Vet-signed vaccination certificate showing DHP, L (within 12 months), and kennel cough (within 12 months, at least 14 days before session) - Proof of worming within the last 3 months - Proof of flea/tick treatment within the last month - Your vet's name, practice address, phone number and out-of-hours number - Microchip number and the registered database (Petlog, Identibase, etc) - Insurance details if you have a policy and want the daycare to know about it - Emergency contact who is not you, with permission to collect or authorise treatment

A daycare that does not need any of this is a daycare that has not thought about what happens when something goes wrong.

What "fully vaccinated" actually means

A subtle point. "Fully vaccinated" is not a fixed concept. It depends on the dog's age, what they had as a puppy, and how recently they were boostered.

For a dog over 18 months old, fully vaccinated typically means:

- DHP given within the last 3 years (some vets boost annually, that is fine too) - L given within the last 12 months - Kennel cough given within the last 12 months and at least 14 days ago

For a puppy under 18 months, the picture is more complicated. The puppy course finishes at around 12 weeks for the core vaccines. Kennel cough can be given from 3 weeks of age. Most daycares will not accept a dog under 16 weeks because the immune system is still developing and the social risks (anxiety, learned aggression) are high.

If you have a puppy and a daycare offers to take them at 12 weeks, that is a red flag. They are either undercutting the regulations or do not understand the developmental stage.

What we surface in the directory

Every licensed business on GoodHound shows whether they require kennel cough, what their isolation arrangements look like, and the council's most recent inspection date. If a council has flagged a vaccination policy issue at inspection, that flag stays visible on the listing.

The licence is the gate. The vaccination policy is the second filter. You can browse licensed daycares by city and check what each operator requires before you call.