Dog Training Progress Report: What to Include (Free Template)

Week five. The owner texts: "Is this even working? He still pulls when he sees a squirrel."

He does still pull at squirrels. He also walks past other dogs now, which he couldn't do in week one. The owner has just forgotten where they started.

A progress report fixes that. It puts "then" and "now" side by side so the owner can see what their money bought, and it makes the next package an easy yes. Here's what to include and a template you can copy.

Progress Report vs. Session Summary

A session summary covers one session: what you worked on, how it went, and the homework. A progress report steps back and looks across several sessions: where the dog started, where they are now, and what comes next.

Good moments to send one:

• Partway through a program, when it's easy for owners to lose sight of how far they've come
• At the end of a package, right before you suggest the next one
• At the end of a group class, as a send-off for every dog

What to Include

• The basics: dog, owner, and the sessions or dates the report covers.
• The goals: what you agreed to work on, ideally in the owner's own words from your intake form.
• Skills, then and now: each skill with a starting score and a current score.
• Wins, in real life: two or three specific moments. "Walked past the neighbor's dog without lunging" beats "good progress on reactivity".
• What's still hard: be honest. It builds trust and sets up the next step.
• The focus for next time: homework or priorities for the coming weeks.
• Your recommendation: another package, a group class, or a check-in session.

Keep it to one page. Owners skim, and the point is the before-and-after.

How to Score Skills So Progress Is Clear

Scores only mean something if they're consistent. A simple 1–5 scale with a plain description for each number works well:

Add the conditions. A sit at home and a sit outside a busy café aren't the same skill. The AKC describes the "three Ds" of training: duration (how long the dog holds a behavior), distance (how far away you are) and distraction (what's going on around them). It also notes that dogs don't generalize well, which is why a behavior learned in the living room may fall apart at the park. A note like "Sit: 4 (holds 30 seconds, 10 feet away, in the backyard)" tells the owner exactly where things stand.

Not sure which skills to list? The AKC's Canine Good Citizen test is a useful reference for everyday manners. Its ten items include accepting a friendly stranger, walking on a loose lead, walking through a crowd, sit and down on cue and stay in place, coming when called, and reactions to other dogs and to distractions. Pick the ones that match the owner's goals, plus anything specific to their dog.

Free Dog Training Progress Report Template

Tips for Reports Owners Actually Read

Lead with the wins. The owner is wondering whether it's working. Answer that first, then get into what's still hard.

Use your session notes. If you scored skills in every session, the report almost writes itself: compare session 1 with your latest one. If your notes are thin, start there; better notes make keeping clients motivated between sessions much easier too.

Make the next step concrete. "I'd suggest a four-session package focused on walks near other dogs" is easier to say yes to than "let me know if you want to continue".

Talk it through. Send the written report, then spend a couple of minutes at the end of a session going over it. It's a natural moment to talk about what's next.

How Pawmand Builds the Progress Picture for You

• Training roadmaps per dog: the steps you're working towards, each with its skills.
• Session summaries with skill scores: notes, homework and scores, linked to the roadmap steps you worked on.
• Emailed to the owner after each session, and saved in their private owner portal.
• The owner portal shows their dog's progress, along with summaries, homework and invoices. No login needed.
• Group classes too: write the class notes and homework once, and they reach every owner who attended.

Because the scores and roadmap steps build up session by session, the before-and-after is already there when it's time for the progress conversation.