Recording a pickup contact change during the day

Log the change on the dog's record the moment you hear it, and note who gave you the new contact. A pickup contact change is a small edit with a large consequence: the person at the door at 5:30 needs to match the record. Write the change in the owner's household record, add a dated desk note, and confirm the new contact back to the person who told you, so a misheard phone number gets caught before pickup.

Write the change where pickup is checked

Put the new name and number in the household's pickup contacts, not only in a sticky note or a margin. If the old contact should stay on file but not be used today, mark it as not for today's pickup rather than deleting it. Deleting loses history; a dated note keeps it.

A sample desk entry

Illustrative, invented details:

• Before: Household "Nakamura", pickup contacts: "Rae Nakamura, mobile ending 4417." Desk note: none.
• Call at 11:20: Rae says her sister, "Jun Okada," will collect the dog today. Number given: a mobile ending 0932.
• Action: Add Jun Okada as a pickup contact for today, read the number back, add desk note: "11:20, Rae authorized sister Jun for today only, number read back."
• After: At pickup, the desk checks the name and number against the note and the household record before releasing the dog.

What you can verify: the note carries a time, the authorizing person, and the number as read back.

When the caller is not the owner

If someone other than the owner calls with a new pickup contact, do not edit the record on that call alone. Take the details, write them as a pending note, and refer the change to an authorized person before pickup. A pending note is clearly labeled so nobody treats it as approved.

Keep the old contact visible until close

Leave the previous contact in place until the dog goes home, then tidy the record. That way, if the new contact does not arrive, the desk can still reach someone known. The change you can see at the end of the day is a household record with a dated pickup note and a confirmed number, rather than a verbal instruction held in someone's memory.

Related: Dog Daycare Manager features.