Dog Walking Log

Who this is for

A line for every walk. Each one records the date, who took the dog, where they went, how long they were out and how far, with room for what happened on the way. The minutes and the distance add themselves up in the workbook and the browser version.

Households sharing the walking between several people, professional walkers keeping a record for their clients, and owners following something their vet or trainer asked them to write down.

What this helps you track

• Which walks happened, on what date and at what time of day
• Who took the dog out, when more than one person does
• Where you went, so a route that suits the dog is not forgotten
• How long each walk lasted and how far it came to, in your own units
• What happened on the way — who you met, what went well, what did not

How to use it

1. Write the dog's name, the period the sheet covers and the unit you measure distance in at the top.
2. Add a line after each walk: the date, the person who went and where.
3. Write the time you set off and the walk in minutes as a whole number, because the totals work from the minutes rather than the clock.
4. Enter the distance in your own unit, or leave it blank on the walks you do not measure.
5. Use the last column for anything worth remembering: the dog off lead, another dog, a limp on the way home, the weather.
6. Read the totals at the foot and the summary at the end of the period; on paper, add the columns up yourself.

Formats

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

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 workbook uses plain formulas only — SUM, IF, COUNTIF and the like — so it opens in Excel, LibreOffice and Google Sheets without anything breaking, and every calculated cell is grey so you can see which figures it worked out.

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

Why minutes rather than a start and a finish time?

So the column adds up without anyone converting hours and minutes on paper. Write the time you set off for the record and the length of the walk as a plain number of minutes for the arithmetic.

How long and how far does a dog need to walk?

This log has no view on that and carries no figure. Breed, age, health and weather all come into it, and your vet knows your dog. The sheet records what you actually did.

Can a dog walker use it for several dogs?

Yes — write the client or dog in the who column and print a sheet per dog, which keeps each client's record separate. The dog walking round and billing sheet is built for a round of several dogs in a day.

Does it work out a pace or an average?

The summary adds the minutes, converts them to hours and totals the distance. Anything beyond that you can work out from the workbook, where every figure is in a cell you can use.

Can I fill it in on the phone?

The browser version works on a phone and saves in your own browser, so a walk can go in on the way home and the sheet printed later.