The Complete Puppy School Setup Checklist
You're not booking appointments. You're filling class spots. Six puppies need to be 8-16 weeks old. The class runs for six weeks. This guide walks you through Petboost Courses.
Quick Setup Checklist
Course Template Setup:
- Create Puppy School service (for template)
- Set lesson count (e.g., 6 lessons)
- Set recurrence (weekly)
- Set capacity (e.g., 8 puppies)
Eligibility Setup:
- Set age restrictions (8-16 weeks)
- Configure vaccination requirements
- Set enrolment cutoff date
Resources Setup:
- Create training room/area as resource
- Assign to course service
Publishing:
- Go to Courses → New → Publish New Course
- Select template and start date
- System generates all lesson dates
Self-Service Setup:
- Enable self-service enrolment
- Share course booking link
1. Course Templates: Design Once, Publish Many
The Problem
Creating a new puppy school class is tedious. You're making six or eight separate appointments, manually linking them together, remembering which day of the week, which time, which room. Do this for every class cohort and it's hours of admin per month.
How Petboost Solves It
Course template creation — Define the structure once.
Lesson configuration — Number of lessons, topics per lesson.
Duration and frequency — Weekly, twice weekly, etc.
Publishing a new instance — Template to real dates in seconds.
Pro tip: The magic moment is publishing. You pick a start date, Petboost generates all the lessons with real dates. What used to take 20 minutes takes 10 seconds.
The Outcome
Design your class structure once. Every time you run a new cohort, publish with real dates in seconds.
2. Age and Capacity Limits: Automatically Enforced
The Problem
Puppy school is age-restricted. An 18-week-old dog shouldn't be in a class designed for 8-16 week puppies. They're developmentally different, and it's not fair to anyone. But checking ages manually at every enrolment?
How Petboost Solves It
Age eligibility rules — 8-16 weeks required at course start.
Automatic enforcement — Ineligible puppies can't enrol.
Capacity per course instance — 6 spots, 8 spots, configurable.
Enrolment blocking at capacity — Course auto-closes when full.
Waitlist option — Capturing demand beyond capacity.
Pro tip: Create multiple courses with different age brackets: "Puppy Foundations" for 8-16 weeks, "Adolescent Class" for 4-8 months. The system routes dogs to the right class automatically.
The Outcome
Age eligibility and capacity are enforced automatically. No manual checking, no awkward rejections.
3. Enrolment Management and Cutoff Dates
The Problem
You can't add a puppy to week 4 of a 6-week program. They've missed foundational content. But without a cutoff, clients try to enrol late, and you're having the same conversation repeatedly.
How Petboost Solves It
Enrolment cutoff dates — Block new signups after X date.
Course instance states — Open, In Progress, Completed.
Automatic state transitions — System knows when a course is running.
Visibility controls — Past courses archived automatically.
Pro tip: Set your cutoff one week after the first class. This gives late-deciders a chance while still maintaining class cohesion.
The Outcome
Cutoff dates handle the "can I still join?" question automatically. The answer is either yes (course is open) or no (enrolment closed).
4. Attendance Tracking Per Puppy
The Problem
Who was at class last week? Did the Border Collie miss week 3? Without tracking, you're relying on memory, which doesn't scale.
How Petboost Solves It
Per-lesson attendance — Mark who showed up.
Absence tracking — See patterns across the course.
Makeup class options — Note if a puppy is attending makeup.
Completion certificates — Based on attendance thresholds.
Pro tip: Some schools require 4 of 6 classes for a completion certificate. Petboost tracks this automatically. The system knows who qualifies.
The Outcome
Complete attendance records for every puppy, every lesson. Documentation that supports completion decisions.
5. Complete Education History Per Puppy
The Problem
A client comes back. They did puppy school two years ago, now they want adolescent classes. Can you see what they did? What was covered? How the puppy performed?
How Petboost Solves It
Course history in pet profile — Every class visible.
Lesson-by-lesson timeline — Attendance and notes per lesson.
Cross-course view — See all programs a pet has completed.
Notes from instructors — Searchable across courses.
Pro tip: This becomes your educational transcript. When a client asks "what did we cover in puppy school?", you can tell them exactly. It builds trust and demonstrates professionalism.
The Outcome
Every pet has a complete education history. Every class they've taken, every lesson attended, every note captured.
Key Stats for Puppy Schools
- Design once, publish many with course templates
- Automatic age enforcement — 8-16 weeks
- Capacity management with waitlists
- Digital attendance for every lesson
Start Your Free Trial
If this matches how you want to run puppy school, start your free trial at business.petboost.com/register. No credit card required, no sales call needed.
