Your behavior documentation has gaps. Every one of them is a liability.

The Problem

Your behavior coordinator is doing heroic work — but the documentation system isn't keeping up. Daily observations live in a binder no one updates consistently. Incident reports get filed in an email thread. Bite documentation is wherever whoever filled it out decided to put it. And behavior plans? They exist — mostly in someone's head.

When a bite incident leads to a legal question, or a new staff member needs to understand an animal's history, or you need to show your board that behavior interventions are working — you need records you can actually rely on.

The chaos isn't a people problem. It's a systems problem.

The Solution: A Complete Behavior Documentation System

The Behavior Management Tracker is a structured Airtable base that connects every layer of your behavior program — from a volunteer's 2-minute daily check-in all the way through formal bite reports and phased behavior modification plans — in one searchable, linked system.

No more guessing where information lives. No more inconsistent documentation between staff members. No more starting a behavior plan from a blank page.

What This System Actually Does

Track Every Animal's Full Behavioral History

• Linked records across every table so you can open any animal's profile and see every observation, incident, bite report, and plan in one place

• Current behavioral status, supervision notes, and intake date — always current

• Every record stamped with who documented it and when

Daily Observations Built for Volunteers

• Quick form designed to take 2–3 minutes per animal — mood, appetite, activity level, notable behaviors

• "Flag for Incident Report" checkbox bridges the gap between a volunteer's note and a staff-level incident record — nothing slips through

• Set up a QR code in the kennel and your volunteer team is logging in minutes

Formal Incident Documentation for Staff

• Structured fields for triggers, severity, incident category, environmental context, actions taken, and animal response

• Supervisor review workflow built in so nothing gets approved without a second set of eyes

• Links directly to bite reports when teeth made contact

Legal-Grade Bite Report Documentation

• Dunbar Bite Assessment Scale (Levels 1 through 6, including 3A and 3B) for standardized severity classification

• Full documentation fields: wound description, body part affected, medical treatment received, rabies vaccination status

• Complete contact information fields for the person bitten

• Quarantine tracking with start and end dates

• Animal control reporting fields with reference number

• Auto-generated report title from animal name + bite date so records are easy to find fast

22 Pre-Built Behavior Plan Templates

• One-click templates for the most common shelter behavior challenges — resource guarding, kennel aggression, separation anxiety, sound sensitivity, leash manners, and more

• Each template includes pre-written goals, a phased intervention strategy, measurable success criteria, and clinical notes

• Fully editable — customize for the specific animal, then link to assigned staff and track progress through Follow-up Assessments

Follow-up Assessments That Close the Loop

• Structured progress evaluations tied to active behavior plans

• Track whether interventions are working and adjust strategies over time

• Review dates keep your behavior team on schedule

What Makes This Different

• A structured escalation path. Volunteer observation → flagged incident → formal report → behavior plan → follow-up. Every step is connected. Nothing gets lost between tables.

• Legally defensible bite documentation. Fields built around what shelters actually need to document — not just what's convenient to track.

• 22 record templates, ready to use. Your behavior team never starts from scratch. Open a template, link the animal, customize for context.

• Built for mixed teams. Volunteers get a simple form. Staff get structured documentation. The behavior coordinator gets the full picture.

• Everything links back to the animal. One click from any record to the full behavioral history.

What You Get

✅ Pre-Built Airtable Base with 7 Connected Tables:

• Animals — Central profiles linking to every behavioral record in the base

• Daily Observations — Volunteer-friendly form with incident flagging

• Behavior Incidents — Formal event documentation with supervisor review workflow

• Bite Reports — Legal-grade documentation with Dunbar scale, quarantine tracking, and animal control fields

• Behavior Plans — Structured intervention plans with 22 record templates included

• Follow-up Assessments — Progress tracking tied to active behavior plans

• Staff/Volunteers — Personnel records linking every observer and reporter to their records

✅ 22 Behavior Plan Record Templates Including:

• Decrease Fear of Handling · Reduce Resource Guarding · Reduce Kennel Aggression · Decrease Separation Anxiety · Reduce Sound & Storm Sensitivity · Improve Leash Manners · Increase Calm During Exams · Reduce Excessive Grooming · Increase Litter Box Use · and 13 more

✅ Five Pre-Configured Forms:

• Daily Operations Logging — Volunteer-friendly daily check-in form with the Flag for Incident Report checkbox built in. Share via QR code or direct link.

• Submit New Behavior Incident — Staff-only form for formal incident documentation. Scoped to only the fields staff need to complete a proper incident record.

• Bite Report Submission Form — Full legal-grade bite documentation with Dunbar level, wound description, contact info for the person bitten, quarantine tracking, and animal control fields.

• Follow-Up Assessment Submission — Used by the behavior team to log scheduled progress evaluations against active behavior plans.

• Create New Behavior Plans — Form-based plan creation for organizations that prefer to delegate plan intake without granting full table access.

✅ Base Guide included — a complete written guide covering every table, workflow, form, and the full Dunbar scale reference

Before vs. After

Before (The Chaos):

❌ Behavior notes scattered across paper logs, sticky notes, and group texts

❌ Bite reports filed in emails with no consistent format

❌ Behavior plans that live in one coordinator's head and disappear when they leave

❌ Volunteers with no structured way to flag concerns

❌ No way to show a board or funder that behavior interventions are working

After (The System):

✅ Every observation, incident, and plan connected to the animal's profile

✅ Bite documentation that holds up when it needs to

✅ Behavior plans that any staff member can pick up and follow

✅ Volunteers flagging concerns through a form that actually reaches staff

✅ A full behavioral history you can pull up in seconds

Who This Is For

✔ Behavior coordinators who need a system the whole team will actually use

✔ Shelter managers looking to reduce liability exposure from bite incidents

✔ Organizations upgrading from paper logs or shared spreadsheets

✔ Teams onboarding new staff or volunteers who need consistent documentation from day one

✔ Any shelter or rescue that has ever had to reconstruct an incident from memory

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need an Airtable account? Yes. This template is built on Airtable. Users should have at least an Airtable Team plan to access all features. Some functionality may be limited on a free plan.

Can I customize this for my organization? Absolutely. Field descriptions throughout the base guide you on what's safe to modify and what should stay in place to maintain system functionality. The select field options — species, behavior tags, severity levels — are all editable to match your organization's language.

Does the Dunbar scale work for cat bites? The Dunbar scale is specific to dogs. For cat bites, the base includes descriptive wound documentation and medical treatment fields that work for any species. The base guide covers this in detail.

How long does setup take? 30 minutes to explore the base and sample data. 2–4 hours to customize fields, remove sample records, and add your real animals and staff — depending on your program size.

What if I need help? The included base guide covers every table, workflow, and form in detail. If you're still stuck, reach out at hello@builtatmidnight.com.