What a good dog-sitter note leaves out

What should a dog-sitter note include first?

A good dog-sitter note leaves out long backstory and puts three things first: the next task and when it is due, current exceptions with an end date, and contact numbers. It answers one question fast: what happens next? Put the next feeding time, walk window, or medication dose at the top, ahead of any background context.

A sitter arriving mid-day shouldn’t have to reconstruct the whole schedule from a wall of text. List the very next task, the time it’s due, and where the supplies live, before anything else. Everything after that can fill in detail.

Organize the note by time blocks instead of by topic. A morning column, afternoon column, and evening column let a sitter glance once and know where they stand. That beats hunting through unrelated notes about vet history or past behavior for the one line that matters right now.

Leftover details about brand preferences or the dog’s favorite toy can wait until the immediate action is covered. If those details matter, place them below the schedule, clearly separated, so they never compete with what’s due right now.

Include the last confirmed completion beside the next scheduled task. If that entry is missing, the sitter should check with the previous caregiver before repeating care. Medication uncertainty goes to the prescribing veterinarian.

Remove stories that hide instructions

Background stories tend to bury the actual task inside a paragraph of explanation. A note that opens with why the dog reacts a certain way, or a memory of something that happened last year, delays the sitter from finding what to actually do.

Separate the instruction from the reasoning. If there’s a reason worth mentioning, put it in parentheses or a short aside right after the instruction.

Split it like this:

• Instruction first: “Use the agreed route that avoids the corner house.”
• Optional context after: “(There’s sometimes a loose dog there.)”

This ordering lets a sitter read the leading phrase and act, without reading a full anecdote to extract the point. Long narrative passages about the dog’s past, previous sitters, or unrelated household history belong in a separate section, if they’re included at all.

What to leave out of the main note: stories about past sitters, old vet history that does not change today’s care, brand preferences and favorite toys.

After drafting, underline each action the sitter needs to take. Move background below those actions, but keep any context that changes the instruction, such as a current restriction or a known handling concern.

Keep contacts and current exceptions

Contact numbers and today’s exceptions belong together, updated, and easy to find. A note with an outdated vet number or last month’s feeding change creates confusion at the exact moment clarity matters most.

Keep one short block, near the top or bottom, listing:

• Primary contact and backup contact
• Vet name and number
• Any current exception to the normal routine (a skipped walk, a temporary diet change, a gate left closed for a reason)

Mark when the note was updated, then confirm that each current exception still applies.

If an exception is temporary, say when it ends. “No walks past the park until Friday” is clearer than an unqualified restriction that never explains its own expiration.

At the handover, read the current exceptions together and remove anything that has ended. Leave one agreed version for the sitter to use.