A sitter does not need your dog's life story. A sitter needs to know, in order, what happens today, how much food goes in the bowl, what done looks like, and how to reach you if the day goes sideways. A checklist earns its keep when a kind, competent stranger can follow it at seven in the morning without a single clarifying text.
The Fixed List, Word for Word
Keep the daily list to six items, titled exactly the same way on every copy, in this order: Morning feed and fresh water; Midday toilet break and short walk; Evening feed; Evening walk; Bedtime toilet break and settle; Notes line for appetite, toileting and anything unusual. Six items is short enough that a sitter ticks honestly rather than scribbling a column of ticks at bedtime, and complete enough that food, water, exercise, toilet chances, and reporting all appear once. Beside each item, write the specifics a newcomer cannot guess: the exact measure of food in the scoop or cup you actually use, the walk route's rough length and the streets to avoid, the cue words your dog knows for settling, and which door you use last thing at night.
Print the list with an empty square beside each item and the day and date written at the top. One sheet per day beats a weekly grid, because a fresh sheet each morning makes a missed item visible at a glance instead of hiding inside a crowded table.
A Worked Example Day, Fully Ticked
Show the sitter one completed sheet from a day you were home, filled in as you expect theirs to look. That example must carry every listed element, worked the same way: Morning feed and fresh water — ticked, with half the usual breakfast eaten slowly; Midday toilet break and short walk — ticked, twenty minutes around the block, toilet done twice; Evening feed — ticked, eaten fully; Evening walk — ticked, calm, no pulling after the corner shop; Bedtime toilet break and settle — ticked, settled on the mat within ten minutes; Notes line for appetite, toileting and anything unusual — morning appetite slow, drinking normally, left ear scratched twice. An example written at that level of detail sets the standard far better than any instruction to keep good notes, and a sitter who copies its style gives you a record you can actually use when you get home.
What Sits Around the List
Above the daily items, pin the facts that stay true all trip: your phone number, a second contact who holds a spare key, your vet practice's number and address, and the feeding amounts repeated in words for anyone who loses the scoop. Flag allergies in bold at the top of the sheet, right where food is measured, not buried in a paragraph lower down. Below the list, add three house facts a sitter genuinely needs: which doors stay shut, where cleaning supplies live for accidents, and what to do with the alarm or bins on collection day.
Walk the sitter through the sheet standing in your kitchen, opening the food bin and the lead drawer as you go. People remember locations they have seen far better than directions they have read, and the walkthrough is your one chance to hear a misunderstanding before it matters.
After the Stay, Update Once
Collect the ticked sheets when you return and read them before you unpack. Note what the sitter wrote in the notes lines, ask about anything vague while the stay is fresh, then change the master sheet in one sitting: a new cue word learned, a food measure adjusted, a walk route that proved too exciting. Store the master where the next sitter will receive the current version rather than a photocopy of an old one. Care Pass in KinsLe closes the stay neatly, because the ticked sheet returns to you and access ends once your sitter's dates finish.