Pet Sitter Meet-and-Greet Checklist

What the checklist is for

The meet-and-greet is the hour in which a pet sitter meets the animals on their own ground, learns their routines, sees the home and collects the information they will rely on when the owner is out of reach. It is easy to leave with a friendly impression and a gap: no emergency contact, a medication dose remembered but not written down, no idea where the carrier is kept.

This checklist gives you the whole visit in one list you can work through on the day, print for your client folder, and reuse for every new client. It is built from our pet sitter meet-and-greet checklist article, which explains each item in more detail.

How to use it

1. Before the visit, send the client your form and service agreement, and ask them to have medication (with its pharmacy label), vet details, keys and the animals' equipment ready. The first section lists what to ask for.
2. At the visit, work down the sections: contacts, vet details and written consent, each animal's routine and feeding, health and medication, behavior, house access and alarms, your emergency plan, and the services and terms you are agreeing.
3. Tick an item once it is written down or agreed, not when it has merely been mentioned. "The dog has a tablet in the morning" is not the same as the medicine's name, dose, timing and what to do if a dose is refused, written by the owner and checked against the label.
4. Watch, and try it yourself. Ask the owner to show you the routines that matter, then do them while they watch. If you cannot put the harness on or give the tablet safely with the owner present, you will not manage it alone.
5. Afterward, write it up the same day and send the client a copy to confirm.

Your ticks are saved in this browser only. The tool never asks for, or stores, client names, addresses or codes; those belong in your own secure records. Use "Start a new client" to clear the list for the next meeting.

A worked example

A sitter meets a new client with a senior dog and a young cat before a ten-day booking. The client filled in most of the form in advance, so the visit starts with the gaps. The emergency contact section is blank; the client names a neighbor with authority to make decisions and agrees to tell her. The sitter gets signed permission to seek veterinary treatment, with a spending limit, and saves the vet's and the nearest after-hours clinic's numbers.

The dog takes a daily tablet. The owner has written the dose, but it does not match the pharmacy label, so the owner calls the vet's office to confirm the correct instructions before the booking and updates the form. The sitter gives the tablet, hidden in food, while the owner watches, and practices putting the cat in its carrier. A short walk on the usual route shows the dog pulls toward other dogs, which goes in the behavior notes.

Before leaving, they agree visit times, updates by message with photos that never show the house, key handover, and who the backup sitter is. Everything is ticked except the trial visit, which they book for the weekend.

When to decline or adapt a booking

The list ends with reasons to say no, or not yet: an animal you cannot handle safely for essential care, a species or medical routine you do not know how to manage, an owner who will not give vet details, consent or an emergency contact, a home that cannot keep the animals in, or expectations the visits cannot safely meet. Offer alternatives where you can, such as longer or more frequent visits, a trial visit, or a referral.

When the checklist is not enough

This is a list of good practice, not legal advice, and it is not a contract. Rules on service agreements, keys, personal data and animal care differ between countries and local areas, so check what applies where you work and have your own agreement reviewed if you are unsure. A checklist also cannot tell you how to give a medication or handle an animal you have never met; if a routine is beyond your experience, say so and adapt or decline the booking.

Learn more

For the route into professional pet sitting, read how to become a professional pet sitter. To set the prices and terms you agree at the visit, see how to set your prices for pet sitting and dog walking.