Direct answer: Run meet & greets on lead in a controlled, staged way, record clear objective observations immediately and decide Accept, Conditional Accept or Refuse based on safety, health and your insurer and local authority rules.
Before the meet & greet: pre-screen checklist
- Ask the owner to email or bring: vaccination records, microchip number, any diagnoses, medication instructions and current medication, and emergency contact details. Note: what your licence or insurer requires may differ; check first.
- Key questions to answer in advance — ask the owner to confirm in writing: recent bites, known dog or human aggression, recall reliability, reactivity to food, toys or kennels, housetraining, and any separation anxiety.
- Arrival instructions: arrive at agreed time, keep the dog on a secure lead and with a flat collar or harness that cannot slip, no retractable leads, and do not feed treats in the car before entry unless you agree it in advance.
- Ask the owner to remain near the vehicle if you prefer not to mix handlers; avoid having the owner physically handle your resident dogs unless a second trained person is present and your insurer allows it.
Preparing your home and resident dogs
- Create safe zones: a fully separated room or crate area for the visitor dog, visual separation options and full physical separation. Some dogs cope better with visual contact, others find it stressful — judge per dog not by habit.
- Plan separation methods: doors, baby gates, solid barriers and separate exits. Avoid relying on owners to hold dogs while you handle others.
- Staff positioning: at least two people is best for introductions. If you are single-handed, stage only on-lead assessments and postpone any close handling that requires a second person. Do not ask owners to assist with handling unless this is explicitly allowed by your insurer and the owner is instructed and supervised.
- Remove hazards and tempting resources: food, chew toys, beds, towels and anything the dogs might guard. Put medication, cleaning chemicals and laundry out of reach.
Step-by-step meet & greet procedure
- Arrival checks: confirm transferred documents, check microchip matches ID if required by you or your licence, visual health check from a distance (cough, limp, discharge), and confirm owner answers about aggression and medical history.
- Initial on-lead meeting: keep both dogs on flat collars or secure harnesses and short leads. Let dogs approach with loose body language. Keep interaction brief and calm. Watch for stiffening, intense staring, growling, pinned ears, hackles or sudden freeze.
- Parallel walk: walk the dogs side by side with a gap between them for several minutes, changing direction and keeping the pace even. Parallel walks reduce face-to-face tension.
- Short supervised off-lead trial only if safe and allowed: before any off-lead time, check your insurer and local authority rules — many exclude or prohibit off-lead trials. If allowed and both dogs showed relaxed body language, try a very short off-lead period in a securely fenced area with two handlers. Stop immediately at the first sign of tension.
- When to stop: stop the meet & greet and separate calmly if you see repeated snarling, lunging, sustained freezing, one dog consistently constraining the other, hard bites or if any handler feels unsafe.
What to observe and record
Record objective facts not interpretations. Note times, behaviours and your interventions.
- Behavioural indicators: tail position and movement, ear carriage, body posture (loose vs stiff), play bows, lip licking, yawning, growling, snarling, snapping, tooth contact, mouthing, and biting. Use exact words like “growled at 14:12 when resident approached food bowl.”
- Health and mobility: limping, coughing, sneezing, lethargy, visible wounds, difficulty getting up, diarrhoea. Note onset and owner statements.
- Resource guarding signs: stiffening at food or toys, freezing over bowls, snapping when approached, grabbing food then running. Record context: “guarded bowl 14:20 — resident dog on nearest side.”
- Timing and sequence: record what happened first and what you did. Example: “14:05 owner exited car. 14:07 on-lead sniffed resident, loose wag. 14:10 stiffened, low growl when resident moved closer. Separated at 14:11.”
Meet & greet template: introducing a client’s dog to your resident dogs — questions, observations and record fields (template)
Note: all fields below are suggested working items. Check your licence, insurer and local authority for mandatory fields and retention rules. Keep owner-signed consents separate and dated.
Owner and dog details (suggested)
- Owner name, phone, email
- Emergency contact
- Dog name, breed, age, sex, neutered/spayed (optional)
- Microchip number (optional — check licence/insurer)
- Vaccination status: date of last vaccines and record seen Y/N
Pre-meet questions to ask and record (suggested)
- Has this dog bitten or shown sustained aggression to dogs or people? Y/N — details
- Any current medications or recent vet treatment? Y/N — details
- Food or toy guarding? Y/N — details
- Recall and lead manners
- Any behaviour triggers (bikes, scooters, children)?
- Owner confirms consent for emergency vet treatment if needed — owner to sign and date (note: written consent is good practice but may not substitute for veterinary or legal requirements)
Meet & greet observations and tick list (time-stamped)
- Arrival time: __________
- Initial health check: clear / cough / limp / discharge / other — note details
- On-lead interaction: relaxed / wary / stiffened / growled / snapped — times
- Parallel walk: relaxed / pulled / reactive — times
- Off-lead trial attempted: yes/no — location and duration
- Resource guarding observed: yes/no — context
- Bites or teeth contact: yes/no — describe severity, first aid given, vet advised
- Final decision: Accept / Conditional Accept / Refuse
- Notes and next steps (owner to sign): __________
Decision, communication and next steps
Record your decision and the reasons in plain language. Keep copies for inspections and data protection compliance.
- Accept: note any monitoring requirements and health checks on arrival. Example wording to owner: “Based on today’s meet & greet we can accept X subject to no changes in behaviour. We will continue close monitoring on arrival.”
- Conditional Accept: attach written conditions and get the owner to sign and date. Example conditions: “dog must be walked separately, no access to communal toys, medication to be administered by staff, additional meet scheduled before full integration.”
- Refuse: give a clear reason and offer alternatives if possible. Example: “We won’t be able to board X due to risk of escalation with our resident dogs after the meet & greet.”
Handling bites and injuries — quick escalation checklist
- Separate dogs calmly using barriers not hands. If anyone is bitten, apply basic first aid and control bleeding. For deep wounds seek urgent veterinary care.
- Record exact events, take photographs of injuries if safe, note time and witnesses.
- Contact owner, advise seeking veterinary care and follow your insurer’s incident reporting procedures immediately.
- Retain the injured dog’s area for inspection and hygiene; deep clean and disinfect afterwards and log the cleaning.
Record keeping, data protection and inspections
- Store records securely in line with UK GDPR: encrypted digital storage or locked physical files, access limited to authorised staff.
- Keep retention periods consistent with your local authority or insurer guidance. Do not assume any retention period in this template is mandatory.
- File meet & greet notes, signed consent forms and incident reports so they are easy to retrieve for inspections or insurer requests.
Final note: this is practical guidance not legal advice. Check your insurer policy wording, licence conditions and any professional advice for your nation and local authority before running meet & greets, especially for off-lead trials or owner involvement in handling. Do the paperwork thoroughly, keep calm under pressure and trust clear notes — future headaches are usually avoided by good records, not luck. A little structure now saves a lot of stress later.