Vaccination Required for Dog Boarding in India

All six Bangalore boarders and booking sites we checked ask for proof of vaccination, and four also set rules on worms, ticks or fleas. Here is what they publish, what each vaccine protects against, and how early to get it done. Ask your vet first before any vaccine, dewormer or tick product: they know your dog’s history. To choose a boarder in the first place, see our guide to dog boarding and pet sitting in Bangalore.

What Bangalore boarders ask for

From each boarder’s own website or listing, checked 20 October 2026:

• Cartman, Koramangala (kennel): Rabies, DHPP, kennel cough. Worms, ticks and fleas: deworming records; tick treatment before boarding.
• Venus Pet Care, BSK 6th Stage: Rabies, DHPP, kennel cough. Worms, ticks and fleas: not stated.
• Premium Pet Boarding, Uttarahalli: Rabies, DHPPi, kennel cough, at least 14 days before. Worms, ticks and fleas: not stated.
• Ceaser’s Home Boarding, RMV Extension: Rabies, DHLPPi. Worms, ticks and fleas: treated within the last 30 days.
• Paw Home Boarding, Devanahalli: Rabies, DHLPPi. Worms, ticks and fleas: treated within the last 30 days.
• PetStay.in, home-boarding booking site: Rabies, DHPP. Worms, ticks and fleas: dewormed and flea-free.

So all six want rabies and the combination vaccine, and three want kennel cough. None asks for the coronavirus vaccine, which some combined vaccines sold in India include and which WSAVA, the World Small Animal Veterinary Association, does not recommend for pet dogs (see our puppy vaccination schedule). Six are a sample, not the whole city, so ask yours for their current list.

What each one protects against

• Rabies. “Once clinical symptoms appear, rabies is virtually 100% fatal,” says the WHO, and dogs cause up to 99% of human cases.
• The combination vaccine. Boarders write it as DHPP, DHPPi or DHLPPi; our vaccination guide calls it DHPPi+L. It covers distemper, hepatitis (adenovirus), parvovirus and parainfluenza. The “L” adds leptospirosis, which spreads through infected urine and can pass to people (Merck Veterinary Manual). In India, rabies and lepto boosters are usually given every year.
• Kennel cough. A cough that sounds like a “goose honk” and “spreads rapidly among susceptible dogs housed in close confinement”, boarding kennels included. It usually eases within 5 days but lasts 10 to 20, and can turn into pneumonia, especially in puppies. Several germs cause it, including the bacterium Bordetella bronchiseptica and canine parainfluenza virus (Merck Veterinary Manual).

Our vaccination guide counts the kennel cough vaccine as optional, but worth it if your dog boards or goes to daycare or groomers. The one MSD sells in India, Nobivac KC, is given into one nostril, not injected (MSD Animal Health India). It covers Bordetella and parainfluenza. Its UK licence describes it as reducing the signs of illness from those two germs (UK Veterinary Medicines Directorate), and other germs cause kennel cough too, so a vaccinated dog can still come home coughing. Merck says the cough typically appears 5 to 10 days after contact with an infected dog: call your vet if one starts in the week or so after a stay.

How early to get the shots

• Kennel cough: Nobivac KC protects against Bordetella 72 hours after the dose, but against parainfluenza only after 3 weeks. MSD advises giving an unvaccinated dog its dose at least 3 weeks before kennelling, and repeating it if the dog needs antibiotics within a week of the dose (MSD Animal Health UK). It’s a yearly vaccine.
• Rabies and the combination vaccine: Premium Pet asks for vaccines at least 14 days before boarding. UK licence rules want a first course of the combination vaccine finished at least 2 weeks before boarding (gov.uk), and the licence conditions of one group of Welsh councils ask for 4 weeks (Shared Regulatory Services). The Nobivac Rabies label in Ireland says protective antibody levels are seen within 30 days (HPRA).
• Boosters given on time: under those Welsh conditions, a dog whose boosters are up to date can board straight away, while a lapsed booster restarts the wait.

Going by these, a month’s notice covers every case. Check the vaccination card as soon as your dates are fixed, and if a booster falls due during the stay, or your dog has never had the kennel cough vaccine, see your vet a month before drop-off.

Puppies

A puppy’s last dose of the combination vaccine is given at 16 weeks or later, and until the series is done, puppies should stay away from places where unknown dogs have been (puppy vaccination schedule). A boarder’s home or kennel is one of those places. Venus Pet Care takes puppies from 3 months old, “after completing initial vaccinations”. Ask your vet whether your puppy is ready; a sitter who comes to your home may suit a young puppy better.

Worms, ticks and fleas

• Deworming. TroCCAP, the tropical council for pet parasites, advises deworming adult dogs monthly (TroCCAP, 2019). Two of the boarders want a dose within the last 30 days, so check the date of your dog’s last one.
• Ticks and fleas. Brown dog ticks can infest homes and kennels in every month of the year, and ticks can move between dogs housed together, says the US Companion Animal Parasite Council (CAPC). Keep your dog’s tick preventive on schedule, pack any dose that falls due during the stay, and check your dog for ticks when it comes home. Watch for signs of tick fever over the next three weeks.

On drop-off day

• The vaccination card, or clear photos of every page with the dates. Premium Pet asks for the booklet on check-in day; PetStay.in asks for records to be uploaded.
• The dates of your dog’s last deworming and tick doses.
• Your vet’s number.

Don’t board a dog that is already unwell: UK licence rules say a dog showing signs of illness must not be accepted until it has recovered. Call your vet and the boarder instead. For everything else to bring, see what to pack for dog boarding.