Word document reverting to normal .dot from my template

In your template and in each existing document that's based on that template, do the following:

• If you don't see a "Developer tab" on the ribbon, go to File > Options > Customize Ribbon and click to put a check mark next to Developer in the right-hand list.
• On the Developer tab, near the right end, click the Document Template button.
• In the resulting dialog box, make sure the "Automatically update document styles" box is NOT checked.
• Click OK and then save.

Here's what's happening. When you send a document to a client who doesn't have access to the template on your network, their copy of Word automatically attaches their Normal.dotm (not .dot) template to the document. If the "Automatically update" box is checked, all the styles in the document that have the same names as styles in their Normal template will be redefined. You don't want that to happen.