An old dog with several conditions needs more than a bed while you are away: medicines on time, appetite watched by someone who knows her normal, and quiet nights. The right choice between a facility and a sitter in your home comes from matching those needs against what each option can genuinely staff, hour by hour.
The decision framework
Begin with three questions, answered honestly. First, how time-critical is her medication routine? If a late or missed round would leave her uncomfortable before you return, the carer must give medicines at set times every day, early and late, and record each round as it happens. Second, how does she cope away from home? A dog who paces, refuses food or cannot settle on unfamiliar flooring may deteriorate in a kennel block even with kind staff, while a confident dog may take a small, quiet facility in her stride. Third, what happens at night? Her conditions can worsen after dark, so ask who is present overnight, how often anyone checks, and how quickly a vet can be reached at 3 a.m.
Score each option against those three needs rather than price or convenience. A facility with staff on site overnight and a written medication log you can inspect is a reasonable choice; one that cannot staff nights fails a dog whose conditions can flare after dark. A sitter staying at your home keeps her on her own bedding, flooring and toilet routine, and usually wins for a frail, anxious or heavily medicated dog, provided the sitter can stay overnight and follow a written routine without improvising.
Trial the choice briefly first: one night, or one sitter evening while you are out, judged by how she eats, sleeps and moves the following day rather than by how cheerful the handover sounded.
The written baseline she travels with
Prepare one baseline document and use the same document for a facility, a sitter or an emergency stand-in, so nobody works from a summary of a summary. The baseline covers her emergency authorisation and limits, her vet and out-of-hours contacts, her medication routine in generic terms, and her conditions in plain terms. Around those four fixed parts, add what a normal day looks like: when she wakes, how far she walks before tiring, how she manages steps, and which small changes, such as skipping a meal, drinking far more than usual or struggling to settle, mean the carer should phone you and the vet rather than wait.
Write conditions in plain terms a non-medical carer can act on. Stiff back legs that worsen in cold weather, a heart condition that makes excitement and heat risky, and kidneys needing constant access to water show a carer what to watch for. Describe the medication routine in generic terms, naming the type of medicine and its times and how she takes it, for example with food, without turning the sheet into a prescription. She should rise and resettle herself in her own time; the baseline should say plainly that she is never to be hauled up or repositioned by hand, and that a non-slip mat beside her bed and a clear path to the garden are part of her care.
Before any paid stay, have the provider confirm the agreed terms in writing: the total cost, who gives medicines and when, night staffing, how refusals or missed rounds are reported to you, and the emergency process you have authorised. Verbal reassurance at drop-off is not a substitute if something goes wrong at night.
During and after the stay
Ask for brief daily updates with specifics: medicines given, food eaten, water drunk, toilet habits and how she slept. On her return, expect a day or two of extra sleep, watch her appetite and movement against her baseline, and note anything that changed while it is fresh.
Keep the baseline current after every vet visit, since a document describing last year's dog misleads this year's carer. Pet Passport, stored in KinsLe, holds that same written baseline alongside her vaccination record and vet contacts, ready to print or share before any stay.