What Your Dog Walker Actually Needs to Know (It's More Than You Think)

You met your dog walker, handed over a key, showed them where the treats live, and figured that covered it. Two weeks later your dog bolts after a squirrel, backs out of his collar, and your walker is standing on the sidewalk with no idea who to call or whether your dog has a condition the stranger now holding his leash should know about. The leash location was never the hard part. The information that matters most is the stuff people forget to write down.

The basics most walkers already get

Most owners cover the floor without thinking about it: which leash or harness to use, where the treats are kept, the usual potty schedule and the spots your dog prefers, and a cell number to reach you. Useful, all of it. But this is the starting line. Everything below is what separates a routine walk from a walk where your dog gets hurt and nobody knows what to do.

Medical details that can come up mid-walk

A walk is 30 minutes outside your control, and a few medical facts can change how your walker reads a situation. Tell them about known allergies, since some dogs react badly to bee stings or certain plants. List current medications and say whether timing matters if you get home late. Flag physical limits like a bad knee, a recent surgery, or a heart condition that caps how hard your dog should push. If your dog has a seizure history, write down what one looks like and what to do. And mention anything you're watching day to day, so your walker can tell you she skipped breakfast or favored a back leg today.

Behavioral triggers that prevent incidents

Behavior is where most walk-time trouble starts, and it's the easiest thing to under-share. Name the reactive triggers: other dogs, skateboards, kids, cyclists, the mail truck. Be honest about recall and whether your dog is reliable on leash versus off. Say whether he's friendly with other dogs or selective. Call out escape habits, the fence-jumpers, collar-slippers, and gate-rushers, because those are the moments a walker has half a second to react. Then tell them how you'd handle a reaction, whether that's crossing the street, asking for a sit, or just creating distance. This matters most when a walker is meeting your dog for the first time, which is often the case with someone matched through an app rather than a long-time hire.

The emergency contact and medical profile to hand over

This is the part worth getting right once and reusing for every caretaker, walker, or sitter you ever hire. Give them a single profile with all of it in one place:

• You, as the primary contact, with the best number to reach you on.
• A backup contact who can make decisions if you can't be reached, with their number.
• Your regular vet's name, address, and phone number.
• The nearest 24-hour emergency vet, since your regular clinic may be closed.
• Current medications, known allergies, and any ongoing conditions.
• A clear statement of whether the walker is authorized to seek emergency care.

That last line is bigger than it looks. A vet can hesitate to treat or release records to someone who isn't you, and a longer trip with an overnight sitter raises the stakes. We cover how to write a proper authorization letter, with a spending limit and a payment plan, in our guide to vet treatment authorization for sitters.

Give them a link instead of a text essay

Texting all of this the morning of the first walk tends to go badly. Half of it gets buried in the thread, and your walker is scrolling for the emergency vet number while your dog pulls toward a squirrel. Keeping it in one shareable profile fixes the scramble, and it's the same profile you'd hand a sitter, a boarding facility, or a friend doing you a favor.

Wagabond keeps that profile in one place. You forward vet documents to a per-pet email address, the app pulls out vaccinations, medications, and weights, and you send your walker a time-limited link with the medical details, emergency contacts, and vet information already filled in. The link expires on a schedule you set, so they don't keep open access to your pet's records after the job's done. If you book through a platform, it's also worth reading what Rover and Wag actually verify before a booking. You can download Wagabond Pets free on the App Store.