Sessions are focused time blocks inside your working hours. They give your day structure, control when bookings can start, and let you set different capacity for different parts of the day.
The 3-Concept Model
Your Hours → Sessions → Pets at a Time(container) (structure) (how many at once)
Concept | Question it answers | Example |
Your hours | When am I open? | Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm |
Sessions | How do I chunk my day? | Morning grooms, afternoon express |
Pets at a time | How many at one moment? | 3 dogs at once |
Step-by-Step: Creating Morning & Afternoon Sessions
1. Open Schedules & Sessions
Go to Schedules & Sessions in the left menu.
2. Select your team member or resource
Pick who you want to add sessions for.
3. Add a morning session
Click Add Session
Name: "Morning Grooms" (or whatever fits)
Start: 9:00 AM
End: 12:00 PM
Pets at a time: set how many pets at once (e.g. 2)
4. Add an afternoon session
Click Add Session again
Name: "Afternoon Express"
Start: 1:00 PM
End: 5:00 PM
Pets at a time: can be different from morning (e.g. 3)
5. Save
That's it. Bookings will now only start within those two windows. The gap between 12pm and 1pm becomes your lunch break automatically.
"Pets at a Time" Is Not a Daily Limit
This is the most common misunderstanding. "3 pets at a time" does not mean 3 per day.
Worked Example
Pets at a time: 3
Session length: 3 hours (9am-12pm)
Average service duration: 1 hour
What happens:
9:00 AM 🐕 Max 🐕 Bella 🐕 Luna [3/3]10:00 AM 🐕 Duke 🐕 Rocky 🐕 Rosie [3/3]11:00 AM 🐕 Bear 🐕 Coco 🐕 Milo [3/3]
Result: 9 dogs in one session, 3 at any given moment.
The number controls how many overlap at the same time, not how many come through the door that day.
Spot Weights (Large Dogs = More Spots)
Some pets take up more capacity than others. Petboost handles this with spot weights.
How It Works
Default: every pet uses 1 spot
You can configure services so a large dog uses 2 spots
Worked Example
Pets at a time: 4 spots
Small dog groom: uses 1 spot
Large dog groom: uses 2 spots
At 9am you could have:
Scenario A | Scenario B | Scenario C |
4 small dogs (4/4) | 2 large dogs (4/4) | 1 large + 2 small (4/4) |
The engine calculates this automatically when checking availability.
Where to Set It
Services → [Service] → Team & Resources → Advanced options → Places Used Per Booking → Spots used. Each service has one Spots used value, so use separate services for small and large dogs.
Common Mistakes and How to Fix Them
"No availability is showing online"
Likely cause: Sessions don't cover the hours you think they do, or capacity is set to 0.
Fix: Check that session start/end times are within your working hours, and that "pets at a time" is at least 1.
"Bookings are landing in random gaps"
Likely cause: You haven't set up sessions, so the entire working day is one open block.
Fix: Add sessions to create structured booking windows.
"I set 3 pets at a time but I'm only getting 3 per day"
Likely cause: Your session is too short for services to rotate through. If your session is 1 hour and each service takes 1 hour, you'll only get one rotation.
Fix: Either extend your session length or shorten your services. 3 at a time with 3 hours gives you up to 9 dogs (with 1-hour services).
"Large dogs are still booking alongside small dogs"
Likely cause: Large and small dogs book the same service, which has one Spots used value.
Fix: Create a separate service for larger dogs and set its Spots used under Team & Resources → Advanced options → Places Used Per Booking.
"I want different services in different sessions"
Possible: Each session can restrict which services are available. Go to Schedules & Sessions → [Session] → Allowed Services.
Edit one session
Go to Schedules & Sessions
Select the team member or resource
Open the session
Set Start Time and End Time
Set Pets at a time
Optional: enter Label (Optional)
Turn Show on booking page on or off
Optional: turn on Same-family booking
Optional: turn on Fixed start times
Optional: set Services in this session and Which pets can book
Select Stage for Publishing, or Add {Session} when you are creating a new one
Session labels do not hide clock times
Show on booking page adds the session Label as a badge next to the clock, for example 9:00 AM plus "Morning Pick-ups". The clock stays.
That badge also wins over a service A message instead of a time. If customers should see Morning with no clock:
Leave Show on booking page off on the session.
On each service, open Duration & Timing → Times customers see (previously Service Windows) and select A message instead of a time.
Fixed start times on the session pins bookings to the session start. It still shows a clock unless the service uses A message instead of a time.
Split a session
You can split from the session editor or from the calendar split dialog.
From the session editor
Open the session
Turn on Split {Session}
Under Sub-{Session}s, set Start Time, End Time, and Pets at a time for each part
Select Stage for Publishing
From the split dialog
Open the session on the day you want to split
The dialog title is Split {weekday}'s Session
Review Original Session:
Under Sub-Sessions, set the parts
Check Split Preview
Select Split Session
Set a date-specific override
Open the session
Turn on Date-specific override
Set Start Date and End Date
Optional: tap Copy Hours from Another Day
Select Stage for Publishing
Batch create special dates
Go to Schedules & Sessions
Open special dates for the team member or resource
If none exist yet, tap Create Special Dates. If some already exist, tap New Special Dates
On Create special dates, tap Switch to Batch Mode
The dialog title becomes Batch create special dates
Set Week Start and Week End
Enter Create this many periods
Select Create {n} special date(s)
Quick Checklist
[ ] Working hours set (the container)
[ ] At least one session created (the structure)
[ ] Pets at a time set on each session
[ ] Test by creating a booking and checking availability
[ ] If using spot weights, configure them per service
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