Dog Daycare Software: 10 Must-Have Features for Your Pet Business

What is included in a Doggie Daycare Software Suite? 

A doggie daycare software or kennel software suite allows a dog daycare or dog boarding business owner to keep track of their clients, schedule reservations, process payments, and check in pets. The software suite also maintains essential information about clients, such as pets’ vaccination records. It can also help you manage inventory and employee schedules, and generate reports. Some dog daycare booking software even comes with a mobile app, so you can keep up with your business on the go. Lastly, many dog daycare software packages can  integrate with other applications, such as external payment processors, scheduling software, and customer relations management software.

What are the differences between Boarding and Daycare Business Needs? 

First, let’s break down the difference between dog daycare and dog boarding, and the use case for each. Many pet owners would love to be with their dogs all day but might have to go into an office, go to appointments, or go away on trips. Dog owners can set up a pet camera to see what their dog is up to, but dog daycare gives pets all the care, enrichment, walks, and socialization they will need. If an owner needs their pet watched for a few hours, they’d choose dog daycare. If the dog needs to be watched overnight or even for a week, they would do dog boarding. For business owners, the differences between boarding and daycare business needs break down to the volume of pet check-ins and check-outs, and the ability to offer packaged credits. Since dog daycare businesses get more foot (and paw!) traffic in a day than dog boarding businesses, their software must be able to handle that volume. Dog daycare companies might also offer package credits, where a customer can buy a bundle of daycare days or half days at a certain rate. Dog daycare business owners would need software that tracks those packages and rates. 

What are the Key Features to Look For in My Doggie Daycare Software?

1. Pet and Client Database: A pet and client database keeps track of pet owners and their furry friends. This repository can include pets’ names, their breeds, their medical conditions, their vaccination records, and pet owners’ contact information. The database can also record any special notes or instructions pet owners would like to give, such as which food their pet eats and when they’d like to be fed. A database may even include an area to record pets’ conduct, such as if they were aggressive towards other dogs, or if they had separation anxiety. PetExec offers customized pet and owner advisories, so you can quickly see and note which pets are excessive biters, or which pet owners have a habit of cancelling on you.

2. Scheduling Capabilities: Scheduling is the lifeblood of a doggie daycare center, so having software that can track the dogs coming in and out daily  is tantamount. You can track appointments and reservations for pet daycare, boarding, and other services like grooming, should you provide them. You can also use this feature to send out automated reminders to pet owners about upcoming appointments via email or text message. PetExec gives you unlimited client messaging with their program PetSnaps. Send out those appointment reminders, communicate back and forth, or just send cute pet pics. Some software even offers the ability for pet owners to see how many spots are left at a dog daycare or join a waitlist which maximizes profits if an owner cancels. 

3. Payment processing: With this feature, you can accept payments from pet owners for many services such as daycare, boarding, and grooming. Owners can make payments by credit card, debit card, or e-wallet, like Apple Pay or Google Wallet.  This cuts down the need for manual invoicing and cash registers. These systems can also process repeated payments, in case certain dogs visit you weekly or monthly. Some dog daycare booking software even integrates with financial apps,  making accounting a snap. PetExec software has continuous backup and is 100% PCI-compliant, ensuring that your clients’ payments are iron-clad secure.
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4. Check-in and check-out: The bread and butter of a doggy daycare, check-in and check-out features allow you to track when pets arrive and when they leave for the day. This helps you monitor which pets have come to daycare, and to account for pets at all times, ensuring their safety. PetExec even enables you to create up to three digital waivers and consent forms for check-in as well, ensuring that all owners agree to your business’s policies.
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5. Vaccination records: Many dog daycare facilities require pets to be vaccinated against certain communicable diseases like bordetella (kennel cough), distemper, lyme disease, parvovirus, and leptospirosis. Since many of these vaccinations have varying expiration dates, you can use your dog daycare software to ensure that all dogs are up-to-date on their shots, ensuring a safe and fun environment for all.
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6. Employee management:  Your employees are the heart and soul of your company, and this feature allows you to track many aspects of an employee’s work. You can easily record employees’ pay, schedule, time off requests,  and  hours worked. You can also collect information that will make administration  easier for you such as employee addresses for tax forms, payroll reports, and HR documentation. You can also track employees’ performance with ease. PetExec offers a color-coded calendar where you can look at dog daycare appointments and employee schedules together at a glance.

7. Inventory management: Dog daycare and dog boarding facilities need tons of supplies to operate at top performance, from cleaning products like mops and sprays to crates and kennels. Being able to see all of your inventory in real time as well as the inventory’s cost  is vital, especially if you stock items like dog food that might expire. If your facility sells toys, treats, or grooming items, you can keep track of that inventory as well. Some dog daycare software can even notify you when it’s time to re-up on your supplies. With PetExec, you can do all of the above, plus you can add products to your clients’ carts, manage vendor information, and generate inventory reports.
   
   
8. Reporting: You’ve already seen how dog kennel software can intake many different data points, like payments, attendance, inventory, expenses,  and schedules. This software can also report on that data, to help you make informed business decisions. If you need to hire more employees or open another dog daycare location, you can turn to your reports for an analytical eye and forecast for your business’s future. Some software enables you to send out surveys, tracking customer satisfaction so you can analyze your business’s strengths and weaknesses. PetExec’s reporting will track revenue, projections, and statistics, so you don’t have to!
   
   
9. Mobile app: If you’re always traveling between doggie daycare locations or utilize an iPad for check ins,  you may enjoy looking at your dog daycare software on a smartphone or tablet app. You can message pet owners, view schedules,  or check in dogs on the go, and some apps let you assign tasks to staff members. These aspects let you enhance convenience, efficiency, and communications at your facility, with the tap of a screen. PetExec’s mobile app is available in the App Store and the Google Play store. It’s customizable so you pet parents can request or schedule daycare or other appointments, pay off balances, purchase packages, and more. And you can notify pet owners with push notifications, too!

10. Integrations: If you’re already using a CRM (customer relationship manager) software package to track clients, a payment processor, or scheduling software, you may be able to integrate those tools with your new doggie daycare software. This way, you won’t need to learn as many new programs, streamlining your business operations and improving efficiency. For example, PetExec integrates with Quickbooks, the nation’s leading  invoicing and accounting software, so you can monitor your finances with ease.

How to Choose the Best Software for Your Pet  Business? 

• Consider your specific needs
  Before choosing a dog daycare booking software, do a basic fact-finding mission about your company: how many employees do you have? About how many dogs visit your facility in a week, or a month? Some dog boarding business software places limits on the number of clients or employees you can register, and their pricing may vary based on how many of each you’re looking to add. Also, consider your business’s other needs: do you want a contactless payment system for cleanliness’ sake? Is your dog daycare center not currently selling products, but you’re hoping too soon? 

• Compare different software options
  There are multiple websites, like GetApp.com, that will lay out all the different top-rated daycare software, including free dog daycare software. You can use sites like these to compare each company’s strengths and weaknesses before you make a decision. 

• Read reviews and testimonials
  Dog daycare software sites often have testimonials pages where you can read about customers’ experiences using the product. PetExec’s testimonials page is full of business owners singing the software’s praises. 

When reading these reviews, you might want to keep a few phrases in your mind to see if your potential software checks all those boxes. Is the software convenient? Does it get the job done quickly? Customizable? Does it save you time? And better yet, is the software intuitive? If a testimonial mentions any of these factors, you should definitely consider that dog kennel software.

• Get a free trial
  Many companies offer a free trial so you can take their software for a test drive. PetExec offers a free self-guided demo environment where you can create dog daycare appointments, check out reporting capabilities, and try adding products. They can even pair you with a PetExec team member to walk you through a personalized demo, so they can answer any questions on the spot.

How to market your dog daycare business with dog daycare software.

We know you want to grow your business so you can delight as many pet owners and their furry friends as possible. You may wear many hats and marketer may not be one of them. Not to fear: your dog daycare software is here. In order for your business to thrive, you can create a diverse marketing strategy that includes social media, online ads,  e-mails, and blogging. Some dog daycare software includes built–in marketing tools. PetSafe handles a crucial part of your marketing, including  e-mail, SMS, and push notifications, so you can focus your efforts elsewhere.  

Conclusion

Dog daycare software will save you time, money, and energy. We know that choosing this software can be one of the most important decisions you’ll make for your business, and we know that PetExec has some great features that will help you achieve your goals.. But don’t just take our word for it: check out our reviews!

Pet Business Software Reviews‍

Visit PetExec For Daycare
Visit PetExec for Boarders
Read our reviews on Capterra
Read our reviews on SoftwareAdvice

Head to our PetExec Demo page to sign up for your free personalized demo or walk through our software yourself in our self-guided demo here.