12 Questions to Ask Before Boarding Your Dog Anywhere
Lillian Ruff Pet Spa
There is no state inspector who walks into a Long Island boarding kennel unannounced. No license on the wall to verify, no grade in the window, no public score to look up. New York State does not license or inspect boarding kennels, doggy daycare or grooming at all. That means the inspection is yours to do, at the counter, before you hand over the leash.
People assume otherwise, and it is an easy assumption to make. The law usually pointed to is Agriculture and Markets Law Article 26-A, "Care of Animals by Pet Dealers" — but it covers pet dealers, not boarding kennels, not daycare, not grooming. A statewide pet boarding bill has been proposed in Albany (S8510 / A9123). It is not law. Groomers in New York need no state license or registration either.
What does apply here is county code. If you live in East Northport, Commack, Greenlawn or anywhere else in the Town of Huntington, you are in Suffolk County, and Suffolk County has real, written requirements for boarding kennels. Knowing them turns you from a nervous customer into someone asking specific questions — which is exactly what a good facility wants and a thin one does not.
Bordetella runs on a six-month clock in Suffolk County while the rest of the required vaccines run on a year. That single mismatch is the reason most boarding plans fall apart the week before the trip.
Why you are the one doing the inspecting here
Suffolk County Code § 302-13 says a boarding kennel may not accept a dog unless the owner provides a current health certificate from a licensed veterinarian. Not a photo of a shot record on your phone — a certificate from your vet. It has to state the dog is vaccinated against rabies, distemper, hepatitis, parainfluenza, parvovirus and coronavirus within the previous year, unless the vaccine used is an approved three-year vaccination certified by the veterinarian, and against bordetella within the previous six months.
The county also requires boarding facilities to keep records for each dog and cat for twelve months from the last day of use.
| Vaccine | Clock under Suffolk County Code § 302-13 |
|---|---|
| Rabies | Within the previous year, unless an approved three-year vaccine certified by your vet |
| Distemper, hepatitis, parainfluenza, parvovirus, coronavirus | Within the previous year, same three-year exception |
| Bordetella | Within the previous six months |
Confirm the current requirements with your own veterinarian and with whichever facility you are using. Rules change, and your vet knows what your dog actually received.
Questions about people: who is on site, and when
1. Who is physically on site, during which hours, and is anyone here overnight? Ask it plainly and listen for a plain answer. A facility that has thought about this will tell you the schedule without hedging. One that hasn't will talk about cameras instead of people.
2. How many dogs is one person responsible for at a time? You are not looking for a magic number. You are looking for whether anyone has ever counted.
3. Will I meet the people and see the space before the first overnight? A first-visit evaluation is standard and should be offered, not grudgingly allowed. Ours is a thirty-minute meet and greet, and it is where a dog's temperament, kennel comfort and social fit actually get assessed — not on the morning you are trying to make a flight.
Questions about records and vaccination proof
4. Exactly which vaccines do you require, and on which clock? If the answer is a vague "we need shots up to date," push. The county list above is specific for a reason.
5. Do you want a health certificate from my veterinarian, or is a printout enough? The county code language is a current health certificate from a licensed vet. Ask early, because getting one takes a vet appointment, and vet appointments take days.
6. What gets written down while my dog is here, and how long do you keep it? Feeding, medication given, anything that happened. Twelve months of records is the county floor. Ask what is in them.
What people call kennel cough is properly canine infectious respiratory disease complex, with roughly eleven contributing pathogens according to the AVMA. The bordetella vaccine is required and worth having, and it still does not fully prevent it. Any facility that promises your dog cannot catch a cough is telling you something that isn't true. If your dog comes home coughing, that is a conversation with your veterinarian, not with us.
Questions about emergencies and veterinary decisions
7. If my dog needs a veterinarian, who decides, where does he go, and who pays? There should be an answer already in place before you ask. Get it in writing on the intake form.
8. What happens if you cannot reach me? Give a second contact who is local and answers the phone. Somebody in Elwood who can be at a vet's office in twenty minutes is worth more than a relative in another state.
9. What will you tell me you can't do? This is the most revealing of the twelve. Every honest facility has limits. Ours are stated up front: medications that need to be given outside a 7am to 10pm window are a real limitation, and boarding requires a dog who is non-aggressive, comfortable in a kennel, able to socialize, and free from bite history. If a place says it can handle absolutely anything, that is not confidence. That is a place that hasn't thought about it.
Questions about the day itself: rest, feeding, group sizes
10. Where does my dog actually sleep, and how big is that space? Ask for dimensions, not adjectives. At our Ronkonkoma location a regular kennel is 4 by 4 and a premium kennel is 4 by 6, and you can look at both before you decide.
11. How much of the day is activity and how much is rest? Dogs sleep a lot, and a kennel that runs them from open to close sends home a wreck. Every boarding stay with us includes full-day daycare at no extra charge, so the day has a shape to it — but the meet and greet is where we work out how much of that suits your particular dog.
12. What and when does my dog eat, and what if the diet is complicated? Our feeding schedule is 8am, 1pm and 6pm, with custom schedules available for puppies, seniors or medical diets. Bring your own food or add ours at $5 per day.
The facility that welcomes all twelve questions is usually the one that has already answered them internally.
Our East Northport salon at 16 Laurel Rd is grooming only, Tuesday through Saturday — there is no boarding there. Boarding is at Ronkonkoma. Worth knowing locally: if you hold a Town of Huntington permit for the off-leash dog run at 106 Deposit Road, your dog is already licensed with current rabies. That covers one line of the county list. It does not cover bordetella, which runs on its own six-month clock, or the rest of the certificate.
Ask us all twelve
Nothing above is a trick question, and we are not the only reasonable answer to any of them. If your dog is genuinely miserable in a kennel, a house sitter may be the better call, and we would rather you knew that in advance than found out on night one. If you only need coverage for a workday, daycare is the cheaper and simpler answer.
But if you are boarding, come and ask. Boarding is $60 a night for a regular kennel and $75 for the premium, every stay includes full-day daycare, check-in runs 2:00pm to 7:00pm and check-out 7:00am to 11:00am. Book the thirty-minute meet and greet first, bring the list, and start with the bordetella date.
Questions people actually ask
Does New York State really not inspect boarding kennels?
Correct. There is no statewide licensing or inspection regime for boarding kennels, doggy daycare or grooming in New York. Agriculture and Markets Law Article 26-A covers pet dealers and does not reach these businesses. A statewide boarding bill has been proposed (S8510 / A9123) but has not become law. County code is what applies, and in Suffolk County that is Chapter 302.
My dog's rabies shot is a three-year vaccine. Is that a problem?
No. Suffolk County Code § 302-13 allows an approved three-year vaccination when it is certified by the veterinarian. Your vet needs to state that on the certificate. Confirm the details with your vet before you travel.
Why does bordetella expire so much faster than everything else?
The county sets it at six months rather than a year. Practically, this is the one owners most often let lapse without realizing, because the annual vet visit resets everything else and bordetella quietly runs out halfway to the next one. Check that date first, not last.
Can you board my dog if he needs medication?
Often, yes — medications inside our 7am to 10pm window are workable, and custom feeding schedules are available for medical diets. Timing that falls outside that window is a genuine limitation, so tell us the schedule at the meet and greet rather than at drop-off.
Do you board dogs at East Northport?
No. East Northport, at 16 Laurel Rd, is a grooming salon, open Tuesday through Saturday. Daycare and overnight boarding are at 835 Portion Rd in Ronkonkoma, which is open seven days.
What should I bring on the first stay?
The health certificate from your veterinarian, your dog's food if you are not adding ours, any medication in its original labeled container with written instructions, and a second local contact who answers the phone.
Bring the list. Ask all twelve.
Book the thirty-minute meet and greet and we will walk you through the kennels, the schedule and the paperwork before you commit to a single night.
See boarding rates & book ›835 Portion Rd, Ronkonkoma, NY 11779 · Open 7 days, 9–5
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