With Pets at a Time set to 3, a team member can have three dogs booked at any moment and many more across the day. "I can groom 2 at once" is a pets at a time of 2. "I only do 6 a day" is a daily limit: set it as Daily pet limit (optional) on the same page.
It matters most when your team handles more than one pet at once, as in daycare, group classes and walks, and when team members can handle different numbers. It stops a team member being booked for more pets at once than they can handle.
Set pets at a time for a team member
Set it when you add a team member, and change it as their experience or duties change.
Open Team Members and select Manage on the team member.
Choose Capacity.
Under Capacity Configuration, set Pets at a Time to how many pets this person can handle at the same time. It runs from 1 to 1000.
Optional: switch on Allow more siblings side-by-side and set the Same-family limit.
Select Publish Changes, tick the box in Before You Publish, then select Publish Changes.
There is no Save Changes on this section. The change waits in Pending Changes until you publish it.
Typical settings
Ask how many pets this person can handle at the same time. These are typical answers:
Role | Question to ask | Typical pets at a time |
Solo groomer | How many tables do I work at once? | 1 to 2 |
Daycare handler | How many dogs can I safely supervise? | 8 to 15 |
Dog walker | How many dogs on one walk? | 4 to 6 |
Trainer (private) | One-on-one sessions? | 1 |
Trainer (group) | Class size? | 6 to 10 |
Set a different number for each person
Each team member has their own number. These factors push it down or up:
Factor | Lower | Higher |
Experience | New staff | Senior staff |
Service type | Complex grooms | Quick services |
Physical stamina | Heavy lifting | Light work |
Equipment access | 1 table | 2 tables |
A mixed team might look like this:
Team member | Pets at a time |
Senior groomer | 2 |
Assistant groomer | 1 |
Daycare handler | 15 |
Dog walker | 5 |
How pets at a time works across a day
Sarah Mitchell grooms with Pets at a Time set to 2. She has two dogs booked at 9:00am, one at 10:30am, two at 12:00pm and two at 2:00pm: seven dogs across the day, and never more than two at once.
When customers book online, Petboost checks the team member's pets at a time for the time they ask for. A time when the team member is already full is not offered.
These setups show the number to use:
Setup | Pets at a time | What Petboost allows |
A groomer working alone at one table, one dog at a time | 1 | One booking at a time, with no overlaps |
A daycare supervisor who can safely watch 12 dogs in a play area | 12 | Up to 12 daycare bookings for that person at the same time |
A dog walker who takes 5 dogs on a group walk | 5 | Up to 5 dogs in each walk |
A trainer with private sessions for 1 dog and group classes for 8 | 1, with the group class session set to 8 | One private booking at a time, and 8 in the class session |
Set pets at a time for one session
A session can take a different number from the team member's own. For example, a groomer can take two large dogs in a morning session of full grooms and three smaller dogs in the afternoon, and a trainer can keep 1 for private sessions and add an evening group class session, such as 6:00pm to 8:00pm, set to the class size.
Open Schedules & Sessions.
On the team member's week, select the session. To add one, select Add Session on a working day.
Set Pets at a time. Left empty, the session uses the team member's own Pets at a Time.
Select Stage for Publishing, or Add Session for a new session.
Select Publish Changes, tick the box in Before You Publish, then select Publish Changes.
A session can go down to 0. Petboost then shows Zero Capacity Warning, because nobody could book that session. A session can also limit which services it takes: see Managing Rosters & Schedules.
The calendar does not mark a team member as full. With the calendar grouped by Team Members, each column header shows how many appointments that person holds, not a count against their pets at a time.
Limit how many pets a team member takes in a day
Daily pet limit (optional) is the most different pets a team member can be booked with on one day, across all their sessions. Blank means no limit of their own, which is how every team member starts.
Open Team Members and select Manage on the team member.
Choose Capacity.
Under Capacity Configuration, set Daily pet limit (optional).
Select Publish Changes, tick the box in Before You Publish, then select Publish Changes.
Each pet counts once a day with that team member, however many services it has with them. Once they reach the limit, online booking stops offering them that day for any other pet, and your team sees an override prompt. Other team members are not affected. A business-wide Daily pet limit on Booking Engine still applies on top, and the field shows it as Business limit. A limit below Pets at a Time means their pets at a time can never fill on any day.
Choose who can book a team member online
The Online booking block on a team member's Capacity section sets who customers can be matched with. Staff can still book anyone.
Open Team Members and select Manage on the team member.
Choose Capacity.
Under Online booking, choose one option:
Everyone: new and existing clients. This is the default.
Existing clients only: closed to new clients online. A new client is someone with no completed visit at any location in your organisation and without Skip Service Prerequisites. Imported customers count as existing.
Not online: not offered on your booking page.
Optional: change Share of Anyone bookings. See Choose who gets Anyone bookings.
Select Publish Changes, tick the box in Before You Publish, then select Publish Changes.
The team member list shows Not online or Existing only beside anyone who is not open to everyone. A customer moving their own booking keeps the team member they already have.
Where each setting lives
Each capacity setting has one home:
What you want | Where to set it |
A team member's pets at a time | Capacity on the team member's page |
A team member's daily pet limit | Daily pet limit (optional) under Capacity on the team member's page |
The whole business's daily limit | Daily pet limit on Booking Engine |
Pets at a time for one session | The session, on Schedules & Sessions or the team member's Working Hours |
The most different pets starting in one session | Session pet limit on the session, on Schedules & Sessions |
The team's workload for the day | The Team Members view on Mission Control, which reads Resources & Team when the day's appointments also use resources |
Pets at a time for a set date range | Special Dates on the team member's Working Hours, then Manage Overrides on a session in that range |
Troubleshooting
Daycare shows no times while a stay is on
You do not need another team member when only one person can take the service. If that person already has a stay or another booking at that time, they may have no places left.
Open Team Members and select Manage on the team member.
Choose Capacity.
Set Pets at a Time to how many pets they can have at once.
Select Publish Changes, tick the box in Before You Publish, then select Publish Changes.
If some days stay empty, open the resource the service uses on Resources and check its Blocked Times.
A team member gets too many bookings
Their pets at a time is set higher than they can handle.
Open Team Members and select Manage on the team member.
Choose Capacity.
Lower Pets at a Time.
Select Publish Changes, tick the box in Before You Publish, then select Publish Changes.
To take fewer pets at some times only, set Pets at a time on those sessions instead, as in Set pets at a time for one session.
Common questions
What is the difference between team member capacity and resource capacity?
Team member capacity is about the person, and resource capacity is about the space or equipment:
Team member capacity | Resource capacity |
How many pets the person can handle | How many pets the space or equipment can take |
Based on skill, energy and preference | Based on physical space and safety |
Sarah Mitchell can handle 2 dogs | The grooming room fits 3 tables |
When a service uses both a team member and a resource, a booking needs a free place on each.
Can I set pets at a time to 0?
Not for a team member: Pets at a Time on Capacity starts at 1. A single session can be set to 0 in its Pets at a time, and then nobody can book that session. To stop someone being booked for a while, add leave on their Leaves & Restrictions section. To stop it for good, archive them.
What if a team member also uses a resource?
Petboost checks both. Sarah Mitchell's pets at a time is 2, and the grooming room she works in has a capacity of 3, one for each table. If another groomer is using 2 tables, Sarah can take only 1 more dog, because the room has 1 table left.
Related articles
Scheduling Fundamentals: how schedules, sessions and pets at a time work together
Working Hours & Leave Management: set when team members work
Service Assignment & Skills: which services each team member provides
Pets at a time vs daily total: why the number is not a daily limit
Need help? Contact support or select Get Help in your dashboard to chat with our team.