Switching dog daycare software without losing a booking
Short answer
Export your customers, pets, bookings and payments before you give notice, and keep both systems open side by side for a few weeks. Take new bookings in the new system from one fixed date, and let the bookings already made in the old one finish there. Plan for owners adding their card again, because none of the eight systems we checked documents a way to move saved cards.
Which system are you on?
Each guide gives the exact screens, file types, notice period and what does not come out, checked against that company's own help pages.
- Wix BookingsWix needs four separate downloads, and you can keep your Wix website.
- Revelation PetsCustomers and pets come out in one file, so export it before you cancel.
- Pet Sitter PlusClients download as a CSV, and you ask by email for the pet records.
- CollarClients and pets come out in one file, but check your notice date first.
- KennelBookerCustomers export from Reports, and you ask by email for your bookings.
- ProPetCustomers, pets and bookings come out of one export screen as Excel files.
- My Pet WalkerThere is a clients export in the app, and a CSV of everything if you ask in writing.
- GingrYou can take a full backup and CSV exports, and Gingr wants 60 days' notice.
Exports and notice at a glance
| System | Customers and pets | Bookings | Notice to leave |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wix Bookings | CustomersContacts as CSV. Dog details from form submissions | BookingsBooking List as CSV | NoticeKeep your website and delete the Bookings pages |
| Revelation Pets | CustomersOne CSV from Customers, Tools | BookingsBookings Report to Excel | NoticeNone. Cancelling takes effect straight away |
| Pet Sitter Plus | CustomersClients as CSV. Full pet records on written request | BookingsCSV or PDF from the Schedule | NoticeMonthly, cancel at any time |
| Collar | CustomersOne CSV from Pets | BookingsCSV or PDF, confirmed bookings only | NoticeTerms ask for 3 months before the end of your term. Check My Plan |
| KennelBooker | CustomersCustomer list to Excel or CSV from Reports | BookingsNo export documented. Ask in writing | Notice24 hours before your payment date. Changes in writing 2 days before billing |
| ProPet | CustomersExcel, from Tools, Export Data | BookingsExcel, from the same screen | NoticeMonthly plans to the end of the cycle. Annual plans to the end of the term |
| My Pet Walker | CustomersA pets and clients export in the app. A CSV on written request | BookingsOn written request | NoticeNo notice period stated. Cancel in the app |
| Gingr | CustomersCSV from View All Owners, and a full database backup | BookingsCSV by date range | NoticeWritten notice 60 days before renewal |
Before you give notice
Read your contract or terms and work out the last day you can give notice. Gingr asks for 60 days before renewal and Collar's terms ask for 3 months. Pet Sitter Plus goes month to month, and Revelation Pets has no notice period at all.
Your system's guide, linked above, has the notice rules and where to find your own dates.
Take your customers, pets, bookings, invoices, payments and memberships, and every dog's vaccination dates and certificates. Do it while your account is open, because several systems say they may delete your data once you cancel. Future bookings matter most, because they tell you every regular day you need to set up again.
Chat history, photos, report cards and the record of owners agreeing to your terms had no export in most of the help centres we read. Save the ones you need one at a time, and ask your owners to agree to your terms again in the new system.
Add your services, prices, opening days and daily limits before any owner sees it.
Bring them in from your export, with invites switched off, so nobody gets an email before you are ready.
Switch day
A quiet week works better than a bank holiday or the weeks before Christmas.
From your switch date, every new booking goes in the new system. Leave bookings already made in the old system to finish there, so nobody has to rebook a day they have already paid for.
Send this, with your own details filled in, then invite everyone to the new portal.
Hi [name], from [date] we are moving our bookings to a new system. You will get an email from us with a link to set up your account. Please check [dog]'s details and add your card there when it arrives. Your bookings before [date] stay exactly as they are. Thank you for bearing with us, and see you and [dog] soon.
Card details are normally held by the payment company, such as Stripe or Square, and not by the booking system. Even so, none of the eight systems we checked documents a way to move saved cards, and Gingr says plainly that cards on file cannot be migrated. Plan for every owner who pays online to add their card again.
After the switch
Collar says client memberships don't always stop by themselves, and Revelation Pets, Wix and Gingr each explain how to cancel them one by one. Stop each one before the first payment is due in the new system, so no owner pays twice.
Cancel once its last booking has passed and your exports are safe. Keep the files, because you may need them for your accounts or a licence inspection.
Good to know
What happens to Direct Debits
If you already collect Direct Debit through GoCardless, those mandates don't carry over, because Genera is a new system. Owners set up a new one, and Genera asks them to do it before their first booking.
Your customers' details are your records
Under UK GDPR, you decide what happens to your customers' details, so you are the data controller, and the software company processes the data for you. The terms or privacy pages of all eight systems we checked say the data belongs to you, that you are the controller, or that they process it on your behalf.
If something you need is not in an export, ask the company in writing for a copy and keep their reply. Once you have your exports, keep them somewhere secure, and delete copies you no longer need.
Ask your next system how you would leave
Whatever you move to, ask two questions before you sign up. How do I export my customers, pets and bookings? How much notice would I give?
At Genera there is no contract, and cancelling is a conversation with us rather than a button. Your owners and dogs are your data, and you can download them from your account to take with you.
We move you over
Bring your customers into Genera
We built Genera to look after Duncan's Dog Co, our licensed daycare in Surrey. This is how the move works.
- 1You upload your export yourself.Inside your Genera account, you bring in owners and their pets from a CSV file, with names, contact details, address, breed, date of birth, microchip and notes. You can download a template that shows the columns, so nobody has to type every dog in again.
- 2Nobody gets an email until you are ready.Owners go in without a portal invite. When you want them on board, one button invites everyone who hasn't got access yet.
- 3You keep your old system going for a month.Take real bookings in Genera before you give notice. The 30 day free trial has every feature switched on, with no card to start.
- 4Bookings start in Genera.Owners and pets come across, and bookings don't, so each owner books their regular days in Genera once they have their invite.
- 5Payments go to you.Owners pay by card or Direct Debit through your own Stripe or GoCardless account, whichever you switch on, or by bank transfer. Direct Debits don't move across from another system. If you switch Direct Debit on, owners set it up before they can make their first booking, so there are no reminders to chase.
Plans are £50, £75 or £99 a month, with no setup fee and no contract.
A hand with the file? Email help@generasoftware.com
Questions people ask
QHow long should I keep both systems going?
QDo I lose my booking history when I switch?
QWill owners have to set up their account again?
QCan I move my Direct Debits?
QWhich step matters most at the end?
Duncan
Founder of Genera and owner of Duncan's Dog Co
Duncan has run Duncan's Dog Co, a licensed dog daycare in Surrey, since 2011. Genera is the software he built to run it, shaped by what actually works day to day, not theory.