Pet vaccination rules for boarding & grooming in Maryland

Maryland rules we’ve verified

Vaccination mandate. Maryland requires every dog, cat and ferret four months or older to be vaccinated against rabies. [Md. Code, Health-General § 18-318 — verified August 31, 2026]

Maryland has no statewide licensing scheme for boarding, daycare or grooming businesses, but it does impose a record duty: a kennel operator must produce a valid rabies vaccination certificate, on request from the local health officer, Public Health Veterinarian or animal control authority, for every dog, cat or ferret four months or older it owns or keeps — unless the kennel is licensed locally as a boarding kennel (COMAR 10.06.02.10.B(2)). Counties set their own kennel rules, so check locally.

Citations checked against primary sources on August 31, 2026. Laws change — verify anything you rely on with the authority itself.

What facilities in Maryland commonly require

Separately from any law, most grooming salons, daycares and boarding kennels set their own admission policy — and it is usually stricter than the legal minimum, because one sick dog can close a playroom for a week. Typical policies ask for:

Dogs: current rabies, DHPP (distemper–parvo combination), and bordetella (kennel cough) — with bordetella most strictly enforced by boarding and daycare, where dogs share air. Some facilities also ask for leptospirosis or canine influenza in areas that have seen outbreaks. Cats: current rabies and FVRCP.

Bring the certificate your veterinarian issued — the facility needs the expiry date printed on it, not just proof a shot happened. Some owners carry titer (antibody test) results instead of a booster; whether a facility accepts titers is that facility’s call, and many don’t for rabies.

Running a pet-care business in Maryland?

Whatever your policy is, the hard part is keeping proof of it current for every pet without chasing paper. VaxCheck gives you a QR code for the counter: owners type their own dates and photograph the certificate, your staff verifies once, owners get automatic reminders before anything expires, and check-in becomes a red / amber / green list. You can set the exact vaccines your policy requires, and it flags any pet missing one.

Pet owner in Maryland?

Keep every certificate in one place, get told before anything expires, and hand a copy to any groomer, daycare, kennel or sitter who asks — including one that has never heard of VaxCheck. They open a link, print what they need, and create nothing. Free, and there is no password to lose.

What a shop will ask you for, and how to have it ready · See your pet’s records