Ask ten kennels and you will get ten slightly different lists, but the core of every list is the same three items. Rabies cover comes first where it is required or customary, then an in-date core booster covering distemper and parvo (the DHPP or DA2PP line on the record), and then kennel cough vaccination, the boarding-specific one, since that infection thrives in shared indoor air. Many kennels also ask for leptospirosis and canine influenza in regions where those circulate, and they will want sight of the vaccination record, not just your word, typically before or at booking rather than at drop-off.
Timing Is Where Owners Get Caught Out
Vaccines are not instant: kennel cough vaccination commonly needs to be given at least one to two weeks before the stay (some kennels specify longer, and the intranasal/oral and injected versions differ), and a restarted course after a lapse can need two doses weeks apart. So the practical move is to ask the kennel for their exact list the day you book, then book the vet appointment backwards from the stay date with weeks to spare. While you are there, confirm flea and worming cover is current — many kennels require it — and ask whether they want the record card itself, a printed history, or a digital copy.
Working With Your Vet
Use the booking call to turn the kennel's list into vet appointments, not guesswork. Read the vet the exact wording the kennel sent — a kennel that asks for kennel cough cover may mean a specific product or a minimum gap between vaccination and arrival — and ask which of your dog's vaccines already satisfy it and which need booking. Let the veterinarian judge any health question behind the paperwork, such as whether a lapsed course should restart; the kennel's deadline does not change what is medically sensible.
Call your vet as soon as boarding is booked if anything is out of date — they will tell you what can be done by when, and whether a particular kennel's requirements fit your dog's health situation. Never leave vaccination to the final week; that is the one timing problem no clinic can always fix.
Once the appointments are done, collect the proof in the form the kennel actually accepts: some want the stamped card itself at drop-off, others a printed history or a digital copy sent at booking. Note each vaccine's expiry date beside the stay dates, so a booster falling due mid-stay is spotted before the kennel spots it for you.
In KinsLe, Pet Passport holds those dates and documents as a single packet you can hand over at booking — so the kennel sees proof, not promises.