You're going to post the photo anyway. These five take exactly as long, and in three years they'll be worth far more than the photo.
Today half the internet will post a photo of their dog, and quite right too. We're going to post one as well.
But there's something the photo doesn't keep, and it takes exactly as long.
A weight on its own says nothing. Two weights a year apart say quite a lot — not to you, to your vet, who knows how to read them.
If you have scales at home: pick them up, weigh yourself, subtract. If not, write down the next one you're given at an appointment, the same day.
The difference between a photo and a record is the date.
Take one full-body, side on, in good light, where they're clearly visible. One a year, the same day, always the same way. In five years you'll have something no app could have given you if you start tomorrow.
And it has a less charming, very real use: if they're ever lost, that's the photo that helps find them. The blurry face against the sofa isn't.
Length (nose to base of tail), height (floor to head, standing) and width (at the widest point).
Two minutes, and it means buying a carrier, harness, bed or kennel without guessing. We went into it here, because it's the detail most people go looking for exactly when there's no time left.
None of this is on any card and no clinic has it:
It looks trivial right up until the weekend someone else looks after them. Then it's worth a fortune, and it can't be improvised over WhatsApp from an airport.
If you already have it written down, skip this one.
If not — and most people don't — today is a perfectly appropriate day to put it in writing. It's the anniversary that's actually yours to keep, and it's the starting point for everything else you record.
Because records don't get started on a random Tuesday. They get started when there's a reason, and today there's one.
Five things, fifteen minutes, once a year. You're posting the photo regardless — just don't let it be the only thing that survives.
If the rest of the history is missing and you don't know where to begin, start here.
Because nearly everything known about a dog lives in one person's head, and that's a fragile place to keep something important.
Today in Maskotis you can register your pet and keep their details, photos and care events there, with dates.
Happy World Dog Day. Post the photo — and date it.
Maskotis does not give medical recommendations and this article is not a substitute for a veterinary consultation. Take them to the vet you trust, or to the nearest clinic — they'll help you there.
It isn't a fight with an obvious winner. Paper wins at the counter; the app wins in month fourteen, when nobody remembers. The honest thing is knowing when each one wins.
You walk out with a full head and ten minutes later half of it is gone. The six things worth writing before you start the car, and the questions that make sure there's something to write.
It sounds like a step backwards and it isn't. There are four specific moments where paper wins, which is why printing is part of the product rather than an accessory.
