Good sitter instructions cover your dog's whole day in writing: feeding amounts and times, walk routes and rules, medication details, your vet's contact information, house rules, your dog's quirks and fears, and exactly what to do in an emergency. If it matters to your dog's health, safety, or calm, it belongs in the instructions — not in a hurried conversation at the door.
Feeding, walks, and daily rhythm
Start with the basics, stated precisely. Write how much food, which food (and where it is stored), and at what times — "a cup" is ambiguous if your sitter's cup differs from your scoop, so describe the actual scoop or weigh it. Note treats: how many, for what, and any foods that are off-limits. Flag a dog who inhales meals and needs a slow feeder, or a grazer who should have food left down.
For walks, give duration, usual routes, and the rules that keep your dog safe: harness or collar, no off-leash areas, cross the street at the park because your dog lunges at scooters, whatever is true for your dog. Include bathroom habits honestly — a sitter who knows your dog takes ten minutes and a specific patch of grass will not rush them or worry something is wrong.
Close the section with the shape of the day: wake time, last walk, where your dog sleeps. Routine is comfort, especially for older dogs and puppies.
Medication, health, and vet information
List every medication with its dose, timing, and how your dog takes it best — hidden in a pill pocket, in a spoon of wet food, or given directly. Note what to do if a dose is refused or vomited, in the terms your vet has already given you. Add known allergies, chronic conditions, and the small baseline facts a sitter needs to spot a problem: normal appetite, normal energy, what "not themselves" looks like in your dog.
Then the emergency block, in one obvious place: your mobile number, a second contact who can make decisions, your vet's name, address, and phone number, the nearest emergency vet, and a clear statement that in a genuine emergency the sitter should seek care first and call you second. Leave payment arrangements for emergencies settled in advance so nobody hesitates.
House rules, quirks, and honesty
Write the rules you actually live by — furniture yes or no, rooms that stay closed, how your dog is left when the sitter goes out, and for how long your dog is comfortable alone. Then be honest about quirks: counter-surfing, door-dashing, reactivity to other dogs on leash, fear of thunderstorms or fireworks, a habit of swallowing socks. Sitters do not need a perfect dog; they need a truthful manual. Hiding a known trigger to avoid seeming difficult is how avoidable incidents happen.
Walk through the tricky parts in person if you can — demonstrate the medication routine, show where supplies live, and do one short practice visit for a new sitter so your dog meets them while you are still home.
Sharing it all with Care Pass
Paper notes get lost and long message threads bury the emergency number. KinsLe's Care Pass solves the handoff cleanly: it is a temporary, scoped link to your dog's care information that you share with your sitter, and the recipient needs no account or app to open it. Your sitter gets exactly the instructions, routines, and details for this stay — nothing more, nothing permanent — and you are not re-typing the same document for every trip. Set it up once, adjust it per stay, and hand over with confidence. Hand your sitter, for this stay alone, the Care Pass on KinsLe scoped to the measured feeding amounts, the usual walk routes, the medication timing, and the emergency vet block.