Dog policy status labels
A reference for the labels Paws of London attaches to a venue’s dog policy: the policy card, its status values, where dogs are allowed, what the verified badge means today, and how a venue gets confirmed. For how the evidence behind them is gathered, see How we check listings.
Now live. Every venue page carries the policy card described below. Venue cards in lists and search results still show only the verified badge from section 4, which is narrower: it appears only once the venue itself has confirmed, so a card without it has not been confirmed by its venue — not that nothing has been checked.
1. The policy card
Every venue page carries a compact card with six fields.
| Field | What it shows | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Dog policy | Whether dogs are welcome and where | Checked by Paws of London. We reviewed this venue’s website and recent reviews before listing it as dog-friendly. |
| Confidence | The status label from section 2 | Checked by Paws of London |
| Checked | The date the policy was last checked | 18 August 2026 |
| Restrictions | Conditions the venue has set | Keep dogs on a lead after 6pm |
| Source | Where the policy came from | Paws of London editorial check |
| Action | What you can do | Confirm this · Suggest a correction |
The Dog policy, Confidence and Source examples are what a live listing shows today. Checked and Restrictions are illustrative: a date and any restrictions are recorded when a venue or its own website states them, and as of 2 September 2026 no listing carries a venue confirmation.
Every live listing currently shows the editorially checked wording:
Checked by Paws of London. We reviewed this venue’s website and recent reviews before listing it as dog-friendly. Policies change, so check with the venue for anything time-sensitive.
Vets, groomers, pet shops, daycare and trainers show this instead, because dogs are the customer there:
Listed as a dog service. Dogs are the customers here, so we list these by category rather than checking a dog policy. Contact the venue for its own rules.
A listing with nothing on file at all shows this:
Dog policy not yet confirmed. We found this venue in a third-party source, but its own website does not state a dog policy. Call ahead before travelling.
2. Status labels
A listing carries exactly one status. It describes the evidence we hold, not how welcoming the venue is.
| Label | Meaning | Evidence that produces it |
|---|---|---|
| Confirmed | The venue itself says dogs are welcome and the confirmation is current. | A yes to our verification email or call, or a confirmation from the venue’s owner account, dated and within twelve months. |
| Published | The venue’s own website states that dogs are welcome. | An explicit statement found on the venue’s website, stored with the wording and the page it came from. |
| Editorially checked | Paws of London checked the venue before listing it. | Our own review of the venue’s website, its recent reviews and what we already knew, recorded with a dated provenance entry. It ranks below the venue’s own website and never overrides it; every live listing carries it as a floor. |
| Community confirmed | A visitor confirmed dogs were welcomed. | A dated visitor report accepted by a Paws of London reviewer. |
| Probable | Indirect evidence suggests dogs are welcome. | A third-party listing describing the venue as dog-friendly, with nothing yet from the venue or its website. |
| Unconfirmed | We hold no statement from the venue or its website. | A third-party listing only, or a website that says nothing about dogs, with no editorial check on file. Rare today — every live listing has been editorially checked. |
| Disputed | The evidence conflicts or has been challenged. | A visitor report of being turned away, or sources that disagree, awaiting a check. |
| Not dog-friendly | Dogs are not allowed. | The venue told us so, or its website states it. The venue is not shown as a place to visit with a dog. |
| Closed | The venue is not trading. | Confirmation that the venue has closed temporarily or permanently. |
3. Where dogs are allowed
The scope says where on the premises dogs are welcome. A listing can carry more than one value.
- Indoors — inside the venue.
- Outdoors — outside seating or terrace.
- Bar area — the bar but not the dining area.
- Garden — a garden or yard.
- Rooms — hotel bedrooms.
- Selected areas — specific parts the venue has named in its restrictions.
- Unknown — we know dogs are welcome somewhere but not where, or we know nothing at all. It never means nowhere.
4. What the verified badge means today
On venue cards the badge is a blue tick; hovering or focusing it shows a label such as Verified by email · Aug 2026. On the venue page the same label appears next to the venue name, with a sentence saying that the venue confirmed its dog-friendly status by email on a given date.
It means one thing: the venue answered a direct verification email from Paws of London saying dogs are still welcome. The answer is dated, records the method, and expires twelve months later; the badge disappears the moment it expires or the venue tells us dogs are no longer welcome. Any restrictions the venue attached are held for review and are not yet displayed.
It is not an endorsement or a recommendation by Paws of London, not a rating, not a record of a visit by us, and not a statement about where in the venue dogs are allowed. It is also not the same as the editorially checked status: that is our own check, and it earns no badge. It cannot be bought.
As of 2 September 2026, no venue carries the badge: the first 109 verification emails went out on 2 September 2026 and no venue has replied yet. Live counts are on our data quality page.
5. Source types
The Source field on the card names where the policy came from.
- Venue email — the venue answered our verification email.
- Venue phone — the venue confirmed by telephone. Planned; not yet in use.
- Venue website — an explicit statement on the venue’s own site.
- Venue owner — the person managing the claimed listing set the policy.
- Paws of London editorial check — our own review of the venue’s website and recent reviews before listing. It supports editorially checked, never confirmed.
- Community visit — a visitor’s dated report, accepted by a reviewer.
- First-party visit — a check by Paws of London in person.
- Third-party directory — a public business listing.
- Inference — a reading of indirect signals. It can support probable at most, never confirmed.
6. How to get a listing confirmed
If you run a venue, the quickest route is to answer our verification email when it arrives: one click for yes, no, or yes with restrictions. You can also claim your listing from its venue page when signed in, or write to hello@pawsof.london. Everything a venue needs is on For venues. Confirmation is free, and a reply moves the listing from editorially checked to confirmed.
If you are a visitor, use Report as Not Dog-Friendly or Suggest Edit on the venue page. Your report is reviewed and can move a listing to disputed or, once checked, to community confirmed.