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TruePaws — Complete User Guide

What is TruePaws?

TruePaws is a kennel management system that runs inside your WordPress website. It helps professional breeders manage their animals, track breeding and pregnancies, handle buyer contacts, generate official documents (like pedigree certificates and handover packets), and even display available puppies/kittens on your public website.

Part 1: Prerequisites (What You Need Before Installing)

1. A WordPress Website

• You need a self-hosted WordPress site (the kind you install on your own hosting — not a free WordPress.com blog).
• WordPress version 5.0 or newer is required.

2. Hosting Requirements

• PHP 7.4 or newer (most modern hosts provide PHP 8.0+).
• MySQL database (standard with all WordPress hosts).
• The WordPress REST API must be enabled (it is by default — only disabled if someone deliberately turned it off).

3. Optional (but Recommended)

• A Google Gemini API key if you want to use the AI-powered features (care advice, health alerts, marketing bio generation). You can get one free from Google AI Studio.
• A Zapier or Make account if you want to send automated notifications to external services.

Part 2: Installing the Plugin

Step 1 — Upload the Plugin

1. Log in to your WordPress admin dashboard (usually yourwebsite.com/wp-admin).
2. In the left sidebar, go to Plugins → Add New.
3. Click the Upload Plugin button at the top.
4. Click Choose File and select the truepaws.zip file you received.
5. Click Install Now and wait for it to finish.

Step 2 — Activate the Plugin

1. After installation completes, click the Activate Plugin button.
2. The plugin will automatically create all the database tables it needs.
3. You will see a new TruePaws menu item appear in your WordPress sidebar.

Part 3: Initial Setup (Do This First!)

After activating, go to TruePaws → Settings in your WordPress sidebar. You will see several tabs across the top. Work through each one.

Tab 1: General Settings

Setting	What It Does	Example
Default Species	The type of animal you primarily breed. Options: Dog, Cat, Horse, Rabbit, Guinea Pig, Ferret, Bird.	Dog
Breeder Prefix	A short code (max 5 characters) used when auto-naming puppies/kittens from litters.	TP
Pregnancy Duration — Dogs	How many days a dog pregnancy lasts. Default is 63. Only change if you know otherwise.	63
Pregnancy Duration — Cats	How many days a cat pregnancy lasts. Default is 65.	65
Feeding Instructions	Text that will appear on the handover documents you give to new buyers. Write what the animal eats, how often, and any special instructions.	“Feed 3 times daily with Royal Canin puppy food…”
Gemini API Key	Paste your Google Gemini API key here to enable AI features. Leave blank if you don’t want AI features.	(your key)
Webhook URL	If you use Zapier or Make for automation, paste the webhook URL here. Leave blank otherwise.	(your webhook URL)

Click Save Settings when done.

Tab 2: Breeder Info

Fill in your professional details. This information appears on generated PDFs (pedigree certificates, handover packets).

Field	What to Enter
Breeder Name	Your full name as the breeder
Business Name	Your kennel or cattery name
License Number	Your breeding license number (if applicable)
Phone	Your business phone number
Email	Your business email address

Click Save Settings when done.

Tab 3: Breeds

This is where you manage the list of breeds available in dropdown menus throughout the plugin. TruePaws comes preloaded with 20 common dog breeds and 20 common cat breeds.

• To add a breed: Type the breed name in the text box and click Add Breed.
• To remove a breed: Click the delete button next to any breed in the list.

Tip: Add all the breeds you work with now. You can always add more later.

Tab 4: Communication

Fill in your mailing address and contact page URL. This is used for public-facing features and shortcodes.

Field	What to Enter
Street Address	Your kennel’s street address
City	City
State/Province	State or province
ZIP/Postal Code	Postal code
Country	Country
Contact / Inquiry URL	The URL of your website’s contact page (used as the default link on “Contact Breeder” buttons)

Click Save Settings when done.

Tab 5: Sales Reports

This tab is read-only — it shows your sales statistics once you start recording sales. You will see:

• Total Revenue earned
• Total number of Sales
• Average Sale Price
• A monthly breakdown table
• A Top Buyers table

Part 4: The Dashboard

When you click TruePaws in the sidebar, you land on the Dashboard. This is your home base. Here is what you will see:

Statistics Cards

• Total Animals — how many animals are in your system
• Active Litters — pregnancies currently being tracked
• Contacts — total buyers and waitlist entries
• Upcoming Events — events coming soon (vaccines, whelping dates, etc.)

Quick Actions

• Add Animal — go directly to the new animal form
• Log Mating — record a new breeding
• Add Contact — add a new buyer or waitlist entry

Getting Started Checklist

• A helpful checklist that guides you through first-time setup.

Latest Events

• A timeline of the most recent events across all your animals (vaccines, vet visits, weight checks, etc.).

Charts

• Breed Distribution — a doughnut chart showing how many animals you have of each breed.
• Sales Overview — a bar chart showing monthly revenue.

Activity Heatmap

• A GitHub-style calendar heatmap showing how active your kennel is each day over the past year. Darker squares = more events logged that day.

Part 5: Adding and Managing Animals

How to Add a New Animal

1. Go to TruePaws → Animals (or click “Add Animal” on the Dashboard).
2. Click the Add New Animal button.
3. Fill in the form:

Field	Required?	Description
Name	Yes	The animal’s registered/official name
Call Name	No	The name you actually call them at home
Registration Number	No	Official registration number from your breed registry
Microchip ID	No	The microchip number (must be unique)
Breed	No	Select from your breeds list
Sex	Yes	Male or Female
Sire (Father)	No	Select from existing male animals in your system
Dam (Mother)	No	Select from existing female animals in your system
Birth Date	No	Date the animal was born
Status	No	Active, Retired, Sold, Deceased, or Co-Owned (defaults to Active)
Color/Markings	No	Describe the animal’s appearance
Description	No	Any additional notes about the animal
Featured Image	No	Click to open the WordPress Media Library and select a photo

4. Click Save Animal.

Tip for first-time setup: Start by adding your adult breeding animals (sires and dams) first. That way, when you add younger animals or puppies, you can select their parents from the dropdown menus.

The Animal Profile Page

After saving, click on any animal’s name to see its profile page. This is the most feature-rich page in the plugin. Here is everything you can do:

View Information

• See all the details you entered, plus a status badge (e.g., “Active” in green, “Sold” in blue).
• The featured image displays prominently, with a fallback silhouette if no photo was uploaded.

Photo Gallery

• Upload multiple photos by clicking “Add Photos”.
• Drag and drop photos to reorder them.
• Click a photo to set it as the featured image.
• Delete photos you no longer need.

Timeline & Events

The timeline shows a chronological history of everything that has happened to this animal. To add a new event:

1. Click the Add Event button.
2. Choose the event type: Birth, Vaccine, Heat, Mating, Whelping, Weight, Vet Visit, or Note.
3. Enter the date and a title/description.
4. For weight events, enter the weight value.
5. Click Save.

Pedigree Tree

• Displays a 3-generation family tree showing parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents. (Only works if you have entered parent relationships).
• Click Download Pedigree PDF to generate a printable certificate.

Weight Growth Chart

• If you have logged weight events, a line chart appears showing the animal’s weight over time.

AI Features (requires Gemini API key)

• AI Care Advice — generates personalized care recommendations based on the animal’s breed, age, and history.
• AI Marketing Bio — writes a compelling description for your website or social media listings.
• AI Health Alerts — analyzes the event history and flags potential health concerns.

Selling an Animal

1. On the animal’s profile, click Sell / Reserve.
2. Select the buyer from your contacts list.
3. Enter the sale date and price.
4. Add any notes (optional).
5. Click Confirm Sale.
6. The animal’s status changes to “Sold”.
7. Click Generate Handover PDF to create a professional handover document.

Copy Shortcode

At the bottom of the profile, you will see a shortcode like

. Click to copy it. You can paste this into any WordPress page or post to display this animal’s profile on your public website.

Part 6: Breeding & Litter Management

Logging a New Mating

1. Go to TruePaws → Litters.
2. Click Log New Mating.
3. Fill in the form:

Field	Required?	Description
Sire (Father)	Yes	Select the male from your animals
Dam (Mother)	Yes	Select the female from your animals
Mating Date	Yes	The date breeding occurred
Method	No	Natural or Artificial Insemination (AI)
Notes	No	Any notes about the mating

4. Click Save.The system automatically calculates the expected whelping date based on your pregnancy duration settings.

Tracking Pregnancy

Each active litter shows a Pregnancy Tracker card with:

• A progress bar showing how far along the pregnancy is.
• Trimester indicator (Early / Mid / Late).
• Days remaining until expected whelping.
• Upcoming milestones (Implantation, Heartbeat, Ultrasound, etc.).

Recording the Birth (Whelping)

1. Go to TruePaws → Litters.
2. Find the litter and click Whelp Litter.
3. Step 1 — Log the Birth: Enter the actual whelping date, number of male/female offspring, and preview auto-generated names.
4. Step 2 — Confirmation: Review the summary and click Submit.The system automatically creates individual records for each offspring, assigns parents, records a birth event, and sets their status to Active.

Part 7: Managing Contacts (Buyers & Waitlist)

Adding a Contact

1. Go to TruePaws → Contacts.
2. Click Add New Contact.
3. Fill in the form:

Field	Required?	Description
First Name	Yes	Buyer’s first name
Last Name	No	Buyer’s last name
Email	Yes	Buyer’s email address
Phone	No	Phone number
Address	No	Mailing address
Status	No	Waitlist, Reserved, Buyer, or Inactive
Notes	No	Any private notes about this contact

4. Click Save Contact.

Contact List Features

• Filter by status — show only Waitlist, Reserved, Buyers, or Inactive contacts.
• Export to CSV — download all contacts as a spreadsheet file for email marketing tools.

Part 8: Displaying Animals on Your Website (Shortcodes)

Shortcodes are special codes you paste into WordPress pages or posts to display TruePaws content on your public website.

1. Display a Single Animal

[truepaws_animal id="7"]

(Replace 123 with the actual animal’s ID number)

Optional settings you can add:

Parameter	What It Does	Default
contact_url="https://..."	Custom link for the “Contact Breeder” button	Your settings URL
show_ai="true" or "false"	Show or hide AI care information	true
show_pedigree="true" or "false"	Show or hide the pedigree tree	true
show_inquiry_form="true" or "false"	Embed an inquiry form below the animal	false
show_gallery="true" or "false"	Show or hide the photo gallery	true
gallery_columns="3"	Number of columns for the gallery (2 to 6)	4

Example with options:

[truepaws_animal id="45" show_inquiry_form="true" gallery_columns="3" show_ai="false"]

2. Display a Litter

[truepaws_litter id="1"]

This shows the litter’s information including parents, birth date, and a grid of available puppies/kittens with their photos and status badges.

3. Display All Available Puppies/Kittens

[truepaws_available_puppies]

This shows a grid of all animals with “Active” status.

Optional settings:

Parameter	What It Does	Default
limit="6"	Maximum number of animals to show	12
breed="Golden Retriever"	Only show animals of this breed	(all breeds)
show_images="true" or "false"	Show or hide photos	true

Example:

[truepaws_available_puppies breed="Labrador Retriever" limit="8"]

4. Display an Inquiry Form

[truepaws_inquiry_form]

This displays a contact form that visitors can fill out to inquire about your animals.

Optional settings:

Parameter	What It Does	Default
animal_id="123"	Link the inquiry to a specific animal	(none)
title="Interested? Get in Touch!"	Custom form title	“Send an Inquiry”

Part 9: PDF Documents

TruePaws can generate two types of professional PDF documents:

1. Pedigree Certificate

Generated from any animal’s profile page. Contains the animal’s name, registration details, a 3-generation pedigree tree, and your breeder name.

2. Handover Packet

Generated from a sold animal’s profile. Contains animal details, pedigree preview, complete health history, feeding instructions, care recommendations, contract/terms, and your breeder info.

Note: For best PDF quality, ask your web host to ensure the TCPDF or Dompdf PHP library is installed.

Part 10: Automated Email Notifications

TruePaws runs a daily check and sends you email reminders for:

• Whelping Reminders: Sent 7 days before an expected whelping date.
• Vaccination Reminders: Reminds you at key milestones (6 weeks, 9 weeks, 12 weeks, 16 weeks, 1 year, 2 years, 3 years).

Important: These emails are sent to the address you entered in Settings → Breeder Info → Email.

Part 11: Recommended Workflow (Step by Step)

First-Time Setup

1. Install and activate the plugin.
2. Go to Settings and fill in all tabs.
3. Add your custom breeds.

Building Your Database

1. Add all your adult breeding animals first (sires and dams).
2. Upload photos and fill in registration data.
3. Set parent relationships to build pedigree trees.
4. Add historical events to build each animal’s timeline.

Day-to-Day Use

1. When a mating occurs, log it under Litters.
2. Track pregnancies and use the Whelping Wizard when births occur.
3. Update offspring profiles as they grow.
4. Add buyers to the Contacts list.

Selling

1. When an animal is sold, use the Sell/Reserve feature on their profile.
2. Generate the Handover PDF.
3. Monitor Sales Reports.

Public Website

1. Create an “Available Puppies” page using: truepaws_available_puppies shortcode
2. Create individual pages using truepaws_animal id="..." shortcode
3. Add truepaws_inquiry_form shortcode to your contact page.

Part 12: Tips & Tricks

• Use the Activity Heatmap on the Dashboard to spot gaps in your record-keeping.
• Export contacts to CSV regularly to keep your mailing list up to date.
• The AI Marketing Bio can save you time writing listings.
• Log weights weekly for puppies and use the growth chart to spot issues early.
• Use the animal_id parameter on inquiry forms to track specific animal requests.
• Use “Co-Owned” status for animals shared between breeders.