What records do you need to keep for a dog home boarding licence in England

Who needs a home boarding licence

Home boarding is covered by the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018, and councils license it using statutory guidance published by the government on GOV.UK. That guidance, last updated on 1 June 2026, says that all dog home boarding needs a licence if it is carried out as a commercial business: if the operator makes a sale or works to make a profit, or earns a commission or fee. Councils are also pointed to HMRC's badges of trade.

There is a threshold. The guidance says that someone with a trading income below the HMRC trading income allowance does not need a licence, although a trading income above it does not automatically make someone a business. HMRC sets that allowance at up to £1,000 of trading income in a tax year.

Scope matters too. The licence covers looking after other people's dogs in your own home for day and overnight stays. The guidance lists businesses that look after a dog in its normal place of residence, such as a dog sitter, among the activities that do not need a licence, and day care outside a home environment has a separate licence. Businesses that arrange home boarding, including franchises, are in scope.

The register: what it must hold for every dog

The core record is the register. Under paragraph 17.1 of the conditions, it must include:

1. The dates of each dog's arrival and departure.
2. Each dog's name, age, sex, neuter status, microchip number, and a description or its breed.
3. How many dogs come from the same household, and which ones.
4. The owner's name, postal address, phone number and email, and emergency contact details, plus a local emergency contact for each dog.
5. The dog's normal vet and any insurance, its relevant medical and behavioural history including parasite treatments and restrictions on exercise, and its diet.
6. Consent forms, the dates of the most recent vaccination, worming and flea treatments, and details of any medical treatment the dog is receiving.

The vaccination record matters before the dog arrives. The guidance says an up-to-date veterinary vaccination record must be seen showing current vaccination against canine parvovirus, canine distemper, infectious canine hepatitis and leptospirosis, and that primary courses must be completed at least two weeks before the dog is accepted.

Daily records: food, water, toileting and behaviour

Most of the day-to-day writing comes from the monitoring conditions. Feed and, where appropriate, water intake must be monitored and any problems recorded and addressed. The guidance adds that veterinary advice must be sought if a dog refuses to eat for longer than 24 hours, and that the owner must be told if a dog is drinking too much or not enough.

The behaviour of each dog must be monitored every day, changes must be recorded, and the owner must be told about signs of suffering, stress, fear, aggression or anxiety. Every animal must be checked at least once a day for signs of pain, suffering, injury, disease or abnormal behaviour, and any such signs must be recorded and veterinary advice sought. The presence or absence of faeces and urine must be monitored daily, with anything unusual recorded.

If a vet gives instructions for treatment, they must be recorded. Each dog must also be exercised at least once a day as appropriate for its age and health.

A short entry per dog per day that covers eating, drinking, toileting, behaviour and walks answers most of this. Writing "normal" when things are normal is still a record that the check was done.

Consent forms and other written records

Several conditions require the owner's written consent. Under the home boarding conditions, you need it to walk a dog outside the home or garden, to let it off the lead, and to walk it with dogs from other households; no more than six dogs can be walked at the same time. Written consent from every owner is needed before dogs from different households are boarded together, and before dogs share a designated room.

Dogs must be fed separately unless the owner has given written consent, and a dog may only be kept in a crate if it is already used to one, the crate is part of its normal routine, and the owner has consented. The owner and licence holder must agree which vet will be used, and that decision must be recorded.

Beyond each dog's file, the guidance expects written procedures (feeding, cleaning, transport, disease control, health monitoring, and the death or escape of an animal), a written emergency plan, a documented trial session before dogs from different households board together, a record of each dog's own items and toys, and a written training policy that applies to the licence holder as well as any staff.

How long to keep records and how to show them

Paragraph 2.2 of the general conditions says the licence holder must keep all required records for at least three years from the date each record was created. Paragraph 2.1 says they must be available for inspection at any time in a visible and legible form, or, if kept electronically, in a form that can readily be produced as visible and legible.

Electronic records are allowed, but the guidance adds one line that is easy to miss: electronic records must be backed up. A phone or laptop that holds three years of records and nothing else is a single point of failure.

The guidance is written for local authority inspectors and is meant to be read alongside the regulations themselves. It covers England; if you board dogs elsewhere in the UK, ask your own council what applies.

Common record-keeping mistakes

Writing only when something goes wrong. The conditions describe daily monitoring of eating, drinking, toileting and behaviour. A file with entries only on the bad days does not show that the checks happened on the good ones.

Relying on verbal consent. Walks off the lead, walks with other households' dogs, shared rooms and shared feeding all need the owner's consent in writing. A chat at the door is not a consent form.

Throwing records away too early. Three years from the date each record was made is longer than many boarders expect, especially for a dog that only stayed once.

Keeping digital records with no backup. If your daily records live on a phone, export them regularly. SitterLog, for example, keeps a home boarding daily record for each dog covering health, behaviour and feeding and exports it as a PDF you can file as your backup copy. It does not decide whether your records meet your licence conditions.

This guide summarises the GOV.UK statutory guidance for home boarding dogs in England as published. It is not legal advice. Your local council licenses your business and decides what your licence requires.

Frequently asked questions