Dog Training and Socialisation Log

What this sheet is for

Keep a record of what you actually worked on with a dog, and of what the dog has already met. The notes column is the point — a reaction written down at the time is worth more later than a tick.

Who it is for

Owners of a puppy or a new rescue dog, and anyone working through a plan with a trainer or a behaviourist.

How to use it

1. Log each session on the day: how long, what you worked on and how it went.
2. Use the socialisation list to date each thing the dog has met.
3. Write the reaction in the space beside it — 'fine', 'froze', 'barked' is enough to be useful later.
4. Take the sheet to your trainer, class or vet, so they are working from what happened rather than from your recollection.

What is on the sheet

The layout is fixed at a size that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the A4 and Letter files are visually identical and print at full size on either. Rows are set at a height that an adult can actually write a date and a few words into with a pen — most printable tables are built in a word processor and never tested with one.

Questions

Does this sheet tell me how to train a dog?

No. It is a record, not a method. Whatever approach you and your trainer, class or vet have agreed, this gives you somewhere to write down what you did and what the dog made of it.

Is the socialisation list a checklist to complete?

Treat it as a prompt rather than a target. It is there so you notice what the dog has not met yet, and the notes column is worth more than the tick — a dog that was fine with buses but froze at a drain cover is a useful thing to have written down.