Escape notes fail when they are vague — she is a bit of a runner, mind the front door — because a sitter cannot act on a bit of anything at the moment a parcel arrives and a determined dog is measuring the gap. What works is a written routine: the physical layout, the exact sequence for every opening door, the honest history, and the plan for the day the routine fails anyway.
Map the Doors and Gates First
List every exit the sitter will use, in the order they will meet them. The front door and what lies beyond it — straight onto a street, or into a porch that acts as a holding space. The back door and whether the garden gate beyond it latches reliably or needs the bolt thrown by hand. Any side gate, garage door, or window she has ever tested. Against each, write its rule in imperative form: this gate is checked by pushing it before she is let out; this door is never opened while she is loose in the hall. Where the house gives you two barriers — a porch, a hallway door, a stair gate — name the habit that makes them work: one barrier is always closed before the other is opened, every time, even when the sitter's hands are full and she looks perfectly calm.
Her History and the Lead Rule
Tell the truth about the dog. If she has slipped out twice and both times made for the green at the end of the road, write that: a sitter who knows her likely destination starts searching in the right place instead of the wrong one. Note what triggers a bolt — the doorbell, a cat on the wall, delivery drivers, thunder — and any particular skill, such as backing out of a loose collar, that dictates equipment: harness rather than collar for walks, and the collar checked to a two-finger fit. Then state the standing rule without exception: her lead is clipped on first, and only then is any outside door or gate opened, including for bins, post, and letting a guest in. The lead lives on its hook by the door, and the rule applies to the sitter's visitors too.
If She Slips Out Anyway
Write the protocol for the bad five minutes, because panic improvises badly. First instruction, underlined: do not chase her — a pursued dog runs farther and faster, and into roads. Note the direction she took and the time, then phone you, and if you do not answer, the second contact on the list, who knows her. Use her recall word and the high-value food named in the notes, crouch rather than loom, and let her come in. Tell the sitter which neighbours know her and will take her in or phone if she appears at their door, and where her description, photograph, and chip number are kept if calls to local vets and shelters become necessary.
All of this belongs in KinsLe with the stay itself, where the Care Pass places the door routine, the bolting history, and the slip-out steps in the sitter's hands for exactly the days she is in charge.