How to keep behavior case records you can share with a vet

Start with a full intake

The intake is the baseline: health, medications, triggers, bite history and the client’s goals. Date it, and keep earlier answers when clients update them, so you can show what changed and when.

Log incidents as they happen

Ask clients to report incidents soon after they happen, while the details are fresh. A useful incident record answers the same questions every time:

• When and where it happened.
• Who and what was involved: people, dogs and other animals.
• What happened just before.
• What the dog did, described as behavior rather than labels.
• How it ended, and whether anyone was hurt.

Record observations, not conclusions

Write what you saw and measured: distances, durations, body language and recovery time. Avoid diagnoses and guesses about the dog’s state of mind in shared records. A vet can work with “ears back, mouth closed, turned away and froze for three seconds” in a way they can’t with “anxious”.

Keep goals and progress visible

Write down the case’s goals in measurable terms, such as walking past another dog at a set distance without lunging, and score progress at each session. A short timeline of goals, scores and incidents makes a case easy to understand at a glance.

Separate private notes from shared history

Your working thoughts belong in private notes. The history you share with a vet or another professional should be factual and dated. Share it only with the client’s permission, and note when and with whom you shared it.