Getting the most out of JAP
Writing pet notes your team will actually read
Short, specific and in the right field: how to keep care notes useful once you've got hundreds of pets on file.
4 min read
Notes fail in two directions: too sparse to help, or so long that nobody reads to the end. Aim for the sentence a handler needs at the moment they need it.
Separate permanent from today
- Permanent: allergies, medication, behaviour around other dogs, handling preferences.
- This stay: appetite, mood, anything the owner mentioned at drop-off.
- One-off incidents: what happened, what you did, who was told.
Write for the next shift, not for the file
"Slow to settle in the big group; better with the small one after 3pm" is more useful than "anxious". Describe what you'd want to be told if you were walking in cold.
Review the permanent notes twice a year
Old warnings outlive the behaviour that caused them. A quick clean-up keeps the important lines visible.