The records a service dog handler keeps are not carried to win arguments at shop doors. They exist because a working dog's life generates important paper — task training built over a long period, veterinary care that affects working fitness, insurance and identification details — and because the person who most often needs that paper quickly is the handler: at a new veterinary practice, after an incident, when planning travel, or when a trainer is helping solve a problem. Keeping them for yourself, organised and current, is a practical choice rather than a concession to anyone.
Training records that document the work itself
The most valuable training record is a simple, dated log of what your dog was taught and when it became reliable: the specific tasks he performs in response to your disability-related needs, described in plain functional terms, and the progression of his public-access skills — settling under a table, ignoring food on the floor, working calmly around crowds and other dogs. Note the trainer or programme involved if there was one, assessments passed, and any refresher training you do when a skill gets rusty.
Health records that affect a working dog
Keep the veterinary paperwork that bears on fitness to work: vaccination records, recent health check summaries, weight records over time, and results of any screening your breed or role calls for, such as eyes, hips or heart checks where your vet advises them. Add a clear note of ongoing conditions, allergies or previous reactions to medicines or anaesthetic, and the contact details for your usual practice and any specialists involved. For a working dog this file does extra duty — a vet seeing him for the first time before a busy working period, or an emergency clinic treating him away from home, can make better decisions faster when his history, current treatments and working role are all in front of them.
Identification and practical details in one place
Alongside training and health records, keep the unglamorous details that become urgent in a crisis: microchip number and registry contact, a clear recent photograph showing his markings and his working equipment, your emergency contact, and written instructions for who should care for him and how if you are ever incapacitated. Include how he should be handled by strangers, what he eats and when, and the tasks a carer should not ask of him.
A short summary page for genuine need
Distil the file into a one-page summary you control: dog's name, age and description, your vet's contact, emergency contact, current health notes and a brief description of the tasks he performs. This page is for the moments you choose to share information — registering with a new vet, arranging boarding in an emergency, briefing a trainer, or documenting an incident afterwards. Keeping the full file behind it means you can answer a legitimate need accurately without handing over his entire history to anyone who asks, and you decide, case by case, what a situation actually requires.
Keep the file current as his working life changes
A service dog's record should be reviewed whenever something material changes: a new task trained, a task retired as your needs change, a significant veterinary finding, a change in weight or fitness, or a move to a new practice. Retire outdated pages to an archive rather than deleting them, because the history of his training and health is itself useful evidence of his working life over time. Assembling the training log, health summary and identification details in KinsLe as a Pet Passport keeps the whole packet together and portable, ready for a vet visit, a journey or an emergency handoff whenever you decide it is needed.