You adopted a dog and know nothing about their past — where to start.

You brought them home at the weekend. Someone asked how old they are and you said "I don't know". Someone asked if they're vaccinated and you said "I think so". And somewhere between those two answers came the feeling that you're already behind on something.

You're not behind. You're without the paper, which is an entirely different thing — and it's fixable, starting today.

What you do know, and it's more than you think

With no history, the natural reaction is to feel you're at zero. You aren't. Before the first appointment you already have:

• The exact date they arrived at your house. It sounds like nothing. It's the most useful piece of information you'll have all year, and it's the reason the rest of this article works.
• Where they came from — a shelter, the street, a family, someone who could no longer keep them.
• What you were told at handover, even if it was in passing, at the door.
• What you've seen yourself these past few days. They eat, sleep, walk, play. You don't need to interpret any of it; writing it down is enough.

That isn't a complete history. It's the beginning of one, and it's yours already.

Ask whoever handed them over, while they're still answering

This is the window that closes fastest. In two weeks nobody replies, and in six months nobody remembers.

Message them today — text, not a call, so there's a written record:

"Hi, quick question about [name]: was anything given to them before I picked them up? Do you have a paper, receipt or photo of it? Do you know roughly when they were born? Anything you remember helps, even approximate."

Three things there are worth gold: a photo of any paper they have, the full name of whatever was given, and a date, even a rough one — but asked for as approximate, and recorded as approximate.

Shelters usually keep records. People usually have the receipt somewhere. If what you get is a blurry photo of a page, that's more than you had this morning. And if nothing survives, that's fine too — there's a way to rebuild what can be rebuilt, and it's the same thing you do when the card is lost.

The invented birthday (on purpose)

You're going to need a date of birth for all sorts of things, and you don't have one.

The answer isn't to leave that field empty for six years. It's to put in an estimated date and mark it as estimated. When your vet gives you an age estimate, turn it into an approximate date and write it like this:

Born (estimated): ~March 2024 · estimated by [name] on 20 May 2026.

That "estimated by, on this date" is what gives it value. An age estimate ages with time: the same "about two years old" means one thing today and something else in 2028. With who said it and when, it still works.

And yes, celebrate the birthday on that day. Nobody is going to audit it.

The questions for the first appointment

This is where most people arrive asking "what should I give them?". It's better to arrive with this, written in your phone's notes:

1. "Roughly how old would you say they are?"
2. "Given what they've already had — this is what I was told was given — what's missing, and in what order?"
3. "What dates should I write down for what comes next?"
4. "What's worth me writing down at home over these first few weeks?"

The fourth is the one almost nobody asks, and it's the one that turns the appointment into something that keeps working after you've left.

And to be plain about it: we're not going to tell you what to give them or when. We aren't vets and we don't know your dog. What we can do is get you there with the right questions, and make sure the answer doesn't evaporate.

What to write down on the way out

Receipt still in your hand, before you get in the car:

• Today's date.
• The estimated age, and who estimated it.
• What was given, full name, exactly as written.
• The next date, as they told it to you.
• Who saw them, and where.

If you want the full format for a line that still works in two years, it's here.

A year from now, this looks different

The part nobody tells you when you adopt: in twelve months, the dog with no history will have the most complete history on the street — because yours started being written on day one, deliberately, while almost everyone else's was written in pieces and lost in a house move.

You didn't start late. You started from zero, which is the only place it can be done properly.

Why we're building Maskotis

A dog who arrives with no papers needs exactly what we're building: a place where the history starts today and doesn't depend on anyone's memory. What a digital card is and isn't, we wrote here.

Today you can register your pet and keep their care events there, arrival date included. What we're working on is telling you when the date you were given is coming up; that isn't open yet.

In the meantime, the first step takes two minutes: write down the day they arrived.

---

Maskotis does not give medical recommendations and this article is not a substitute for a veterinary consultation. Your pet's age, what they need and when, is decided by the person who can examine them. Take them to the vet you trust, or to the nearest clinic — they'll help you there.