Breathing Checks Come First in Every Entry
Structure the log so each entry starts with breathing: how it sounds at rest, whether today seems noisier than yesterday, and any episode of heavy panting, gagging, or restlessness. A sitter who has never lived with a Bulldog may treat loud breathing as normal for the breed, so write what your dog's ordinary resting breathing actually sounds like and what counts as a change.
Add sleep notes — snoring pattern, waking snorting, or sleeping sitting up — because night breathing often shows strain before daytime signs do. Ask the sitter to note the time of any worrying episode, not just that it happened.
Heat Rules Written as Limits, Not Advice
Give explicit limits: the maximum walk length, the times of day to walk in warm weather, and a temperature above which walks become garden toilet breaks only. State that the harness, not a collar, is used, that play stops before he is tired rather than after, and that he is never left in a parked car or a sun-heated room.
Include the cooling routine you use — shade, cool water offered, a damp towel, moving indoors — and the point at which the sitter stops managing at home and calls the vet: breathing that stays loud and effortful at rest, pale or bright-red gums, drooling with distress, or collapse. Those instructions belong in the log itself, not in a text thread.
Folds, Skin, Eyes and Ears
Schedule fold cleaning in the log with the product you use and how often, and ask for a note on redness, odor, or dampness in the facial folds and tail pocket after each clean. Add paw checks for sore spots between the toes and a line for eye redness or increased tearing.
Meals and weight discipline belong here too: record food offered and eaten, and state that treats are limited to the list you left, because a Bulldog's pleading face extracts extras that undo both his weight and his breathing.
Walks, Toilet and Rest
Log short walks with time and weather, toilet breaks, and any straining, loose stool, or vomiting. Note exercise tolerance honestly each day — the distance he managed comfortably — so a decline shows across entries rather than being noticed only in hindsight.
Record rest quality: whether he settled, followed the sitter constantly, or seemed unsettled at night. Bulldogs are companionable and can fret when owners vanish, and a log that captures appetite plus mood gives you the full picture of the stay. Note also where he chose to sleep — his own bed, beside the sitter, or on a cool hard floor — because a sudden preference for cold surfaces and upright postures can be another quiet breathing clue.
Contacts, Vet Thresholds and Handover Back
Finish with owner and backup contacts, the vet's number and address, and the urgent list in plain language: effortful breathing that does not settle, overheating signs, repeated vomiting, or inability to settle or sleep. Ask the sitter to message you the same day about any breathing episode, not save it for the final summary.
Read the completed log together at pickup and note anything to change next time. Handed over through KinsLe's Care Pass, this Bulldog routine reaches the sitter as clear temporary access to the breathing limits, fold care and vet contacts they actually need.