# Best Format for Keeping Notes



## Gus Pineda (Jul 2, 2013)

Particularly for those that breed, or those that are simply very inquisitive into what they own, is there a particular format that has worked for you as far as taking notes on dogs related to yours? When you start adding notes on litter-mates, half siblings, siblings of parents, etc. things can get very messy very quickly, I'm sure there must be a best-practice format out there that can make it easy to take notes on dogs and yet friendly to browse.


----------



## rick smith (Dec 31, 2010)

what do you mean by "format" ??

what works for me doesn't really have anything to do with format. 
- it is simply getting into a habit of kicking back at the end of a day and typing up some simple notes on what happened. i use "My" note language which i can interpret later or write out in longer form
- then i date, copy and paste to my Mac. in a folder with the dog's name. simple.
- i don't see it as a format problem but more of a "too lazy to take the time to write it" problem. as in "content" more than the "format" of the content //lol//
- for me, if more than two days go by with no notes, it quickly becomes a hassle

since i board dogs that the owner will not see for days on end, i don't wanna rely on my memory, which sucks anyway, and doing it this way is super quick and easy once the habit is established
- don't see why it wouldn't work for breeders too

but since i don't know what you mean by format, my response might be worthless to you ....


----------



## Matt Vandart (Nov 28, 2012)

You ever heard of smaf?


----------



## Gus Pineda (Jul 2, 2013)

Matt, have not heard of smaf. Is it a program?

Rick, specifically I'm wanting to document info specific to the line I have. Say, I want to document siblings and litters, in a way in which it is also visually easier to detect trands. Normal Ped is ok for dogs ancestors, but when you want to add in more stuff, it makes it difficult to keep it visual. I saw a format recommended in a "Controlling Canine Genetic Diseases" book, which requires a large notebook to keep all the circles and lines and also have space to write, but not sure if there is something else. Something that can be done via pc even better.


----------



## Selena van Leeuwen (Mar 29, 2006)

Memory...that's what we work with ;-)


----------



## Matt Vandart (Nov 28, 2012)

Gus Pineda said:


> Matt, have not heard of smaf. Is it a program?
> 
> Rick, specifically I'm wanting to document info specific to the line I have. Say, I want to document siblings and litters, in a way in which it is also visually easier to detect trands. Normal Ped is ok for dogs ancestors, but when you want to add in more stuff, it makes it difficult to keep it visual. I saw a format recommended in a "Controlling Canine Genetic Diseases" book, which requires a large notebook to keep all the circles and lines and also have space to write, but not sure if there is something else. Something that can be done via pc even better.


ah no, smaf is a training language, I know someone that almost definitely does this, or could do it in no time (what you want) but it's up to her to chip in, she tends to keep herself to herself tbh. I would say make an XL spreadsheet myself.


----------



## Gus Pineda (Jul 2, 2013)

yeah, I'm leaning towards excel as well. As with all detailed XL spreadsheets, will be a pain to start from scratch, if I get to the point where it looks nice and is useful/practical I'll share it here.


----------



## Matt Vandart (Nov 28, 2012)

Lets hope it gets to the point where it looks nice and is useful/practical then! 
Nice one dude


----------

