Dog grooming and daycare bookings online, with the pet shop beside them
Which licence a UK groomer or doggy daycare needs, how to price grooms and daycare days online, how an owner books and pays, the 14-day cancellation rule, and the shampoo shelf beside it. Checked 8 November 2026.
This guide is for a UK dog groomer, doggy daycare or small pet business that books by phone and Instagram messages and wants a website where owners book a groom or a daycare day, pay, and buy the shampoo you use. It covers licensing, pricing, bookings, cancellation law and the shop beside it. Disclosure: we build Orbit Commerce, a UK ecommerce platform with bookings built in, so weigh the Orbit parts knowing that. Every legal fact was checked against gov.uk, legislation.gov.uk and the other sources linked on 8 November 2026.
In short
- In England, day care for dogs needs a council licence under the 2018 animal licensing regulations, star rated from 1 to 5. Grooming needs no licence. Wales and Scotland still use the Animal Boarding Establishments Act 1963.
- Price grooms by size or coat as options of one service, and sell daycare one day at a time.
- On Orbit a service has a duration, places per slot, notice, a clean-down gap and a cancellation fee. The owner picks a day and start time, pays in full, and reschedules or cancels from their account.
- Owners who book online have a 14-day right to cancel under the Consumer Contracts Regulations.
- Leads, shampoos, treats, a puppy bundle and gift cards sit in the same shop, from £25 a month.
Do you need a licence to run dog daycare or grooming in the UK?
In England, yes for daycare and no for grooming. The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 list “providing day care for dogs” as a licensable activity; grooming is not in the list (Schedule 1, legislation.gov.uk, checked 8 November 2026). You apply to your council. The guidance says “All dog day care activities need a licence if they’re carried out as a commercial business”, that income below HMRC’s trading allowance needs no licence, and that overnight stays are not permitted (Dog day care licensing guidance, gov.uk, updated 1 June 2026, checked 8 November 2026). Each licence carries a star rating from 1 to 5, “based on their compliance history and the results of their inspection”, runs for one, two or three years and “should be displayed by the applicant’s business” (licensing process guidance, gov.uk, updated 1 June 2026, checked 8 November 2026). Put your stars on the daycare page.
The same guidance is a checklist for your pages: 10 dogs or fewer per member of staff and 6 square metres per dog set the places you sell. The guidance says “primary vaccination courses must be completed at least 2 weeks before acceptance into day care”. Dogs under one year are housed separately unless the owner consents in writing. Unneutered bitches must be prevented from mating. A first aid kit for dogs and first-aid-trained staff are on site. A register for every dog, with contacts, vet, history and vaccination records, is kept for three years. Write them as rules on the daycare page and in the booking policy text, and collect the register before day one with a form on your site (the page builder’s contact form or the Form Builder plugin).
Wales and Scotland
Both still use the Animal Boarding Establishments Act 1963, which England left on 1 October 2018; section 1 now requires a council licence to keep a boarding establishment for animals “in Wales” (legislation.gov.uk, checked 8 November 2026). The Welsh Government says councils apply it inconsistently, lists grooming as “currently not licensed”, and consulted from 8 December 2023 to 1 March 2024 on licensing pet day care and grooming (gov.wales, page updated 3 February 2025, checked 8 November 2026; Welsh Government release, 8 December 2023).
The Scottish Government says boarding businesses “must currently be licensed under the 1963 Act by the relevant local authority”, treats day care as boarding, and proposes moving it into its 2021 Regulations, which do not cover it today (gov.scot, 4 July 2023, checked 8 November 2026; 2021 Regulations, explanatory note). We found no newer regulations in either nation on 8 November 2026. Ask your council, in writing.
| Activity | England | Wales | Scotland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daycare on business premises, daytime only | Council licence under the 2018 Regulations, star rated | 1963 Act licence, applied differently by councils | 1963 Act licence; day care treated as boarding |
| Dogs cared for in your own home | Home boarding licence | 1963 Act, which covers private dwellings | 1963 Act; ask your council |
| Grooming | No licence | Not licensed; proposed in 2023 | Not in the 2021 Regulations |
How should you price grooms and daycare online?
Publish the list: owners search for prices because most salons make them ring. Price by size or coat as options of one service, and say what is included and how long it takes, because the length is the slot your calendar blocks. One length per service: on Orbit the duration and the places belong to the service itself, so a thick coat that takes twice as long is a separate service with its own length rather than a fourth size.
Daycare is one price for one day, with a half day as a second service. Puppy and senior rules are words on the page rather than settings: “puppy introduction groom, under six months” is a service of its own, “senior dogs welcome, tell us about joints and medication when you drop off” is a sentence, and “every new dog books a paid taster day first” is a shop rule. Example figures, not a survey:
| Service | Options and example price | Length and places | Written on the page |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full groom | Small £45, Medium £55, Large £70 | 2 hours, 1 place, 15-minute clean-down | Bath, dry, brush out, cut, nails, ears. Matted coats may be clipped short |
| Bath and tidy | Small £28, Medium £34, Large £42 | 1 hour, 1 place | Bath, dry, face, feet and sanitary trim |
| Daycare day | £32 | 07:30 start, 12 places | Drop off from 07:30, collect by 18:00, taster day first |
How does a groom or a daycare day become a booking on your website?
On Orbit a groom is a product with the Service type, on every plan (bookings). You set the duration in minutes or hours; the places per slot; the notice you need in hours; a gap between bookings in minutes for the clean-down; and a cancellation fee from 0% to 100% with your policy in plain words. For a daycare day, set a length that fills your opening hours, so the only start time offered is your drop-off time. Opening hours are one weekly schedule for the whole shop, set once in Settings with a time zone, and you can block time when the groomer is away.
The owner picks the service and its option, then a date and a start time, and pays the full price at checkout. The moment the payment goes through, the booking lands on the Bookings calendar in your dashboard as Confirmed. They get a confirmation email with a calendar file, an Add to calendar button on the order in their account and Download ICS under My Bookings, where they can also reschedule or cancel, with your policy and the estimated refund shown before they confirm. Four things to settle as you write the pages:
- Each daycare day is booked on its own. Owners book the next one on the daycare page, and you can give regulars a discount code limited to the customers you pick.
- A booking is for the service. An owner who wants a particular groomer asks by email and you match them where you can, or give a groomer with a following a service of their own (“Full groom with Sam”).
- The owner pays the full price when they book. The cancellation fee is your protection against no-shows, and a deposit you agree by hand with a regular goes out as a payment link.
- A slot is a start time. “Collect by 18:00” is a line on the page, and the confirmation email carries a calendar file, so the day sits in the owner’s calendar with its own reminder.
What insurance and training do groomers and daycares need?
Employers’ liability insurance is the one the law requires: “as soon as you become an employer”, unless you employ only close family, for at least £5 million, with a fine of £2,500 for every day you are not properly insured (gov.uk, checked 8 November 2026). Public liability insurance is “voluntary”, as the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland puts it (hseni.gov.uk, checked 8 November 2026); most groomers carry it anyway, and should check it covers the dogs in their care. No law requires a grooming qualification either, because grooming is not licensed.
The recognised route is City & Guilds: the Level 2 Certificate for Dog Grooming Assistants, then the Level 3 Diploma in Dog Grooming for working as a professional groomer (cityandguilds.com, checked 8 November 2026). Daycare staff are different: the England conditions expect a Level 2 Ofqual-regulated qualification or relevant knowledge and experience, and the higher standard behind four and five stars needs a permanent, full-time member of staff with an Ofqual-regulated Level 3. Canine first aid is a daycare condition and sensible for a groomer.
Can an owner cancel a groom or daycare day booked online?
Under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, a groom booked on your website has a cancellation period ending “14 days after the day on which the contract is entered into”, which is the day they book (regulation 30, legislation.gov.uk, checked 8 November 2026). Before they pay you must say how to cancel and when the right ends, provide the standard cancellation form, and warn that a service used before cancelling is paid for; miss that and they can cancel at any time within 12 months (gov.uk, checked 8 November 2026).
For grooms booked less than 14 days ahead, regulation 36 applies. You may start inside the period only if the owner expressly asked you to. If they cancel after the service has begun they pay a proportionate share for what was supplied. Once it is fully performed at their request, having acknowledged they would lose the right, the right is gone. If you never gave the cancellation information, they pay nothing (regulation 36, legislation.gov.uk; Business Companion, Trading Standards, reviewed April 2025).
In practice, write the 14-day right into the policy text on the booking page, with a line that booking a date inside the next 14 days is a request to provide the service then and that the right ends once the groom is done. An owner who cancels before the appointment inside those 14 days has been supplied nothing, so refund in full; Orbit applies your fee to every customer cancellation whatever the notice, so refund the fee from the order when the law says so. This is general information, not legal advice.
The pet shop beside the bookings
On Orbit shampoos, brushes, leads and treats are ordinary physical products: size and colour as variants with their own price and stock, and local pickup so an owner collects the shampoo with the dog. A puppy starter set is a bundle, a fixed kit of up to 30 products you already sell with its own page and price; bundles are switched on per shop, so ask us and we switch them on for yours. Gift cards sell as a product with the amounts you choose as variants, emailed to the recipient when the payment clears and redeemed at checkout, with any balance kept for next time.
One note on treats and food: pre-packed pet food from a supplier is retail, exempt from feed business registration while the maker’s label stays on. Make, repack or rebrand your own and you register with Trading Standards first, and with APHA if you use animal by-products. Labels must not mislead or claim a medicinal effect, and online the mandatory label information goes on the product page before purchase (FSA pet food guidance, gov.uk, checked 8 November 2026; Business Companion, England, reviewed May 2026). Our 50 small business ideas gives the start-up cost of a dog treat bakery, and the £1,000 rule covers when HMRC needs to know.
Google reviews, breed guides and live chat
Google says to ask customers to visit a Google link or scan a QR code, and prohibits incentives such as free or discounted services for a review (Google Business Profile help, checked 8 November 2026). On Orbit the Google Reviews element shows your rating on any page as a badge, carousel or grid, with the reviews Google supplies, refreshed nightly; it is a paid add-on priced on its plugin store listing. Product Reviews is a free plugin and you approve each review before it shows (reviews).
Breed guides on your blog bring search traffic; the blog is on every plan, with a page title and description per post and a Blog Listing block for your home page. The Live Chat add-on, which has a free plan and paid plans, replaces the Instagram inbox with a chat button that is online inside the hours you set and outside them takes a message that opens a ticket and emails you a link.
Where Orbit fits
Everything above runs on the Solo plan at £25 a month, or £19 a month billed yearly, ex VAT, with bookings, products, gift cards, discount codes and the blog included, no product cap and no fee per booking. A groom paid with a UK personal Visa or Mastercard costs 2% + 25p in card fees on Solo, one published card rate per plan with nothing added on top. The theme store lists free and premium themes by industry; pick one for a services business and change its colours, fonts and logo in the dashboard. The feature pages for bookings, products, gift cards and reviews have the detail, our hub on selling services online in the UK covers the other trades, and selling services and gift cards alongside products works out what the bolt-on alternative costs.
Read next: selling pet food and supplies online, booking tools compared for a service business and gift cards for a small shop.
Questions people ask about dog grooming and daycare bookings online
Do I need a licence to run a dog daycare in England?
Yes, if it is a commercial business. “Providing day care for dogs” is a licensable activity under England’s 2018 animal licensing regulations, so you apply to your council, which issues a licence with a star rating from 1 to 5 that runs for one, two or three years (gov.uk guidance, updated 1 June 2026, checked 8 November 2026).
Do dog groomers need a licence or a qualification in the UK?
No law requires either. Grooming is not in England’s list of licensable activities, the Welsh Government lists it as not currently licensed, and Scotland’s 2021 Regulations do not cover it (checked 8 November 2026). The recognised qualifications are the City and Guilds Level 2 Certificate for Dog Grooming Assistants and Level 3 Diploma in Dog Grooming.
Can an owner cancel a dog groom they booked online?
Yes, for 14 days. A service booked online carries a cancellation right under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, counted from the day of booking. For a groom inside those 14 days the owner must expressly ask you to go ahead, and once it is fully done, having acknowledged they would lose the right, it is gone. If they cancel before the appointment inside the 14 days, nothing has been supplied, so refund in full.
How do I protect against no-shows for a groom or a daycare day on Orbit?
With the cancellation fee. The owner pays the full price when they book, the booking is confirmed the moment the payment goes through, and your fee, from 0% to 100% with your policy in plain words, is shown before they pay and again before they cancel. A deposit you agree by hand with a regular goes out as a payment link from a draft order.
How do regulars book their weekly daycare day?
One day at a time. Each daycare day is booked on the daycare page, owners move or cancel it from My Bookings, and every confirmation email carries a calendar file for that day. Reward regulars with a discount code limited to the customers you pick.
Start with the licence call to your council and the price list. Then add your grooms as services, your daycare day as another, a shelf of products and a gift card, and book a test groom from your own phone. The 14-day free trial, no card required, is long enough for all of that before your next busy Saturday.