You are already at the door with your bag when you remember the thing about the back gate.
One page, two sides, stuck to the fridge. Everything a sitter needs on the front, everything they hope not to need on the back.
What a dog sitter checklist actually needs to cover
Most sitter instructions get written twice. Once in a hurry, in a text message, from the car. And once again three days later when the sitter calls to ask something you were sure you had mentioned.
The fix is not a longer message. It is a page that lives somewhere your sitter can find it without asking. A printable dog sitter checklist works because it does not depend on anyone's memory — not yours at the door, and not theirs at 6am on day three.
The front side carries the ordinary day:
- Feeding — how much, what kind, what time, and where the food is kept
- Medication — name, amount, timing, and whether it goes with food
- Walks and potty breaks — how many, roughly when, and the route if it matters
- House rules — the couch he is not allowed on, the room that stays shut, the toy that gets taken away at night
- Quirks — the doorbell, the vacuum, the neighbor's cat, the thing about the back gate
The back side carries the day you hope does not happen:
- Your number, and a second one if you will be somewhere with bad signal
- A backup human who lives nearby and has a key
- Your regular vet — name, address, phone
- The nearest after-hours clinic, which is almost never the same place
- A signature line, so your sitter can authorize treatment if they cannot reach you
That last one is the piece people leave out, and it is the one that matters most at 11pm on a Saturday. A clinic will not begin non-emergency treatment on a stranger's say-so. A signed line saying who may make decisions, and up to what amount, turns a frantic phone tree into a decision your sitter is allowed to make.
Who it's for
Anyone leaving a dog with a sitter, a neighbor, a family member, or a boarding facility — for one night or two weeks.
It is written for the person receiving it as much as the person filling it in. A sitter who has your page on the fridge does not have to text you about the food scoop. A neighbor doing you a favor does not have to guess. And you get to be somewhere else without narrating your own house from a distance.
One night, one weekend, or two weeks
The length of the trip changes what your sitter needs, and it is worth being honest about which one you are writing for.
One night. Keep it to the front side. Feeding, one or two walks, where the leash lives, your number. A single overnight rarely needs a medication schedule or a full contact tree, and a page crowded with things that will not happen is a page nobody reads carefully.
A weekend. This is the one the checklist was built for. Two or three days is long enough that routine drifts — a missed meal, a walk pushed later, a dose given at the wrong end of the day — and short enough that your sitter is unlikely to call about small things. Fill in both sides.
A week or more. Add the things that only surface with time: when the food will run out and where to buy more, the grooming appointment you forgot to cancel, the day the trash goes out. Longer stays are where a written page beats a conversation by the widest margin, because nobody remembers day-nine instructions given on day one.
If you have more than one dog
Fill in one sheet per dog. It is tempting to save paper and run two dogs down one page, and it goes wrong the first time the amounts differ.
Separate sheets keep each dog's details attached to the right name, which matters more than it sounds when your sitter is describing one of them to a vet over the phone. Write the dog's name at the top of each, and if they look alike, say so and say how to tell them apart. "The one with the white back foot" has saved more than one medication mix-up.
Feed and walk instructions are where multi-dog households come unstuck most often — who eats first, who has to be separated, who guards the bowl. Say it plainly on the page rather than assuming it will be obvious.
If your dog takes medication
Write the medication schedule down even if it is simple. Especially if it is simple — those are the ones people give twice.
Note the name exactly as it appears on the label, the amount, the time, and whether it goes with food or without. Add where it is kept, because a bottle in the fridge and a bottle in the cupboard are two different searches. If a dose is easy to miss or easy to repeat, leave a box your sitter can tick each time.
This is record-keeping, not advice. The page exists so your sitter knows what you already do and can tell your vet exactly what was given and when. Anything about whether a medication is right belongs with your vet, not on a fridge sheet.
Leaving instructions for a neighbor
A professional sitter will ask you the right questions. A neighbor doing you a kindness will not — not because they do not care, but because they do not know what they do not know, and asking feels like making a fuss.
So write more for a neighbor, not less. The things a professional would ask about unprompted are exactly the things to spell out: what counts as a normal amount of barking, whether the dog can be left alone and for how long, what to do if he will not eat, and who to call before calling you.
Add one line most people forget — what you would like them to do if something feels wrong but is not obviously an emergency. Giving a first-time sitter explicit permission to call your vet, or your backup person, is a small sentence that removes a lot of hesitation.
Dropping off at a boarding facility
Boarding is a different handoff. You are not leaving a page on a fridge; you are handing paperwork to someone at a counter with a queue behind you.
Bring the sheet filled in and bring a copy. Most facilities have their own intake form, and they will ask for vaccination records, feeding instructions, medication details and emergency contacts — the same information, in their format. Having yours already written turns a fifteen-minute counter conversation into a two-minute one, and it means the details that matter to you make it onto their form instead of being summarized from memory.
Tape a copy to the food container too, if you send food. Containers get separated from paperwork.
Where to put it so it actually gets read
On the fridge, front side out. Not in a drawer, not in a folder on the counter, not emailed.
Take a photo of both sides before you leave and text it to your sitter, so a page that gets knocked down behind the fridge is an inconvenience rather than a problem. If more than one person will be coming by, print two.
Then, when you get home, keep it. Next trip is a five-minute update rather than a fresh start, and by the third or fourth time you will find the page has quietly become the most accurate description of your dog's day that exists anywhere.
Questions people ask
Is the dog sitter checklist really free?
Yes. Enter your email and we send it straight to your inbox as a fillable PDF in both US Letter and A4. There is no charge and no card required.
How many pages is it?
One page, two sides. The front covers the everyday routine, the back covers contacts, the vet, and the authorization signature line.
Can I type into it, or do I have to print it?
Either. It is a fillable PDF, so you can type into it on a computer, tablet or phone and then print it, or print it blank and write on it by hand. Both versions are the same sheet.
What should I write in the emergency section?
Your number and a second contact who lives nearby, your regular vet's name and phone, and the nearest after-hours or emergency clinic — which is usually a different place from your regular vet, so it is worth looking up before you need it. Then sign the authorization line so your sitter can act if they cannot reach you.
Do I need a separate sheet for each dog?
Yes, and it is worth the extra page. Amounts, medications and house rules differ more than you expect, and separate sheets keep each dog's details attached to the right name.
Will this work for a boarding facility or just a sitter at home?
Both. At home it lives on the fridge. For boarding, fill it in before you go and hand a copy over at drop-off — it covers most of what an intake form asks for, so the details you care about make it onto their paperwork accurately.
What if I only need it for one night?
Fill in the front side and leave the back. A single overnight rarely needs the full contact tree, and a page with only the relevant parts filled in is easier for a sitter to scan.
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