Dog Daycare Daily Record

Who this is for

One day, one dog, one sheet. Arrival and departure times with who dropped off and who collected, the meals and medication given exactly as the owner instructed, a line for each part of the day, and an incident table for anything the owner has to be told about before the dog goes home.

Dog daycares, home boarders running day places and puppy creches, and owners who want to know what the day actually consisted of rather than being told it was lovely.

What this helps you track

• Arrival and departure times, and who handed the dog over at each end
• What the dog was given to eat and drink, as the owner instructed
• Medication given, by whom and at what time
• Toileting, play, rest and which group the dog was in
• Any scrap, limp, sickness or refusal, with what you did and whether the owner was told

How to use it

1. Fill in the dog, the owner's numbers and the vet at the top, with the day's arrival and departure times.
2. Copy the owner's feeding and medication instructions into the header box in their words, and only give what was supplied with the dog.
3. Work down the day table as the day goes: the time, what was happening, which group the dog was in and how it was, initialled by the member of staff.
4. Tick the routine checks as they are done rather than at the end of the day.
5. Write any incident on a line of its own with the time, what you did about it and whether the owner was rung or told at collection.
6. Give the owner the sheet or a photograph of it at collection, and keep your copy.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The online version keeps what you enter in your own browser and builds the completed PDF on your device.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

How much should a dog eat or rest during the day?

The daycare's routine and the owner's instructions decide that, not this sheet. Nothing here sets an amount, a length of rest or a number of hours of play.

Should every small scuffle go in the incident table?

Anything that left a mark, changed the dog's behaviour or would matter if the owner found it at home. A dated line you did not need is cheap; a missing one is not.

What if the dog will not eat?

Record it as it happened, tell the owner at collection and note that you did. Refusing food is one of the things owners most want to hear about.

Do we need the owner's written consent for vet treatment?

Ask for it at registration and keep it on the client's file. What a daycare needs by way of consent, licensing and insurance differs by country and sometimes by council — check the rules where you are.

Can we use one sheet for two dogs from one household?

Use one each. Food, medication and incidents have to stay attached to the right dog even when they arrive in the same car.