It is the record nobody wants to make and every dog needs: who takes him if you die, are seriously injured, or become unable to care for him. Most owners have a person in mind and have even mentioned it in conversation, but an unwritten understanding, however warm, often dissolves under grief, distance or family disagreement. A clear written nomination, made while you are well, is a genuine act of care.
Choose the person by asking, not assuming
Start with an honest conversation. The right carer is someone who knows and likes your particular dog, whose home, work pattern and other animals can absorb him, and who says yes knowing it may be permanent, not a weekend favour. Name one main carer and one backup, because the main person's circumstances may have changed by the time they are called on. If no individual fits, say so in your record and note the rescue or breed organisation you would want approached instead, rather than leaving the question blank for others to argue over.
Write the nomination where it will be found
Record the names, addresses and phone numbers in a document kept with your important papers, tell your executor, close family and your vet that it exists and where it is, and keep a copy with your dog's own records at home. Mention any formal provision you have made, such as money set aside in your will for his care, in general terms in the same document, so the carer knows support exists without the care note becoming a legal text. The goal is findability in a crisis: a perfect nomination locked where nobody looks for it helps no one.
Attach the care summary that travels with him
Behind the nomination, place a short summary of what the carer needs in the first weeks: feeding, vet details, ongoing conditions or treatments as your vet describes them, behaviour quirks, and the routines that settle him. Grief affects dogs too, and familiar food, walks and sleeping arrangements are real comfort in a changed home. Update this summary as he ages or his health changes, in the same review you give the nomination itself.
Review it like you review everything else that matters
Revisit the names at least when you review your will, move house, or when a named person's life changes through illness, a move abroad or new animals of their own. Confirm the agreement afresh rather than assuming a yes from years ago still stands, and remove anyone who can no longer take him, kindly and in writing. An outdated nomination can be worse than none, because it sends a dog to a door that will not open.
Making this record now spares your dog uncertainty later, and KinsLe helps by connecting the people you name through Care Teams so they already share his care long before they might need to take it on fully.