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Free template

Free Pet & House Sitter Checklist (Printable)

One page your sitter ticks off on every visit, the pet side and the house side. Fill it in below and print one per day, or download the blank and work through it with a pen. There is a visit log at the bottom to initial.

Type to fill it in, watch it build on the right, then Print / Save as PDF. Or download the blank to print and fill in by hand. Nothing you type leaves your browser.

Every visit: the pets

Every visit: the house

Daily and weekly jobs

Visit log

The visit log prints as an empty grid: one row per visit or day, initialled by the sitter.

If something goes wrong

Pet & House Sitter Checklist

for your pet

Every visit: the pets

Fed the right food, right amount
Water bowls washed and refilled
Medications given and logged
Walk or garden time
Litter box scooped and topped up
Play, brushing and company
Quick health check: eating, drinking, no limping
Photo or message sent to the owner

Every visit: the house

Mail and parcels brought in
Pet waste and rubbish bagged and out
A lamp or timer left on
Thermostat left at the agreed temperature
Taps off, no leaks under the sinks
Spills, hair and muddy prints wiped up
All doors and windows locked
Alarm set on the way out

Daily and weekly jobs

Bins out on collection day, and back in
Plants watered, indoor and out
Anything urgent in the post photographed
Curtains or blinds opened and closed
Other jobs, and where things live

Visit log

DateTime inTime outFedMedsInitials

If something goes wrong

Owner's phone
Backup contact
Vet & after-hours emergency vet
Keys, codes & Wi-Fi

Made by pupline.app, the best business software for pet care professionals.

How it works

Fill it in, print it, done.

1. Fill it in

Type into the form and watch the document build live. Nothing you enter leaves your browser.

2. Print or save the PDF

Hit Print / Save as PDF, only the document prints, formatted clean to the page.

3. Hand it over

Give it to your sitter or client, or download the blank PDF to print and fill in by hand.

The pet side

Pet sitter checklist: what to check on every visit

A pet sitter checklist is worth having because the same four things go wrong: a missed dose, a water bowl nobody topped up, a litter box left one visit too long, and an owner who heard nothing all day. Work through these on every single visit, even the short ones.

Food, water and appetite

Measure the food rather than guessing, and note whether it actually got eaten. A dog or cat that leaves a full bowl two visits in a row is the earliest warning you get that something is wrong, and it is worth a message to the owner the same day. Wash water bowls rather than topping them up, and put a second bowl down somewhere else if you are only visiting once a day.

Medications, given and written down

Tick the box and write the time and your initials, especially if two people share the visits. If a dose is refused or spat out, note it and tell the owner instead of trying again with a second tablet. A separate medication log is easier to keep straight than a scribble in the margin of the care notes.

Exercise, litter and company

Walks, garden time, play and brushing all belong on the list, because they are the parts that quietly get dropped when a visit runs late. Scoop every box on every visit and top the litter up, and note anything unusual: a cat that stops using the box, or a dog with loose stools, is information the owner needs the same day.

The health check, and the photo

Thirty seconds is enough: eating, drinking, breathing normally, no limping, no sore eyes or ears, no new lumps or hot spots. Then send one photo with a line about the visit. It costs nothing, it is the single thing owners say they want most while they are away, and it doubles as your record that the visit happened.

The house side

House sitting checklist: the home side of the job

A house sitting checklist covers the jobs that are invisible when they get done and obvious when they do not. If you are house sitting for the first time, agree this list with the owner before they leave, and confirm who to call if something breaks.

Mail, deliveries and the bins

Bring post and parcels in every visit and stack them somewhere agreed, and photograph anything that looks urgent or official. Put bins out the night before collection and bring them back in the same day, because a bin left on the kerb all week advertises an empty house. Double-bag pet waste and take it out rather than leaving it in an indoor bin.

Security: doors, windows and the alarm

Walk the same route out of the house every time: back door, windows, side gate, front door, then set the alarm. Vary the lights instead of leaving one lamp on permanently, and use a timer if there is one. Do not post about the trip on social media, and do not let anyone in who was not on the owner's list.

Water, heating and the small disasters

Check under the kitchen and bathroom sinks for drips, make sure taps are properly off, and leave the thermostat where the owner asked, which matters for pets left alone between visits. Know where the water stop tap and the fuse box are before you need them, and have the owner's plumber or handyman number on the sheet, not in your head.

Plants, tidying and the handover

Water indoor and outdoor plants on the schedule the owner set rather than whenever you remember, and wipe up hair, spills and muddy prints as you go so the last visit is not a deep clean. Before the owner gets home, empty the bins, run a cloth over the surfaces, and leave the completed checklist and visit log on the counter. That page is what a pet care checklist for house sitting is really for: proof, not paperwork.

Questions

Good to know.

What should be on a pet sitter checklist?

The pet side: the right food in the right amount, fresh water, medications given and logged, a walk or garden time, litter scooped, play and company, a quick health check, and a photo or message to the owner. The house side: mail in, bins out, plants watered, lights and thermostat, taps and leaks, doors and windows locked and the alarm set. This template has a tick box for each and a visit log to initial.

What should a house sitter check every day?

Security and water are the two that matter most: every door and window locked, the alarm set, taps off and no drips under the sinks. Then the visible ones, post and parcels brought in, bins out on collection day and back in, plants watered, and a lamp on in the evening. Agree the list with the owner before they leave and tick it off each visit so nothing gets remembered twice and done once.

Is this house sitter checklist template free and printable?

Yes, free with no sign-up. Tick items on the page and print it or save it as a PDF, or download the blank PDF and print one copy per day. Empty tick boxes and the visit log print as an empty grid, so a blank copy is ready to work through with a pen.

How do professional sitters keep track of every visit?

Most start on paper, exactly like this. If you sit professionally, Pupline keeps each pet's feeding, meds and routine in a Care Card you open on your phone, and sends the owner a photo report card after the visit, so the checklist and the proof it was done live in one place instead of on a counter.

Share

Never re-type care notes again.

Pupline Care Cards keep every pet's feeding, meds, vet and quirks in one always-current link you can share with any sitter, no paper, no re-writing before each trip. Scheduling, invoicing and report cards come with it, for one simple monthly price.

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