A sitter who has never met your senior dog cannot work from affectionate generalities. Telling her she is a sweet old girl who likes her comforts leaves the sitter guessing at every decision: how long a walk is kind, whether a skipped nap is normal, whether a slow morning is her or a problem. What a stranger can work from is observation — a plain account of what her good day looks like, hour by hour, written in things that can be seen and checked rather than feelings that have to be interpreted.
Her Day From Waking to Settling, in Observable Terms
Write the day as a sequence of sights. She wakes slowly and needs a minute to get her legs organised before she stands; she stretches once she is up, then wants the garden door opened and toilets outside without fuss. Breakfast follows: she eats the full bowl at her own unhurried pace and drinks afterwards. Mid-morning she is often livelier — this is when her walk fits well, a gentle outing of about twenty minutes at a pace set by sniffing, with pauses she chooses herself, after which she is ready for a long rest rather than a second activity. Afternoon is mostly sleep in her usual spot, broken by a toilet trip and a short potter around the garden. She eats her evening meal keenly, spends the evening near people without demanding much, asks to go out once more before bed, and settles in her bed for the night with a circle or two and a sigh. Every line of that account gives the sitter something to compare against, which is the whole point of writing it.
How She Asks, and the Rituals She Expects
Add how she communicates, because a dog of her age often asks quietly. She stands by the door and looks back at you when she needs out; she brings her lead to the hall only when she feels up to a walk, so a day she does not bring it is information, not disobedience. She expects certain small rituals: her bowl in its corner, a biscuit after the evening toilet trip, her blanket arranged before she lies down. Describe where she enjoys touch — along the chest and shoulders, for example — and where she does not, such as having her back legs handled, and whether she needs a steady hand nearby on a slippery floor or a step. Leave the account written down, walk the sitter through her routine in the house while she is there to be seen doing it, and show the sitter her bed, her bowl and her lead rather than only naming them. If the sitter is being paid, get her agreed rate, hours and any overnight arrangement confirmed in writing before the sit begins.
When a Day Looks Different, and What the Sitter Does
Finish with the other half of normal: the signs of a day that is not her usual, and exactly what the sitter does about each one. For her, that might be rising with more stiffness than usual and needing longer before the first toilet trip, leaving part of a meal she would normally finish, choosing the garden over a walk, or restlessness in the evening when she usually settles. The instruction to the sitter is simple: note what was different and when, phone you the same day rather than waiting to report it at collection, and phone her vet directly if you cannot be reached and she seems unwell, in pain or unable to get comfortable. There is no score to calculate and no threshold to judge — the sitter reports changes from the described normal, and decisions stay with you and the vet. Update the written account after each sit with anything the sitter noticed, so her changing normal is tracked honestly over time. Her health records belong beside that account at every handover, held together in a single portable packet — the records packet KinsLe provides under the name Pet Passport.