For licensed dog breeders, record-keeping, policies, and logging activities are more than just administrative tasks—they are essential for compliance with licensing standards and ensuring animal welfare. While checklists have traditionally been used to manage these responsibilities, they often fall short, putting licences and breeder reputations at risk.
The Limitations of Checklists
Checklists provide a simple way to track administrative tasks, offering licensed breeders a set of tick boxes to complete. However, their simplicity can overlook critical legislative requirements:
- Not Detailed Enough – A simple tick on a list doesn’t capture essential details such as comprehensive health check records, behavioural diary notes, or general working environment requirements.
- Inadequate Documentation – Enforcement officers expect thorough logs, including dates, times, key tasks, and responsible persons. Basic checklists fail to provide the structure and detail required to demonstrate full compliance.
- Compliance Risks – Relying on checklists alone can lead to oversights, incomplete records, and potential breaches of breeding licence requirements, all of which can have serious consequences.
The Growing Need for a Modern Approach
The 2024 Post Implementation Review (PIR) of the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) Regulations 2018 has highlighted an important shift: local authorities and enforcement officers are increasingly requesting a more structured and streamlined approach to record-keeping.
Many licensed breeders have relied on paper checklists, spreadsheets, and basic tick-box applications to manage records. While these methods have worked to some extent, they often lack the level of detail now expected by local enforcement officers. As breeding licence regulations evolve, a more efficient and comprehensive record-keeping system is becoming essential to help breeders remain compliant.
With inspections becoming more rigorous, licensed breeders need to explore alternative methods to simplify their record-keeping and administrative tasks. Keeping up with legislative changes while ensuring compliance requires a system that allows for quick, accurate, and accessible records.
A Smarter, More Practical Approach
To support licensed breeders with record-keeping and administrative tasks, we continue to offer free paperwork, including checklists, policies, and assessments to help achieve breeding licence requirements. However, as regulations shift towards more structured compliance, it is clear that a more advanced and comprehensive system will be needed.
That’s why we have been listening to licensed breeders and developing Digital PawPrint—not as a quick fix, but as a long-term, structured, and evolving system. Designed to meet current breeding licence requirements while adapting to future regulation changes, Digital PawPrint ensures breeders remain compliant while simplifying administrative tasks.
Most importantly, it is the licensed breeders themselves who are shaping its future. Every feature and enhancement is influenced by real challenges and feedback from breeders, ensuring it remains a practical and compliant solution as expectations from local enforcement officers continue to evolve.
Final Thoughts
Although checklists have historically been useful for tracking daily tasks, they are no longer sufficient for meeting breeding licence requirements. As regulations tighten, licensed breeders need a more reliable and structured system to maintain compliance and secure their breeding licences.
Digital PawPrint bridges that gap, providing a streamlined and structured solution to help breeders stay organised, meet breeding licence regulations, and uphold the highest standards of animal welfare.
Email hello[@]licensedbreeder.co.uk or fill out our enquiry form here to get started!
