27/08/2025
‼️‼️CHOOSE AT YOUR OWN PERIL‼️‼️
QUESTION: What LICENSED boarders have in place to ensure compliance, and the safety and welfare of their house guests?
ANSWER: (following list is not exhaustive!)
✅Door “airlock” at exits
✅Stair gates
✅Temperature and humidity monitor in rest areas. Record extremes
✅Microchip scanner and spare ID tags with our number. (Tagged on pick up for every dog which they go home in)
✅Multiple fans for summer
✅Extra heaters for winter
✅Drying towels/coats for winter
✅Dehumidifier moisture.
✅Covered outdoor waste bin
✅Poo bags
✅Hose point (hot and cold)
✅Cleaning caddy thingy with Defra passed (what the vets use) disinfectant, laminated contact times, colour-coded cloths and mops.
✅Enzyme cleaner for urine, plus bicarbonate for odours
✅Power washer
✅Leaf blower
✅Full watering so you can dilute p*e p*es on grass
✅Extra microfibre towels and fast-dry racks in winter
✅First-aid kit in home and vehicle
✅Various size muzzles
✅Tick remover
✅Saline pods, hibiscrub, thermometer, vet wrap
✅Isolation kit stored separately: bowls, bedding, cleaning kit, disposable PPE
✅Spare flat collars, leads, slip leads, and clip adapters by every door for emergencies
✅Crates for dogs that are crated trained and owners request (max 3 hours in 24 as per Defra rules)
✅Fire guard
✅Pet hoovers
✅Pet steam cleaner
✅Pet fabric/carpet cleaner
✅Noise management: white-noise or radio
✅Delivery instructions for couriers.
✅Smoke and CO alarms tested
fire blanket in kitchen
✅Garden daily security routine: gap check daily, padlocked side gate
✅Shade and rain cover outside, plus non-slip mats at thresholds
✅Trial night for every new dog. No trial, no booking regardless as to whether 3+ nights
✅Registered vet in case we need isolation and they sign our health plans off.
✅Insurance certificate and licence to hand, with tidy records
✅Daily self-audit: hygiene, records, welfare checks, kit condition
✅Clear red lines in writing: no in-season bi***es, vet prescribed parasite treatments only, behaviour suitability, vaccination policy, meds rules (no injections)
✅Key-handling protocol: coded key safe, never labelled with address
✅Regular owner updates
✅Everyone fed separately to stop trouble
✅Steel bowls for feed/water (washed daily)
✅Dog proof fencing to Defra measurements
✅Dog fridges/freezers
✅Dog washing machines
✅Lead/spare collars
✅Rodent proof storage for belongings
✅Trolley for sacks
✅Purposefully air conditioned and kitted out car with crash proof travel crates which the police use
✅CCTV 24/7
✅Expensive tech/software for records
✅Spreadsheets and simple forms.
✅Plans for walking and enrichment routines/welfare log/registers/vaccination logs/cleaning logs/trial logs/medical logs/incident logs… basically a log or a plan for everything
✅Consent forms ready for vet, transport, off-lead, mixing, enrichment, media and more…
✅Emergency evacuation grab file by the door: primary and 24-hour vet, owner contacts, neighbour contact, power cut plan and anchors for long-lines in evacuation bag with dog food and water/meds
✅Plans for complexity: meds, elderly, intact, special diets.
5 💫 licence sitting pride of place 😁
QUESTION: What must an UNLICENSED boarder have in place?
ANSWER: Absolutely NOTHING….❌
(Full credit to Bumble Bee Boarding for providing the bones of this comprehensive list)
