Find answers to common questions about managing customers and pets in your business system.

Yes. When customers book online, they provide owner details, pet information, and health records that automatically create comprehensive profiles in Petboost. We capture name, contact information, pet details (breed, gender, birthday, weight), vaccination certificates, and payment methods.

We're also releasing custom fields functionality (December/January) that will allow you to add business-specific intake questions to the booking flow. After the first booking, you can add detailed grooming preferences, special instructions, and health notes directly to each pet's profile.

No, the system is pet-centric and requires creating both customer and pet together. This design ensures all customer records are linked to the pets they own, maintaining accurate service relationships.

Draft status indicates an incomplete profile that isn't fully active in the system.

Profiles may be in draft when:

Draft behaviour:

Completing a draft profile:

Tip: Review draft profiles regularly to follow up with customers who didn't complete registration.

Open any pet profile for that customer, then click the "New Pet" button in the Appointments tab header. The owner's information will auto-populate, and you only need to add the new pet's details.

"Pet Parent" is the default relationship type indicating the primary owner. All customers created through the Customers & Pets module are automatically designated as Pet Parents.

No, each pet is linked to one primary owner (Pet Parent). If multiple people share ownership, designate one as the primary owner and add others as emergency contacts or additional contacts.

For pets the customer is boarding but doesn't own, create separate customer and pet records for the actual owners. Then manage boarding appointments accordingly through those pets' profiles.

Required Fields:

All other fields are optional but recommended for complete records.

Yes, all information can be edited at any time:

Yes, open the pet's profile, click edit next to the pet's name, update the birthday field, and save. The new birthday will immediately reflect in the system and age calculations.

Click the edit icon next to the pet's name, select the correct gender, and save. The change applies immediately across all records and reports.

To mark a pet as deceased:

What happens after marking deceased:

Best practice: Add a respectful note to the customer's profile acknowledging their loss. Consider sending a condolence message if you have a relationship with the customer.

If a pet was marked as deceased by mistake:

The pet will reappear in booking searches and active customer lists.

Common Issues:

Solutions:

Yes, the search bar finds customers by:

Just type the information into the search bar and results appear instantly.

Phone number searches are flexible, but there are some common issues:

Common causes:

Tips for searching by phone:

Best practice: When entering new customers, use consistent phone formatting (e.g., always include country code, or never include it).

Yes! Pet names don't need to be unique across your entire customer base.

Common scenarios:

How to distinguish:

Tip: When taking bookings by phone, confirm the owner's surname or phone number to ensure you're booking the correct pet.

Filters narrow results based on specific criteria. If you have both search terms and filters active, you're seeing the intersection of both. Click Reset to clear all search and filter criteria, then try again.

Recommended:

Common Issues:

Solutions:

Yes:

While not required, uploading vaccination certificates is strongly recommended for:

Petboost shows vaccination status in the sidebar:

Set reminders to check statuses monthly and contact owners proactively.

Configure vaccination requirements per service:

System behaviour:

Recommended for:

Currently, vaccination status is shown per pet. To identify pets needing renewals:

Pro tip: Contact customers 30 days before expiration to request updated certificates.

Accepted formats:

Information to include:

Tip: Ask customers to request a digital copy from their vet for clearest quality.

All vaccination certificates are stored in the pet's profile:

Vaccination status displays in the sidebar:

Pro tip: Click on any certificate to view the full document or image. You can download or print certificates if needed for your records.

Use the Quick Notes section to document current medications. Include:

For detailed medical history, track in vaccination or health attributes sections.

Document the situation in Quick Notes and request that customers:

You can still provide services, but note the missing records in the pet's profile.

Update weight at every visit for accurate tracking.

Weight affects multiple aspects of service delivery:

Best practice: Weigh pets at every visit and update their profile. This ensures:

Weight history is tracked with timestamps showing when each measurement was recorded. Open the pet's profile and view the weight card in the sidebar to see the current weight and when it was last updated.

For detailed weight trends: Export customer data or track manually if you need historical weight charts.

Possible Reasons:

If appointments should be there but aren't visible, contact support.

Open the pet's profile and go to the Appointments tab. You'll see:

Appointment details are typically locked after completion to maintain accurate history. If you need to correct information, contact support with specific details about what needs changing and why.

Go to the Packages tab in the pet's profile. You'll see:

The Packages tab shows remaining credits for each package. Set up your own reminders to:

Grooming preferences are optional but highly recommended when:

Yes, you can upload multiple reference photos in the Grooming Preferences tab for:

Photos eliminate miscommunication and ensure consistency.

Grooming preferences are pet-specific and must be entered separately for each pet. However, you can:

Grooming preferences are more detailed and service-specific, while Quick Notes cover general care. If there's a conflict:

The updated card applies to all pets owned by that customer.

A "Card on file" indicates the customer has securely stored a payment method in the system. This allows:

Yes, go to the Sales tab in any pet's profile to see:

Petboost shows expiration dates on stored cards. When a card is expiring:

Emergency contacts are critical when:

Always collect at least one emergency contact for every customer.

No, the purpose of an emergency contact is to reach someone when the customer is unavailable. Collect a different person's information, such as:

Changes apply immediately to all pets owned by that customer.

The Family Pets section automatically shows all pets linked to the same owner. It:

No, pets are linked through shared ownership. The Family Pets feature only shows pets belonging to the same Pet Parent.

Contact support to merge the duplicate owner records. This will:

Do not attempt to manually merge by deleting and recreating records.

Pets must be linked to an owner. To transfer a pet to a different owner:

All team members with system access can view customer and pet profiles. Train your team on:

Customer portal access depends on your business settings. Check with your administrator about customer-facing features and what information customers can view or edit themselves.

Important: Don't delete customer records. Instead:

If a customer requests data deletion (right to be forgotten), contact support for proper procedures.

Reporting and export features depend on your system permissions. Contact your administrator or support about exporting customer lists, contact information, or service histories.

Common Causes:

Solutions:

Common Issues:

Solutions:

Troubleshooting Steps:

If photos consistently fail to display, contact support with specific examples.

Possible Reasons:

Solutions:

If your question isn't answered here:

Getting Started with Customers & Pets - Complete setup guide for adding customers

Managing Customer Profiles - Edit customer and pet information, photos, and notes

Need help? Contact support or click the "Get Help" button in your dashboard to chat with our team.