Recurring appointments create a series of bookings from one pattern. Use them for regular daycare, weekly grooming, 1:1 training, and other single-pet repeat services.
Do not use recurring appointments for a group course. Puppy school, scentwork, and other multi-lesson class programmes belong on Courses.
What are Recurring Appointments?
Recurring appointments automatically create multiple bookings based on a pattern:
Weekly dog daycare every Monday and Friday
Grooming every 4 weeks on the same weekday
Private training every Tuesday
Daily boarding for a vacation period
Benefits:
Save time creating individual appointments
Ensure regular customers stay booked
Maintain consistent schedule
Reduce booking gaps
How it works:
Create one appointment with recurrence pattern
System generates series of future appointments
All appointments linked as a "series"
Manage entire series or individual appointments
When to Use Recurring Appointments
Ideal Use Cases
Weekly services:
Dog daycare (every M/W/F)
Regular grooming schedules
Weekly dog walking
1:1 training for one pet
Fixed schedule patterns:
Monthly nail trims
Quarterly health checks
Seasonal grooming packages
Group courses (use Courses, not recurring):
6-week puppy school
Scentwork or obedience class with a class list
Any multi-lesson group programme
Those live on Courses. A recurring Regular appointment repeats one service for one pet. It does not manage enrolment, class capacity, or attendance. See Courses versus services.
Long-term care:
Extended boarding (daily recurrence)
Ongoing daycare subscriptions
Regular medication administration
Creating Recurring Appointments
Step 1: Start Normal Appointment Creation
Click New → Appointment
Select customer and pets
Choose services
Set initial date and time
Continue as normal appointment until...
Step 2: Enable Recurrence
Look for the Set up recurring schedule toggle (below the date and time fields)
Turn on Set up recurring schedule
How often appears
Step 3: Choose Recurrence Pattern
Under How often, choose one of five options: Daily, Weekly, Fortnightly, Monthly or Custom.
Daily
Repeats every day
Configuration:
Daily, including weekends? sets whether weekends are included
For every other day, choose Custom, then Every: 2 Days
Best for:
Boarding (consecutive days)
Daily medication appointments
Short-term intensive training
Weekly
Repeats on specific day(s) of the week
Configuration:
Which days?: select specific days (Sun to Sat)
Example: every week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday
For every second week, choose Fortnightly. For a longer gap, choose Custom, then Weeks
Best for:
Regular daycare (M/W/F pattern)
Weekly classes (every Tuesday)
Rotating schedule
Tip: Can select multiple days (e.g., Mon + Fri for twice-weekly)
Monthly
Repeats every 4 weeks on the weekday of the first appointment. It shows as Ev. 4 weeks on Saturday, for example.
There is no day-of-month option (such as the 15th) and no week-of-month option (such as the first Monday). For a longer gap, choose Custom, then Months. Each month counts as 4 weeks, so 2 months books every 8 weeks.
Best for:
Monthly grooming subscriptions
Regular health checks
Membership-based services
Custom
A custom interval
Options:
Every: a number from 1 to 99, then Days, Weeks or Months
Months convert to weeks: Converted to every N weeks shows the result
Best for:
Non-standard schedules
Services with exceptions
Variable team rotation
Step 4: Set End Condition
Choose how recurrence ends:
After
End after a number of visits, up to 52
Example: 8 appointments (8-week training course)
Example: 12 appointments (3-month daycare package)
Best for:
Fixed-length programs
Pre-paid packages
Courses with set duration
End Date
End on a date
Select specific end date
Useful for seasonal services or contracts
Best for:
Services with contract end date
Seasonal bookings (summer daycare)
Vacation boarding (known return date)
No End Date
"Continue indefinitely"
Creates appointments until manually stopped
Books visits 12 months ahead when you save, counted from the first appointment or today, whichever is later
Adds visits each night so the calendar stays 12 months ahead
Best for:
Permanent ongoing services
Subscription-based daycare
Long-term regular customers
Important: Can stop series anytime (doesn't mean forever!)
Step 5: Team Member
Each pet's service line has one Team Member field. Choose a team member, or leave Magic Match selected so Petboost picks a free team member when you book. Every visit in the series gets that team member.
To let busy dates go to someone else, turn on Allow different team members for each occurrence before checking availability. Petboost does not rotate a series through a list of team members. To give different weekdays different team members, book a separate series for each.
Step 6: Review & Create Series
Review summary before creating:
Pattern: Daily/Weekly/Fortnightly/Monthly/Custom
Days/Dates: Which days appointments will be created
Duration: How long series runs
Total appointments: How many will be created
Team member: who does every visit
Creating the series books its visits up to 12 months ahead
Managing Recurring Series
View Series Information
On calendar:
Recurring appointments display a recurring series indicator on the appointment card, making it easy to distinguish one-off bookings from series appointments at a glance
The indicator includes the recurring icon (↻) alongside series context such as the recurrence pattern
Click any appointment in the series to see full series details
In appointment detail panel:
"Recurring Series" section shows:
Pattern (e.g., "Weekly on Mon and Fri")
Recurrence count (e.g., "1 Completed so far")
"Manage Recurring Series" button
Visual timeline showing past and upcoming appointments in the series
Edit Entire Series
Change all future appointments at once
Open any appointment in series
Click "Manage Recurring Series"
Choose Edit This and All Future, or select Edit all future visits from the appointment actions
Make changes:
Service
Team member
Time
Pricing
All future appointments update
Past/completed appointments unchanged
Edit Single Appointment
Modify one appointment without affecting others
Open specific appointment
Edit normally (change time, team, services)
System asks: "Update this appointment only or entire series?"
Select "This appointment only"
Change applied to this one
Appointment still part of series but with custom values
Pause or cancel a recurring series
To pause a recurring series (holiday, trip, or any temporary break), cancel a date range in the middle of it: open Cancel, choose Skip these dates, and set Stop at. Appointments in that window are cancelled. The same series keeps generating after the end date. There is no separate Pause button.
The three options on Cancel are not interchangeable. Pick the one that matches the outcome you want.
If you want to | Choose | What happens | Can you reverse it? |
Pause the series, then resume | Skip these dates, and set Stop at | Dates in the window are cancelled. The series continues after Stop at. | Un-cancel each skipped appointment one at a time. See Un-cancel & Appointment Recovery. |
Cancel one visit only | Cancel single | That date is cancelled. The rest of the series is unchanged. | Un-cancel that appointment. |
Stop the series for good | End series (all future) | Every upcoming appointment from that date is cancelled. No new appointments are generated. | You cannot undo a series end. Create a new series when they come back. |
Pause a series (cancel a range)
Use this when a customer is away for a period and you want the same series to resume afterwards.
Open the appointment where the break should start.
Select Cancel.
Choose Skip these dates. This is the range option.
Check Start from. It defaults to that appointment's date.
Set Stop at to the last day of the break.
Confirm.
Dates in the window show as cancelled. After Stop at, the series continues on its usual pattern.
Stop at is marked Optional. If you leave it empty, Petboost cancels every appointment from Start from onwards and ends the series. That is the same outcome as End series (all future). Always set Stop at when you mean to pause.
Cancel one appointment
Open the appointment.
Select Cancel.
Choose Cancel single.
Confirm.
That date shows as cancelled in the series. Later appointments stay booked.
End the series permanently
Open an appointment in the series.
Select Cancel.
Choose End series (all future).
Confirm.
Upcoming appointments from that date are cancelled and the series stops generating. Past and completed appointments stay as they were.
If they are only away for a holiday, use Skip these dates with Stop at set. End series (all future) stops the series. To resume after an end, create a new series.
You can also end a series from the pet's Appointments tab → Recurring Series view: open Manage on the series, then End Series. Use that view when you need to see every series on the pet first. See Recurring Series Timeline.
Other series on the same pet
Separate weekdays are often separate series. A Tuesday walk, a Thursday walk, and a Friday walk are usually three series. Skipping one does not skip the others.
On the business Cancel screen, a Review other series list may appear. Nothing else is selected until you open it. Only tick another series if you also want those dates cancelled.
If more than one other series is listed:
With Stop at set, the bulk option is Skip all other series listed below.
With Stop at empty, the bulk option is End all other series listed below. That ends every named series from the start date, not only the dates shown.
Use the bulk option only when the named list matches what you intend.
What pet owners can do
If Changes & Cancellations is set to Allow, and the appointment is still inside the notice period, pet owners see the same three options in their app: Cancel single, Skip these dates, and End series (all future).
If a pet owner is pausing for a holiday, they should:
Open the appointment where the break should start.
Select Cancel.
Choose Skip these dates.
Set Stop at to the last day of the break.
Confirm.
Tell them not to choose End series (all future) unless they want the standing booking stopped for good. You would then need to create a new series when they return.
Other weekdays are not cancelled automatically in the pet owner app. The preview lists other appointments and leaves them on the calendar. The owner repeats Skip these dates on each other series they also need to pause.
They cannot cancel in the app when any of these is true:
Changes & Cancellations is set to Disallow.
The notice period for that appointment has passed.
The series is prepaid. They need to contact you.
Pausing a membership (billing and benefits) is a different action. See Managing members.
Reschedule Entire Series
Move all future appointments to new day/time
Open any appointment
Manage Recurring Series
Edit recurrence pattern or time
All future appointments shift
Example scenarios:
Customer changes daycare days from M/W/F to T/Th
Time changes from 9am to 11am ongoing
Move a 4-weekly groom from Monday to Wednesday
Series Actions & Updates
Tracking Series Progress
See series status:
Completed count (e.g., "5 completed")
Upcoming count (e.g., "7 upcoming")
Total in series
View all appointments in series:
Click "Manage Recurring Series"
See list of all appointments:
Past (with status: Completed, Cancelled, No-show)
Present (today)
Future (Confirmed, Pending)
Updating Series After Creation
Can modify:
✅ End date (extend or shorten)
✅ Team member assignment
✅ Service pricing
✅ Time (all future appointments)
✅ Skip a date window with Cancel → Skip these dates (set Stop at)
✅ Frequency (for example weekly to fortnightly)
✅ Days of the week
Cannot modify:
❌ Customer or pets (need to recreate series)
To change the frequency or days, open an appointment in the series and select Edit all future visits. Check All future visits is selected, change How often, and save. Confirm Day Change shows which future visits are archived or added. Petboost ends the current schedule from that date and starts a new one.
To change immutable fields: Create new series, delete old
Converting a Single Appointment to a Recurring Series
You can convert any single appointment into a recurring series with one click:
Open the appointment you want to make recurring
Click the "Convert to Recurring" option
Set the frequency (weekly, fortnightly, etc.)
Petboost creates the recurring series from that appointment forward
This is useful when a customer starts with a one-off appointment and decides they want regular bookings.
Rebook previously cancelled dates
If you create or edit a series that lands on dates the owner already cancelled, Petboost opens Previously cancelled dates before it saves. You must choose what happens to those dates.
Create or edit the recurring series as usual.
When Previously cancelled dates appears, review the cancelled dates listed under the schedule.
Choose Keep cancelled dates cancelled (when editing) or Leave these dates out of the booking (when creating) if those dates should stay empty.
Or choose Rebook cancelled dates if those dates should be booked again.
Select the confirm button that matches your choice: Keep dates cancelled, Leave 1 date out (or Leave 2 dates out, and so on), or Rebook 1 date (or Rebook 2 dates, and so on).
When you are editing, Keep cancelled dates cancelled is marked Safer. When you are creating, leaving dates out means they are not booked at all.
Add an appointment to Google Calendar
Add to Calendar copies one appointment into Google Calendar. It is one-way (Petboost to Google). Changes in Google Calendar do not update Petboost.
Open the appointment.
Open Manage.
Under Calendar, select Add to Calendar.
On Add to Google Calendar, select Add to Calendar.
The Google event says it is a one-way copy from Petboost. The dialog also says this is not a 2-way sync.
This action is hidden when the appointment is Cancelled or Declined, or when it has no start time.
Recurring Conflict Detection
When creating or extending recurring series, Petboost proactively checks for conflicts with existing appointments. If a conflict is found, you'll see a clear message explaining the overlap and options to resolve it.
Common Patterns & Examples
Example 1: Weekly Dog Daycare
Scenario: Mo's pets come for daycare every Monday, Wednesday, Friday
Setup:
Pattern: Weekly
Days: Monday, Wednesday, Friday
Team: Magic Match
End: No End Date
Result: 3 appointments per week, indefinitely
Example 2: 8-Week Puppy Training
Scenario: Tuesday evening puppy class for 8 weeks
Setup:
Pattern: Weekly
Days: Tuesday
Team: Jasmin
End: After 8 visits
Result: 8 Tuesday appointments with same trainer
Example 3: Monthly Grooming
Scenario: Full groom every 4 weeks
Setup:
Pattern: Monthly (every 4 weeks on the first appointment's weekday)
Team: Suzie
End: No End Date
Result: Appointments every 4 weeks on the same weekday
Example 4: Two-Week Boarding
Scenario: Vacation boarding Oct 20 - Nov 3 (14 nights)
Setup:
Pattern: Daily
Start: Oct 20
End: Nov 3 (14 occurrences)
Service: Overnight Boarding
Result: 14 consecutive daily appointments
Example 5: Three Walkers on Different Weekdays
Scenario: Dog walk every weekday, shared between 3 walkers
Setup: three Weekly series, one per walker:
Jasmin: Monday and Tuesday
Suzie: Wednesday and Thursday
Annika: Friday
End: No End Date
Result: 5 walks per week, each walker on their own days
Recurring vs. Regular Appointments
When to Use Recurring
Use recurring when:
✅ Pattern repeats regularly (weekly, daily, monthly)
✅ Same service each time
✅ Long-term arrangement (4+ appointments)
✅ Consistent schedule expected
When to Use Individual Appointments
Use regular appointments when:
✅ One-off bookings
✅ Irregular schedule
✅ Variable services each time
✅ Short-term (1-3 appointments)
✅ Uncertain future schedule
Tips & Best Practices
Setting up recurring:
Start with shorter series (4-8 weeks) vs. never-ending
Leave Magic Match selected for flexible team assignment
Set end date for seasonal services
Test with 2-3 occurrences first (before creating long series)
Managing recurring:
Review upcoming appointments monthly
Update series when customer schedule changes
Cancel early if customer requests change
Communicate changes to customers proactively
Avoiding issues:
Don't create overlapping recurring series for same customer
Check team/resource availability before long series
Set realistic end dates (can extend later)
Update pricing for entire series when rates change
Customer communication:
Confirm recurring schedule with customer before creating
Send series summary email after creation
Remind customer 1 week before series ends
Offer easy rescheduling options
Troubleshooting
"Cannot create recurring appointment"
→ Verify team/resource availability. Recurring is not offered for Initial or package services, or in bulk mode
"Some appointments in series have conflicts"
→ System creates appointments without conflicts, flags others for manual resolution
"Recurring series not showing future appointments"
→ Petboost books visits 12 months ahead and adds more each night
"Need to change recurrence pattern"
→ Select Edit all future visits and change How often. Petboost ends the current schedule from that date and starts a new one
"Customer wants different service on specific week"
→ Edit that single appointment, keep rest of series intact
Related FAQs
Have questions about recurring appointments? See these commonly asked questions: