What to Leave for a Dog Sitter: An Info Sheet Template, Plus a Medical Page

It's Saturday morning on your parents' front step. You hand over the food bag and the leash and talk fast: "Breakfast and dinner, one bag each. Her pill goes with dinner. No people food." Your mom laughs. "We've had her a dozen times."

On the drive home, it hits you. At last week's vet visit, her pill got moved to mornings. The sheet on your parents' fridge is from the spring trip. Your mom knows the walk route, and that thunder sends the dog under the bed. What she doesn't know is what changed since spring.

Everything you leave for a dog sitter falls into two halves. The house-and-routine half (food, walks, potty, sleep, fears, keys) fits on one page you can reuse for years. The medical half (current medications, allergies, your vet and the nearest emergency vet, recent weight, vaccines) goes stale on paper, and spoken instructions don't always stick, so hand over a fresh copy for every stay. And if someone will give medication, set things up so you can see who gave each dose and when, even from far away. Two halves and a dose record: that's the whole answer.

Most checklists you'll find are written for a hired sitter. This post covers family and friends too, and what form each half should take. For a boarding kennel, see our guide to boarding with medication. For who in the family logs care and who only views, see sharing your pet's life with family.

This is a guide to keeping records and handing over care, written by Memofu's developer, not a veterinarian. It is not veterinary advice. Medication amounts and times, and what to do if your dog gets sick while you're away, are questions for your vet.

Will my dog be OK staying with family or a sitter while I'm on vacation?

It goes best at a home your dog already knows: VCA Animal Hospitals says a stay in someone else's home, like a friend's or neighbor's, "works well when the dog knows the home and the people." Wherever your dog stays, a trial run, familiar things and a calm goodbye can help. A month away takes the same preparation; the difference is that the medical side can change while you're gone.

The same guide notes the risks of a stay in someone else's home: the dog may escape and get lost in an unfamiliar neighborhood, or not get along with other pets there. For kennels, it says: "Despite the fears of their owners, most dogs settle into boarding life quickly."

What helps:

• A trial run. For kennels, VCA suggests a weekend or a few days first, before a longer trip.
• A meet-and-greet. Rover's checklist, which draws on an interview with veterinarian Dr. Nell Ostermeier, suggests one ahead of time, so your dog sees you and the sitter get along.
• Familiar things. Your dog's own bed or blanket and favorite toys can help them feel more comfortable, according to VCA.
• A calm exit. Dr. Ostermeier recommends staying calm before leaving and while packing, since a dog that senses you're nervous may get more anxious.

If your dog may have separation anxiety, which the MSD Veterinary Manual describes as "a syndrome in which a dog panics when it is left alone," talk to your vet well before a long trip. For a very stressed dog, VCA notes, a vet may prescribe calming medication.

Many dogs eat or drink less during their first kennel stays, according to VCA, so ask whoever has your dog to jot down what was eaten each day.

What should you leave for a dog sitter?

Leave the supplies, one page on the house routine, and a separate medical page dated the day you leave. You can reuse the routine page for years; replace the medical page every trip.

Supplies:

• Usual food, portioned by meal and labeled with the date and AM or PM
• Bowls, leash and harness, poop bags
• Their own bed or blanket, toys, and a crate if they use one
• Medication, with a note on how you give it
• Enough of everything for the whole stay, plus a few extra days

The routine page. This is your dog sitter info sheet: copy the list, fill it in and leave it by the food, with Always and Never at the very top.

• Always: e.g. harness on every walk; check the gate is latched before letting her out
• Never: e.g. no people food, of any kind; treats only from the bag I left
• Dates: drop-off and pickup, with times
• Contacts: your cell, plus a local backup who can make decisions if you can't be reached
• Food: brand, amount per meal, times, where it's kept
• Treats: which ones are allowed, and how many a day
• Walks: times, route, harness and leash, dogs or noises to avoid
• Potty: where, how often, what's normal, how to clean up an accident
• Sleep: where she sleeps, crate or not, bedtime routine
• Quirks and fears: sounds, handling she doesn't like, people or dogs she's wary of
• Escape risks: doors, gates, fences; whether she's wearing her ID tag
• ID: microchip number and registry, plus a clear, recent photo of her
• House: keys and who has a spare, Wi-Fi, heating and AC, where the cleaning supplies are
• Normal vs. call me: what's normal for her, and what should get a text or a call
• Medical: "See the separate sheet," and where it is

Wandering Pup Travels, a blog by a writer who also sits dogs, suggests spelling out "this is normal for my dog" versus "please let me know," so the sitter isn't treating every odd moment as an emergency. Keepers Animal Clinic, a veterinary practice in Washington state, also asks how you use "household technology like wifi, heating/air conditioner," and where the sitter can find cleaning supplies. The same page works as a pet sitter instructions template for a friend, your parents or a hired sitter; it covers what to tell a pet sitter, with more detail for someone new to your dog. And it barely changes between trips.

The medical half, handed over separately:

• Current medications: name, amount as prescribed, times, how you give it, when the course ends
• Allergies, foods to avoid, anything else to watch for
• Your regular vet: name, address, phone number, hours and days closed
• The 24-hour emergency vet nearest to where your dog is staying
• Recent weight
• Vaccines and preventives: last given and next due
• Pet insurance card or policy number, if you have one

For the medical side, Keepers asks owners to leave their regular vet's details and those of "your preferred 24-hour veterinary emergency practice." Care.com's checklist adds immunization history, allergies and health conditions, along with microchip information, the pet insurance card and a clear photo of your dog. If your dog's vaccination records have gone missing, our guide to a lost vaccination certificate covers who can reissue each one.

How do you leave medication info for a dog sitter?

Separately from the routine page, dated the day you leave. Medications, weight and vaccine dates change between trips, and they're what the caregiver needs most when something goes wrong.

A walk route can stay the same for years. After a vet visit, the drug, the time or the end date can change. That was the gap in the opening scene: the routine was right, and only the medical part was out of date.

AKC Pet Insurance's template advises: "Review and update these instructions at least once annually." That's fine for a walk route, but not for a dog whose medication changed last week.

A sheet also can't settle how long to wait when the dog seems unwell. That's for the vet. The caregiver needs permission to call, and the numbers. Cornell's Riney Canine Health Center advises saving your local emergency vet's name, address and phone number in your phone, and says to "post it somewhere visible at home." At your parents', that means the ER near their house, on their fridge.

So hand over the medical half on the day you leave, dated, and have them toss the old one. If you send it as a link they open on their phone, you can update it mid-stay.

What if your parents keep feeding your dog human food?

Telling them at the door isn't always enough. Put it at the top of the page with the reason, and hand over only the treats that are allowed.

With family who already know your dog, it's easy to keep the briefing to one rushed line at the door. One owner on Yahoo! Chiebukuro, a Japanese Q&A site, wrote in 2024 that their mother-in-law kept giving their 15-year-old dog people food despite being asked every time; after the latest stay, the dog stopped eating its own food entirely.

The ASPCA's list of people foods to keep from pets includes onions, garlic and chives, which can damage red blood cells; grapes and raisins, which can lead to kidney damage in dogs; chocolate; xylitol, a sweetener in some gum, candy and baked goods; and very salty foods.

What helps:

• Lead with it, and give the reason. "No people food, of any kind" goes first under Never, with one line on why.
• Hand over what's allowed. A bag of the day's treats is easier to stick to than a flat no. AKC Pet Insurance's template also reminds you to list any treats or extras that are allowed.
• Decide who feeds. With several people in the house, the dog can easily get fed twice. See how families avoid feeding the dog twice.

How do you know the pills were actually given?

Have whoever gives each dose record it right then. On paper, that's pre-portioned doses plus a log you check at pickup; in an app the caregiver can record in, you can see it from anywhere.

"Did she get her pill?" gets you "Yep," but for which dose? Ask "What time did you give this morning's pill?" instead.

On paper, the portions are part of the record. As Wandering Pup Travels puts it, "A medication organizer may help them track which doses have been given." Add a sheet beside it for the date, time and name of whoever gave each dose. At pickup, compare what's left with what's written.

In an app, give the caregiver a role that can log. In apps that separate viewers from people who record, a view-only relative can't log a dose they gave.

One person per dose. If both your parents can give the pill, both might. Write it down: Mom mornings, Dad nights. For more on keeping a family from doubling up, see how families stop double doses.

A missed dose isn't the sitter's call, or yours. The page should say: don't give an extra dose to catch up; call the vet, then let you know. Wandering Pup Travels also suggests covering a dose that's refused or spit out: ask your vet before the trip what to do, and write their answer down. For what to have ready when you call, see what to do if you forgot to give your dog their medication.

If the medication has to be given at fixed times your family's day can't fit, ask your vet where your dog should stay.

Do you need a vet authorization form for your pet sitter?

It's worth leaving one. If your dog needs a vet while you can't be reached, the clinic and your caregiver will know who can decide.

AKC Pet Insurance's pet-sitting template has a section for the people allowed to make medical decisions for your pet. In Rover's checklist, Dr. Ostermeier suggests telling your vet ahead of time "what types of decisions your sitter is authorized to make in your absence." And VCA, writing about boarding kennels, advises leaving "written authorization for emergency veterinary care" with the kennel, along with your vet's contact information and someone who can make decisions if you can't be reached.

• Ask your clinic whether it has its own form, and what it needs to treat your dog if you can't be reached.
• Name one person who can decide, on the routine page and with your vet.
• Write down how far they can go before reaching you.

This isn't legal advice on who may approve treatment or give medication to someone else's pet; your clinic can tell you what it accepts.

What should you check before leaving your dog over the holidays?

Your vet's holiday hours, the emergency vet nearest to your dog, and how much medication you have. Check all three before the clinic closes.

Your vet's hours. Around Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's, check which days your clinic is closed or on shorter hours.

The ER near the dog, not you. If your dog spends the holidays at your parents' house in another state, your local ER is no help. Ask your vet: "If something happens while you're closed, where should they go?"

Medication on hand. Count it against the whole stay plus a few days. If you're short or unsure, call your vet before the break.

A busy house. The ASPCA recommends keeping your pet's diet "the same as any other day," and asking houseguests to keep their medication "in a closed cabinet rather than a bag or suitcase."

What to do the week before you leave

Seven things, none of them big:

• Do a short trial. An afternoon or a night with the caregiver.
• Write the routine page, starting with Always and Never.
• Hand over the medical half, dated the day you leave. If you send a link, match how long it works to the stay.
• Decide who gives each dose, and where it gets logged.
• Check vet hours, the nearest emergency vet and the medication count, especially before a holiday.
• Leave a vet authorization note, and give your vet the same name.
• Put both vet numbers on their fridge.

Where Memofu fits

Memofu is an app for keeping your pet's health records and photos with your family. Here's exactly what it does today when your dog stays with someone else.

• Most of the medical half can go as a health link. It's read-only, opens in any browser and needs no app or account. It works for 1 day, 1 week or 1 month, then stops. For a longer stay, make a new link partway through. You can see your active links in the app and stop any of them.
• It shows the records as they are when it's opened: profile, allergies and care notes, current medications (name and plan: which days, what times), vaccines and preventives (done and due), the last 24 weights and the last 20 vet visits (date, clinic, reason). Update a medication mid-stay and the same link shows the new plan.
• What it leaves out. It doesn't show who gave each dose, the care log, photos, notes on vet visits or weigh-ins, or your family's names. Your vet's phone number, the ER and the house routine have no field of their own, so those stay on paper. The page says it's not a veterinary certificate.
• If someone will give medication, make them a co-owner. Owners and co-owners are notified when each dose is due and can mark it given with one tap, and everyone in the circle sees who gave it and when. Viewers can see the records but can't log.
• Anyone in the circle sees its photos and records. Viewers and co-owners alike see the circle's photos and health records. Co-owners can also post photos and add or change records just as you can, including a medication's dose times. That suits family; for a hired sitter, a health link and a paper dose log may fit better. After the stay, you can make the caregiver a viewer or remove them from the circle.
• A pill given without being marked doesn't show up for anyone. The medication log doesn't ask "log again?" the way the care log does, so agree who gives each dose and have them mark it right away.
• Meals show who and when. If someone logged a meal a little earlier, the care log shows "Already logged: Fed" with two choices: "Don't log" or "Log again." It sends no notifications.
• The Android version is still on the way. Logging as a co-owner needs the app. If your caregiver can't use Memofu, send a health link and keep the dose log on paper.

Every health record, including the full history, is free on every plan, and so are health links and circle invites. The vet-ready PDF summary is Premium. A full export is free on every plan too, for good. There are no ads, no data sales and no public feed. You can see what Memofu does on our features page and what is and isn't paid on our pricing page.

Paper works too. The routine on one page, the medical half dated the day you leave, one person per dose recorded on the spot. Keep those three and any tool will do.

One last reminder: this is a guide to keeping records and handing over care, not veterinary advice. If your dog seems off while you're away, the person caring for them shouldn't reread the notes. They should call the vet.

Sources

• Boarding Your Dog (VCA Animal Hospitals)
• Boarding Your Cat (VCA Animal Hospitals)
• When to go to the ER (Richard P. Riney Canine Health Center, Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, June 2025)
• People Foods to Avoid Feeding Your Pets (ASPCA)
• ASPCA Poison Control (ASPCA)
• Holiday Safety Tips (ASPCA)
• Behavior Problems in Dogs (MSD Veterinary Manual, Pet Owner Version, April 2026)
• Pet Sitting Tips: Instructions Template (AKC Pet Insurance, 2022)
• How To Get Ready for the Dog Sitter, from Pet Sitter Instructions to Packing (Rover; includes an interview with veterinarian Dr. Nell Ostermeier)
• Guide to Using a Pet Sitter (Keepers Animal Clinic, 2024)
• Dog Sitter Instructions: What to Leave for Your Sitter (With Checklist) (Wandering Pup Travels)
• Dog Sitter Checklist for Stress-Free Travel (Care.com, updated November 2025)
• 愛犬の食事についてです。先日GWで帰省のため義母宅に愛犬を預けました。 (Yahoo! Chiebukuro, 2024, in Japanese)