She's fine with women, not with men
Every experienced kennel hand has a mental list. The rescue lurcher in run 12 panics if you go in with a lead in your hand. The Staffy who comes every Easter is soft as butter but will not tolerate other dogs near his bowl. The Beagle can open the latch on the double gate. The Maine Coon in the cattery bites when picked up, and the new girl found that out on her first morning.
When the person who knows goes on holiday or leaves, most of that knowledge goes with them. A dog that settled well last year gets handled badly this year, not because anyone was careless, but because nobody told them.
Notes written for the moment, not the future
Kennels do write things down. It is where they write them that is the issue.
- A comment on the run card, which goes in the bin when the dog leaves.
- A line in a daybook that nobody reads back.
- The owner's booking form, which captures what the owner says, not what staff have seen.
- A WhatsApp message between staff, lost the next day.
- Memory, which is excellent until the person is off.
Booking software usually has a notes field, but it is one long box that gets messier with every stay, and it rarely shows up where staff actually need it: on the run, on the feed list and at the gate.
When knowledge is lost
The cost is mostly borne by the dogs and your staff. A nervous dog handled the wrong way has a harder stay. A dog that escapes over a gate it has escaped over before is a serious incident. A member of staff bitten because nobody warned them is hurt, upset and possibly off work.
Owners notice too. A dog that came home happy last year and stressed this year is a customer you may lose, and you may never know why it went differently.
A profile that remembers for everyone
What we build is a dog and cat profile where staff observations are structured, carried forward and shown wherever they matter.
- Staff add a handling note from a tablet or phone in seconds, choosing a type (handling, other dogs, escape risk, feeding behaviour, likes) and writing a short line.
- Notes are dated and named, so you know who saw what and when. A senior can mark a note as important, which puts it at the top.
- Important notes appear on the arrivals list, the run card or sheet, the feed round and the group play planner, not buried in a notes box.
- On the next stay, the profile comes back with all notes, and staff can confirm the old ones still apply or retire them.
- Owners' own descriptions from the booking form sit alongside, clearly labelled as owner-reported.
| Note type | Where it shows up |
|---|---|
| Handling (for example, wary of leads) | Run sheet, arrivals list |
| Other dogs | Group play planner, run allocation |
| Escape risk | Run sheet, gate checklist |
| Feeding behaviour | Feed round list |
These notes are practical observations for your team. The system does not assess behaviour or give training advice, and anything that concerns you about a dog's welfare follows your own procedures.
Easter, one year later
The Staffy arrives for his Easter stay. The arrivals list shows a flag: food guarding, feed separately, noted last Easter by your head kennel hand. The new member of staff reads it on the run sheet before the evening feed. Nothing happens, which is exactly the point.
Is this knowledge in people's heads?
- Handling tips about particular dogs are passed on by word of mouth.
- Run cards with notes are thrown away when the dog goes home.
- Repeat customers' dogs are treated as new each stay.
- A member of staff has been caught out by something others knew.
- Your notes field in the booking system is too long for anyone to read.