Two jobs, two places
Requirements get explained on the website and collected in the booking platform. Confuse the two and you end up with a site that asks for vaccination dates in a contact form nobody reads, and a reception desk chasing certificates while a queue of dogs builds at the door on a Monday morning.
This is the setup we build for daycare and boarding: what goes on the page, what goes in the platform, and how the two stay in step.
The requirements page
One page, /requirements or "Before your dog joins", linked from the header, from both service pages, from the assessment page and from every confirmation message. Written as plain statements, not a wall of terms.
Vaccinations. Name what you require and how recent it must be. Core vaccinations with dates. Kennel cough, if you require it, with the interval you accept and how many days before arrival it must have been given, because most kennels require a gap. Say whether you accept a titre test. Say the minimum age a puppy can start.
Parasite treatment. Flea and worm treatment within a stated period, and what product classes you accept.
Neutering. The age from which you require it, if you do, and how you handle bitches in season. This one causes more arguments at the door than any other, so it belongs in writing.
Temperament. That every dog is assessed before joining, that group daycare is not right for every dog, and what you do about dogs that guard resources or cannot be recalled.
Health on the day. That you cannot take a dog with sickness, diarrhoea or a suspected contagious condition, and the period you ask people to wait.
What to bring. For boarding: food, bedding if you allow it, medication in its original packaging with written instructions, the collar and tag.
Each requirement gets a sentence of reason. "Kennel cough spreads fast in a group and the vaccine needs two weeks to work" turns a rule into a reason and reduces the argument.
The consent list
Separate from requirements, and collected as signed agreements rather than described. For daycare and boarding that is usually:
- The daycare or boarding terms, including cancellation, deposits and late collection.
- Permission to seek veterinary treatment when you cannot reach the owner, with a cost ceiling above which you will keep trying to call.
- The named vet and an alternative if yours is closed.
- Feeding instructions and permission to vary them on veterinary advice.
- Medication administration, with dose, timing and route in writing.
- Off-lead and group play consent, and consent to separate the dog where needed.
- Photo and video permission, which matters because your social feed and your report cards depend on it.
- An emergency contact with authority to collect.
Ask for nothing you will not use. Every extra field is a booking somebody abandons.
Collecting it in the platform
Gingr, PetExec, Revelation Pets and Kennel Connection all carry a pet profile with vaccination fields, certificate upload and expiry dates, and all of them support agreements signed in the booking flow. Feature names differ between products, so confirm the exact behaviour with your vendor before you promise an owner anything.
Configure it once:
- Vaccination fields with expiry dates, marked required before a first booking.
- Certificate upload enabled, accepting a phone photo.
- Neutering status, date of birth and breed as required fields.
- Feeding, medication and behaviour notes as profile fields staff can see from the day sheet.
- Vet details and emergency contact as required fields.
- Your agreements attached to the registration flow so they are signed before the assessment.
- Expiry reminders on, going out far enough before a booster lapses that the owner can get to the vet.
Never accept a health record by email. It creates a second copy that nobody checks and holds personal data about a family in an inbox.
Where the desk fits
The day sheet should show a status, not a filing cabinet. Green profile, dog comes in. Amber profile, the reminder has already gone and someone sends a one-line nudge or asks for the card at the door. That is the entire process, and it is the reason to store dates rather than a tick box.
For boarding, run the check a week before arrival rather than on the morning, because a lapsed booster in August is a stay you cannot honour and a family who cannot travel.
Keeping the page and the platform in step
They drift. Someone changes the kennel cough interval in the platform and the page still says the old one, and the confirmation email contradicts the site. Put a review of the requirements page in the same job as any change to the platform's required fields, and read both once a quarter alongside a test booking made from your own phone.
Handling the records properly
A vaccination certificate names the owner and their address, so it is personal data. It stays in the platform. The privacy notice says what you collect, why, how long you keep it and who sees it. Records for clients who have lapsed get deleted after a stated period where the platform allows it, and staff get access only to what their role needs.
Where this sits
Requirements stated on the site and consent collected at booking is one of the six must-haves on the dog daycare and boarding websites we build. Every pet business website needs some version of it, but daycare and boarding carry the longest list, because you are taking on the dog's food, medication, exercise and overnight care rather than an hour on a table.