Dog training

The Trainer service adds dog-training to the same system your other services run on — the same clients, dogs, calendar, deposits, portal and staff app. Turn it on under Settings → Modules (or add it to your plan), then create your training services (1-2-1 sessions, puppy classes, recall, reactivity, courses) just like any other service.

Each dog gets a Training plan & goals box on its record — note what you’re working on and how it’s going (recall, loose-lead, reactivity, homework). It shows again on every session in the app, so you always pick up where you left off, and you log how the session went in the session’s Report notes.

Selling a block of lessons? Book a course as a recurring series (e.g. a 6-week puppy course) — it uses the same series engine as holiday cover, with one owner status page for the whole programme.

Example

A trainer runs 1-2-1 sessions and a weekly puppy class. Buster’s record says “recall 85% off-lead, still mouthing”; that plan pops up when the session opens, the trainer notes progress in the report card, and the owner gets a tidy summary.

FAQ

How do I turn training on?
Settings → Modules — tick Trainer (or tap the padlocked Trainer pill in the app to add it to your plan). A Trainer pill then appears alongside your other services, and the Trainer setup wizard shows on the Setup page.

Where do I set a dog’s goals?
On the dog’s record there’s a “🎓 Training plan & goals” box (shown when Trainer is enabled). Whatever you write there appears on every training session in the app.

Where do I record how a session went?
In the booking’s Report notes — the same report card every service uses. Update the dog’s plan on its record when goals change so next time is up to date.

Can I sell a multi-week course?
Yes — book it as a recurring series (like holiday cover). The whole block is grouped with one owner status page, and you can shift, assign or cancel the run together.

Do classes take more than one dog?
Yes — set the service’s “max pets” (e.g. 6 for a puppy class) just like a group walk, and the calendar shows spaces left.

How do I book several dogs into one class?
With the Trainer pill selected, tap Group class on the home screen. It works like the walker’s Group walk: pick the dogs (it flags any that shouldn’t be grouped), choose the class and time, and it creates one class session for the whole group. The “Group class” button only shows while Trainer is selected, and “Group walk” only while Walker is selected.

Does the client portal show training?
Yes. If you run Trainer, customers see a Trainer option when checking availability and requesting a booking, exactly like your other services.

How do I set up a class customers can join?
Go to Pet Central → Classes. Create a class with a name, (optional) training service, location, details, capacity (max dogs), a course price, and the schedule (first session + how many weekly sessions). Tick “Open for enrolment” and it appears in customers’ portals for them to join.

How do customers book onto a class?
In their portal they get a Classes tab showing classes they can join — price, places left, dates and location. They pick their dog and tap Book & pay for the course; the whole course is billed up front as one invoice, and their place is held. Their “Your classes” list then shows sessions left, dates, location, details and their dog’s progress.

How is a class billed?
Each dog is invoiced for the whole course up front at enrolment. The invoice appears in the customer’s portal (and is tagged to the Trainer service so it counts in your Trainer KPIs). You can also enrol a dog yourself from the Classes admin, which raises the same up-front invoice for the owner.

How do I update a dog’s progress in a class?
On Pet Central → Classes, open the class and edit the progress box next to each dog. The owner sees it in their portal. (For one-to-one work, use the dog’s training plan and the session report notes.)

Can I link a class to a venue I hire?
Yes. Under Pet Central → Classes add your Venues (name, address, and half-day / full-day hire rates). On a class set a default hire, then in the Sessions table override any individual session (half day, full day, or not hired). Pet Central totals the hire cost across sessions and a button logs it as a business expense (“Venue hire”). Customers see the venue name and address.

Can helpers run a class with me?
Yes. Set the default helpers (your team members) on the class, and override them per session in the Sessions table. They’re shown to customers as “with …”.

Can I reuse text for Covered / Homework?
Yes. Under Pet Central → Classes there’s a Covered & homework snippets box — add your common lines (one per line). In a class’s Sessions table, an “Insert…” dropdown next to each Covered / Homework box drops the snippet in, so you don’t retype it.

Can I track skills a dog has mastered?
Yes. On a class, list the Skills / commands it teaches (one per line). Each enrolled dog then gets a checklist in the Enrolled dogs table — tick what they’ve mastered, and the owner sees “X of Y mastered” in their portal.

Can I take a register / mark attendance?
Yes. Each class has an Attendance register — a grid of sessions × dogs where you mark Present / Absent / Excused. Owners see how many sessions their dog has attended.

Do owners get a completion certificate?
Yes. When every session of a course is done, each enrolled owner sees a “View certificate” button in their portal — a printable Certificate of Completion with the dog’s name, the class, the date, sessions attended and skills mastered, which they can print or save as a PDF.

What happens when a class is full?
Owners can join the waitlist from their portal instead of enrolling. You see the waitlist under the class in the admin; when a place frees up (e.g. you remove a dog), hit Enrol from waitlist to enrol them — which raises their up-front course invoice as usual.

Can owners fill in a training intake form?
Yes. Under Pet Central → Classes you can edit the Training intake questions. Owners answer them per dog in the Classes tab of their portal, and you see each dog’s answers under it in the class’s Enrolled dogs list.

Can I set entry requirements for a class?
Yes, per class: require a prerequisite class to have been completed, set a minimum/maximum age (in weeks), and/or require up-to-date vaccinations. These are checked when a customer (or you) enrol a dog; on the admin side you can tick “Override entry checks” to enrol anyway.

Can I sell blocks of private sessions (packages)?
Yes. Under Pet Central → Packages create a 1:1 sessions package (e.g. “6 private lessons”) with a price. The client buys it (from their portal, or you sell it to them), which raises one up-front invoice and credits their balance. As you deliver each session, hit Use 1 against their balance; both of you see the remaining count.

Can I sell a package of walks?
Yes. Under Pet Central → Packages create a Walk package (e.g. “10 walks”) with a price and, if you like, an expiry (e.g. 3 months for “use it or lose it”). The client buys it from their portal; then whenever you mark a walker booking Completed, one walk is drawn down automatically and that walk isn’t invoiced. The remaining count shows in their portal. When credits reach the low-balance alert number you set, the customer is emailed to top up, and a reminder goes out if credits are about to expire. On the Packages page you can choose whether a walk is drawn down when it’s Completed (default) or when it’s Booked — in booked mode, cancelling a walk refunds it to the balance.

Can I sell class passes / drop-in?
Yes. Create a Class pass package (e.g. a 10-class pass). Then on a class, tick “Let customers pay with a class pass”. Owners with credits can book that class by spending one credit instead of paying the course price.

How do customers pay for a package?
It’s billed up front, like a course: buying raises an invoice that appears in their portal to pay (Stripe marks itself paid; other methods you mark paid). The credits are usable immediately; you can always see who’s paid.

What happens to the waitlist when a place frees up?
Automatically: when you remove a dog and a place opens, the next person on the waitlist is emailed a time-limited offer (they get about 48 hours). They claim it from their portal; if they don’t in time, it rolls to the next person. You can still enrol from the waitlist by hand at any time.

Do graduates get a report?
Yes. When a course finishes, owners get a Graduation report in their portal alongside the certificate: the skills checklist (mastered vs still practising), attendance, your notes, and your recommended next class with a one-tap enrol. Set the next class on the class’s “Recommended next class” field.

Can I ask graduates for a review?
Yes. Add a Review link under Pet Central → Classes (e.g. your Google review URL); a few days after a course’s last session each owner is automatically emailed a short review request pointing there. Leave it blank to skip review requests.

Do owners get a booking confirmation or receipt?
Yes. When a dog is enrolled on a class the owner gets a booking confirmation email (dates, location, and a pay link or a “paid with a pass” note), and when they buy a package or pass they get a receipt. These send automatically as long as the client has an email address on file and your site can send mail.

How do I cancel a booking or refund someone?
On the class’s Enrolled dogs list, each dog has a Cancel place control where you choose what happens to the money: refund the invoice, void it (if unpaid), return a class-pass credit, or no billing change — and optionally notify the owner. When refunding you can enter a partial amount (leave it blank for a full refund); a partial refund keeps the invoice paid and just nets the refunded amount off your revenue. To call off a whole class, use Cancel this class (it cancels every booking, clears the waitlist and closes enrolment). For packages/passes, use the Cancel balance control on the client’s balances under Packages. Note: Pet Central records the refund against the invoice; you return the actual money in Stripe / your card reader / the bank.

Can I make packages or passes expire?
Yes. On the package (Pet Central → Packages) set Credits expire after N months (0 = never). Credits bought after that are dated, and once past their date they can’t be spent — they show as expired in the client’s balances and in their portal, with a “use by” date beforehand.

Do refunds show in my accounting package?
If you’ve connected an accounting package and the invoice had already been transferred there, refunding it raises a matching credit note automatically (supported for Xero today). For other packages the invoice is flagged “Credit note needed” in the Invoices list so you can raise one by hand.

Can I put my logo on the emails?
Yes — set a Site Icon in WordPress (Appearance → Customize → Site Identity) and it appears in the header of the branded emails. Otherwise the header just shows your business name.

How do I know reminders and offers are actually sending?
The Classes page shows a Daily job health box — when it last ran and when it’s next due. Session reminders, waitlist auto-offers and review requests all run through WordPress’s scheduler, which only fires when your site gets visits; if it looks stalled the box warns you, and you can press Run daily job now to process everything immediately. For a busy live site consider a real server cron hitting wp-cron.php.