Dog Walker Client Intake Checklist

Client Intake Checklist for Dog Walkers: What to Ask Before the First Visit

Dog walking intake is not paperwork for its own sake. It is the difference between "the walker knows the dog" and "the walker is guessing at the front door."

The first visit has too many small failure points: the key does not work, the dog reacts to bicycles, the owner forgot to mention medication, the building has two entrances, the leash is in a different place, or the dog cannot be walked with others. None of those are dramatic on a marketing page. They are very dramatic at 12:15 when the next walk starts at 12:45.

This checklist is written for solo dog walkers and small pet-care teams that want a practical intake process before the first visit. If you are comparing software more broadly, see the guide to software for dog walkers alongside this form checklist.

Start With Service Fit

Before collecting a long form, confirm whether the job fits your service model.

Ask:

• Is this a one-time walk, recurring walk, puppy visit, senior dog visit, drop-in, or pet sitting add-on?
• What days and time windows does the owner need?
• Is the dog suitable for solo walks, group walks, or only private walks?
• How long should the visit last?
• Is there a preferred route or area to avoid?
• Does the dog need feeding, water refresh, medication reminder, or crate return after the walk?
• Is there another pet in the home?

This prevents the form from becoming a dumping ground. If the dog needs services you do not offer, say so before exchanging access details or taking payment.

Owner And Emergency Contacts

Collect the basics, then collect the backup plan.

Minimum owner fields:

• Owner full name
• Mobile phone
• Email
• Home address
• Preferred contact method
• Best time to reach them during walking hours

Emergency fields:

• Backup contact name
• Backup contact phone
• Relationship to owner
• Permission to contact them if the owner cannot be reached
• Local vet name, address, and phone
• Permission instructions for urgent veterinary care

Do not bury emergency details inside a free-text note. They should be easy to find from the client record. In Tregovia, evaluate whether owner details, emergency contacts, vet information, and structured pre-visit answers are visible before the first appointment.

Dog Profile

Each dog needs its own profile, even if one owner has multiple dogs.

Ask for:

• Dog name
• Breed or mix
• Age
• Weight range
• Sex and neuter/spay status
• Microchip status if the owner wants it recorded
• Collar, harness, and lead setup
• ID tag status
• Feeding instructions if relevant
• Medication notes if relevant
• Allergies or sensitivities
• Mobility limits
• Heat, cold, or weather sensitivity

Keep this practical. You are not building a veterinary record unless your business offers that level of care. You are capturing what a walker needs to avoid preventable mistakes.

Behavior And Safety Questions

This is the section that protects the dog, the walker, other dogs, and the public.

Ask clear yes/no questions first:

• Has the dog ever bitten a person?
• Has the dog ever bitten another dog?
• Does the dog pull strongly on lead?
• Does the dog lunge at bicycles, scooters, runners, children, cats, or other dogs?
• Is the dog reactive around food, toys, doorways, cars, or strangers?
• Can the dog be walked with other dogs?
• Can the dog be let off lead? If yes, under what conditions?
• Does the dog have reliable recall?
• Does the dog try to escape through doors or gates?
• Is the dog anxious when approached at home?

Then add a free-text field:

"What should a new walker know before entering the home or handling your dog?"

That question gets better answers than "Anything else?" It invites the owner to describe real behavior, not just reassure you that everything is fine.

Access Instructions

Access details are operationally important and privacy-sensitive. Collect them carefully, restrict who can see them, and avoid sending them through ordinary SMS.

Ask:

• Main entrance instructions
• Parking or building access notes
• Key, lockbox, concierge, or owner-at-home arrangement
• Alarm instructions if applicable
• Where the leash, harness, towels, treats, bags, and crate are kept
• Rooms or areas the walker should not enter
• What to do if the dog is not where expected
• What to do if the key or code does not work

Write a policy for access data. For example: access codes are stored only in the client record, never repeated in reminder texts, and removed when the client ends service.

This is where generic form builders can be risky. A client intake form builder may collect answers, but your business still needs a secure operating rule for who sees those answers afterward.

Schedule, Cancellation, And Billing

Dog walking gets messy when scheduling and payment rules are verbal.

Include:

• Regular walking days
• Preferred time window
• Minimum notice for changes
• Cancellation window
• Bad-weather policy
• Holiday policy
• Late access policy if the walker cannot enter
• Invoice frequency
• Payment method
• Package or recurring service terms

If you use deposits, prepaid packages, or recurring billing, make the rule visible before the first walk. In Tregovia, evaluate whether walk schedules, billing rules, recurring-plan context, and reports stay connected enough that the owner does not have to reconcile them in a spreadsheet.

Updates, Photos, And Client Communication

Many owners want reassurance after a walk. Some want photos every time; others prefer a short note only when something changes.

Ask:

• Should the owner receive a post-walk update?
• Do they want photos?
• Can photos be used publicly in marketing?
• Should updates go by SMS, email, or another channel?
• What information should always be included?
• What should only be reported by phone?

Separate operational updates from marketing consent. A client agreeing to receive a "walk completed" message is not the same as agreeing that their dog can appear in social media posts.

If reminders or updates are part of your workflow, the dog-walker reminder template article gives examples for appointment reminder messages. Keep sensitive details out of SMS.

Meet-And-Greet Checklist

The form should prepare the meeting, not replace it.

During the meet-and-greet, confirm:

• The dog accepts the walker entering the home
• The harness or collar fits correctly
• The dog can be handled safely at the door
• The walking route is realistic
• The dog reacts as described around common triggers
• Access instructions work
• Emergency contact and vet details are correct
• The owner understands cancellation and billing rules

After the visit, update the client record immediately. The worst version of intake is a good conversation that never becomes usable information.

Test Tregovia With A First-Walk Handoff

Tregovia is worth evaluating when the intake form needs to connect to the rest of the business: owner records, dog profiles, appointments, billing rules, online booking, reports, and follow-up.

Test it with a first-walk handoff:

• The owner submits one form for the household and dog-specific details for each dog.
• The walker can see access-note status without receiving door codes by SMS.
• Behavior triggers, lead rules, and emergency contacts are easy to find before arrival.
• The schedule, cancellation rule, and invoice context are clear before the first walk.
• Post-walk update preferences are separate from marketing photo permission.

Be precise about the fit. Tregovia should not be described as a GPS walk-tracking app unless that capability is verified. For dog walkers, the safer claim is that Tregovia can help structure the client, appointment, billing, booking, and form workflow around the service.

That may be enough for many small teams. If proof-of-walk tracking, route maps, live GPS, or pet-care-specific visit reports are required, compare those needs separately before choosing a CRM.

Dog-Walking Intake Questions

Should every dog have a separate intake form?

Yes. One owner can have two dogs with completely different behavior, health notes, and walking rules. Keep owner details at the client level and dog-specific details in the dog profile or form response.

What is the most important safety question?

Ask whether the dog has ever bitten, lunged, escaped, or reacted strongly to common triggers. Then ask what a new walker should know before entering the home. That combination catches more useful detail than a generic temperament question.

Should I collect vet permission in the intake form?

Collect the owner's emergency instructions and vet contact details, but make sure the wording fits local rules and your insurance. For urgent-care authorization, get legal or insurance guidance instead of copying a generic template.

Can I use Google Forms for dog-walking intake?

You can, but it often creates follow-up work: answers live outside the client record, access notes may be overexposed, and staff may not know which form is current. If intake drives daily operations, a CRM-connected form is cleaner.

Intake Rules To Keep

• Dog-walking intake should screen service fit before collecting detailed data.
• Each dog needs its own behavior, health, access, and handling notes.
• Door codes and access instructions need stricter handling than normal appointment details.
• Intake should connect to scheduling, cancellation, billing, and client communication rules.
• Tregovia is a fit for CRM-connected forms and operations, but route/GPS tracking should be verified separately if required.