Date, Time, Location

Record the exact time and place. "Around lunchtime in the yard" is not acceptable — "12:23, Exercise Yard B, kennel-side corner" gives inspectors confidence in your reporting accuracy.

Animals & People Involved

Name every animal and person. Include witnesses even if they didn't directly participate. This supports any future insurance claims or complaints.

Description

Write a factual narrative: what happened, in what order, what was observed. Avoid opinions ("the dog was being naughty") — stick to behaviours ("the dog lunged without warning and bit Max's left ear").

Immediate Response

What you did right away: separated animals, applied first aid, called vet, called owner. Inspectors want to see that you took immediate, appropriate action.

Root Cause Analysis

Why did it happen? Overcrowding? Incompatible dogs in the same group? Unsupervised play? This is where learning happens and where inspectors see professionalism.

Status tracking

Each incident moves through: Open → Investigating → Resolved → Closed. Only close an incident when all follow-up actions are complete AND you've reviewed whether it could happen again.

Vet referral

For Moderate+ severity, record whether a vet was consulted, the vet's advice, and any treatment given. Even a phone consultation counts — log it.

Corrective actions

What changes did you make? "Bella moved to solo walks only", "Maximum 3 dogs per play group", "Added CCTV to Exercise Yard B". These concrete actions show inspectors you learn from incidents.

Review date

Set a review date 1-4 weeks out. At review, check whether the corrective action worked and whether the incident pattern has changed. Close the incident only after review.