Creating a Daycare Reservation
The process is the same as a boarding reservation, but choose Full Day Daycare or Half Day Daycare as the Service Type, and set the check-in and check-out date to the same day. Choose a Daycare type space.
Online self-booking safeguards: When a client books daycare themselves through your online booking page, Goodstay protects you two ways. If the pet's vaccinations aren't compliant, the booking isn't silently let through — it's tagged with a "⚠️ STAFF REVIEW" note so your team can follow up, and the owner is warned at confirmation. And because availability is checked under a lock, two clients booking the last open spot at the same moment can never both succeed.
Daycare Board
The Daycare Board is a live operational view of all dogs booked for daycare today, grouped by their current status:
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| Expected | Confirmed daycare reservations that haven't arrived yet |
| Checked In | Dogs that have been checked in and are currently at daycare |
| Ready for Pickup | Dogs that are done for the day and waiting for their owner |
| Picked Up | Dogs that have been checked out and gone home |
Ready for Pickup
When a daycare dog is finished for the day, open the reservation and click Mark Ready for Pickup. The reservation moves to the "Ready for Pickup" column, and front desk staff know the dog is ready. To undo it, click Unmark Ready for Pickup.
Daycare Roster
The Daycare Roster view provides a printable attendance sheet for a selected date, showing all checked-in dogs with their names, breeds, and play group assignments.
Click the Download PDF button on the Daycare Roster to generate a PDF version for printing or archiving. The PDF includes the date, total count, and all dogs grouped by status.
Solo / Plays-Alone Dogs
Some dogs don't do well in a group setting and need to be kept by themselves. On the pet profile, set the Play Group preference to Plays Alone / Solo. Once that preference is set, the dog is highlighted in amber wherever it appears on the Daycare Roster.
That amber highlight is a visual cue for your staff: this dog should not be placed into a group space with other dogs. Set it up at intake and your team won't have to remember which dogs are solo — the roster shows them at a glance.
Where to set it: The Play Group preference lives on the dog's pet profile, not on the reservation. Update it there and every future roster reflects the change automatically.
Daycare Availability
The Daycare Availability view shows how many spots remain in each daycare group space for a given date range. This helps you see busy days at a glance and prevent overbooking.
Recurring Daycare Schedules
For regular daycare clients who come on a fixed weekly schedule (e.g., "Buddy comes every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday"), Goodstay can automatically generate their reservations.
Creating a Recurring Schedule
- Go to Recurring Schedules in the navigation.
- Click New Recurring Schedule.
- Fill in:
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| Pet Owner & Pet | Search and select the client and their pet |
| Daycare Space | Select the daycare group space |
| Service Type | Full Day or Half Day Daycare |
| Days of Week | Check all applicable days (Monday, Tuesday, etc.) |
| Start Date | When the recurring schedule begins |
| End Date | Optional. Leave blank for an open-ended schedule. |
| Notes | Internal notes |
- Click Save. Goodstay immediately generates reservations for the next 4 weeks based on the selected days, skipping any dates that are already at capacity or blocked.
Auto-generation: A background job runs weekly to extend reservations for active recurring schedules, maintaining a rolling 4-week window.
Daycare Reminders: If enabled in your facility settings, automated reminder emails are sent to pet owners the evening before each recurring daycare day. See Notifications & Emails for details.
Managing a Recurring Schedule
From the schedule's detail page:
- Pause — Temporarily stops generating new reservations (existing future ones remain)
- Resume — Re-activates a paused schedule
- Cancel — Permanently cancels the schedule and all future pending/confirmed reservations
- Cancel an Occurrence — Cancel a specific date without affecting the entire schedule
Recurring Schedule Calendar
The Calendar view shows all recurring schedules in a month-view calendar. Click any date to see which recurring clients are booked for that day.
Attendance Tracking
The Attendance view shows historical attendance for recurring schedules, including any no-shows. Staff can mark no-shows and resolve them with a policy.
Daycare Packages
Daycare packages let clients pre-purchase bundles of daycare days at a discounted rate, similar to a punch card.
Package Types
| Package | Days Included | Typical Pricing |
|---|---|---|
| 5-Day Package | 5 days | ~$150 ($30/day) |
| 10-Day Package | 10 days | ~$275 ($27.50/day) |
| 20-Day Package | 20 days | ~$500 ($25/day) |
You can set custom pricing for each package type in your facility settings.
Selling a Package
- Go to Daycare Packages → New Package.
- Select the pet owner and package type.
- Enter the price paid (defaults to your configured price but can be adjusted).
- Set an optional expiration date.
- Click Save. An invoice is automatically generated for the package purchase.
How Packages Are Used
When creating a daycare reservation, if the pet owner has an active, usable daycare package:
- The reservation can be set to deduct from package instead of being invoiced normally.
- The package's remaining days counter decrements automatically.
Packages automatically change status to Depleted when all days are used, or Expired if they pass the expiration date.
Balance Notifications: When a package is running low (5, 2, or 0 days remaining), an automated email is sent to the pet owner. See Notifications & Emails for details.
Package Settings
Go to Daycare Packages → Package Settings to configure pricing for each package tier (5, 10, and 20-day) and whether packages are enabled at your facility.