Time and setting
Date, approximate time, the room, and what the household was doing at that moment. “Tuesday around 19:00, kitchen, getting dinner ready” is enough.
Devices present
List screens, speakers, timers, routers, chargers, lamps, or other powered objects involved. Include the ones that were on but not actively used.
Animal behavior
Position, duration, movement, and what changed afterward. If the animal lay down for forty minutes, “forty minutes” is the interesting fact.
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STEP-01
Write the sequence
Use plain order: before, during, after. Resist the urge to explain in the first line; the explanation usually comes from comparing several reports, not from one.
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STEP-02
Add context
Mention meals, calls, alarms, visitors, weather, heat sources, and recent changes in the home. Two context fields is the minimum; more is usually better.
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STEP-03
Assign confidence
Pick low, moderate, or high. High requires either repetition (we want at least two observations) or independent corroborating context. Most first reports are moderate at best.
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STEP-04
Strip identifying detail
Before the desk sees the report, remove names, exact addresses, account handles, window views, and faces. The editorial notes page lists what we redact later if you miss something.