An intake form the client fills in, not you

What the client fills in

The form has a part for the person and a part for each of their dogs. Anything already on file is filled in for them, so a regular only fixes what has changed.

• About them: name, mobile, email and home address.
• In case of emergency: a contact name and phone number.
• For each dog: birthday, the date its rabies vaccine expires, allergies, medications, and a box for anything you should know, such as sensitive spots, nerves or how it does with the dryer.
• Texting: an optional box to agree to appointment texts about their visits with your shop.

The dogs on the form are the ones already on the client's record, so the client cannot add a new dog through it. Add the dog to the client first, then send the link.

Where the answers go

Pressing Send updates the record straight away, without a step where you approve each change, so look it over the next time you open the client. A blank field never wipes what you have: a client who skips the allergies box leaves the allergy you wrote down in place.

• Name, mobile, email, address and emergency contact go on the client's page, along with the date the form was last filled in.
• Birthday, allergies, medications and notes go on each dog's profile.
• The rabies date goes into the dog's vaccination list, updating its rabies entry or adding one, so it counts toward the dashboard's tally of vaccines expiring soon.

Texting consent from clients who never book online

Your booking page asks for texting consent, but a client you book by phone never sees that page, so FurSlot has no permission to text them. Your intake link is the other way in. The box starts unticked, says plainly that the texts are appointment reminders and related messages, and tells the client that leaving it unticked still gets them email reminders.

Consent belongs to a phone number. If the client puts a new mobile on the form and leaves the box unticked, FurSlot treats the new number as not agreed. Ticking it records the time they agreed, and a client who later replies STOP is switched off as usual. The texting program page shows the wording clients agree to.

Sending the intake link

Open the client and find the intake form card, which has three buttons. One emails the link from FurSlot, at most once a minute per client and only when you have their email address. Another opens a text on your own phone with a short message and the link already written. The third copies the link for anywhere else.

You can send it again whenever you like, at the start of a season or when a dog turns senior, and the client sees their current details each time. The link keeps working and needs no login, because it belongs to that one client.

Intake form and agreements are separate

The intake form collects facts: phone numbers, a backup contact, health notes. Agreements collect signatures on your release, consent and policy forms, through a separate link, so you can send one without the other. If you want health answers on record under the client's signature, the health, age and behavior starter in digital waivers and agreements asks similar questions as a signed form.

For the questions worth asking beyond these fields, see our guide on what a grooming intake form should ask.

Limits of the intake link

• The fields are fixed. You cannot add your own questions to it, though you can ask them in an agreement.
• No new dogs, photos or vaccination certificates come in through the form.
• Rabies is the only vaccine on it. Add the others on the dog's profile.
• No weight, breed or coat type. You set those on the dog's profile.
• FurSlot does not send the link by itself after a booking.

Questions about the intake link

Does the client need an account or an app?

No. The link opens in the phone's web browser with your shop's name at the top, and it is private to that one client, so there is nothing to sign up for or download. It takes about two minutes, and anything you already have is filled in.

What if the client leaves a field blank?

Then what you already have stays. A blank field on the form never clears your record, so a client who skips the allergies box does not wipe the allergy you wrote down, while anything new they type replaces the old answer.

Can the intake form get me permission to text a client?

Yes, if they tick the box, which is optional and starts unticked. Ticking it records consent for the mobile number on the form, with the time, and FurSlot can then send that client appointment texts. A client who leaves it unticked gets email reminders only.

Can I add my own questions?

Not to the intake form, whose fields are fixed. For questions of your own, such as what the last groomer did with the coat, write an agreement with short or long answer questions and send its signing link as well.

Does it work for a client with three dogs?

Yes. Each dog already on the client record gets its own section with birthday, rabies date, allergies, medications and notes. A dog that is not on the record yet does not appear, so add it to the client before you send the link.