Printable safety checklist
One page. For the fridge, not the drawer.
A free checklist of 45small habits a senior living alone with a dog can keep by the front door - kitchen, bathroom, night-time routine, dog-care basics, emergency contacts and a mobility & falls section. The Lifeline Collars SOS collar is one extra layer of in-home protection that pairs with this kind of broader preparedness; the checklist is the wider floor it sits on.
Pin it next to the dog lead. Keep the names in print.
45 printed lines. Plain text - readable on the wall, in the dark, without glasses.
Who this is for
The senior who already lives alone with a dog - and the family that worries.
This page is for an older Australian who spends the day on their own with a beloved dog - and who would rather not call their daughter at three in the morning for a small problem, and would rather have the number for one already in their pocket when it is not small. The SOS collar that ships from our Perth workshop sits at the centre of the wider system we build, but this checklist is useful without it: print it, write the names and numbers in by hand, keep it by the front door. Read each line with the senior and tick it together; revisit when the season changes.
The six sections
What you will see on the printed page.
Six areas. Six to ten lines each. Each line a checkbox and a one-line rationale. No medical disclaimer, no card to scan - just the habits a senior and a dog both live by.
- Kitchen01
Kitchen - hot surfaces, spills and forgotten burners
- Turn the kettle off at the wall before walking to the tableA short memory lapses most often on the second trip to the lounge.
- Move the pet food bowl away from the stove and the back doorExcited dogs knock bowls into the burners and trip the senior reaching past.
- Keep a folded towel on the counter within reach of the stoveCatching a small spill yourself beats crawling to the sink after a fall.
- Store the step-stool out of sight, not beside the cupboardsA stool on the floor is an invitation to climb - most kitchen falls start there.
- Put the morning medication on the bench the night before, onceSpoons, scissors and pill bottles all share the one surface the senior reaches for first.
- Mark the front of the fridge with the GP number and 000A fridge in the dark is the last place you forget; visitors or paramedics could read it for you.
- Set a phone reminder 5 minutes after the oven timerThe timer rings; the moment after, the senior steps into another room and forgets.
- Bathroom02
Bathroom - tiles, water and the shower the next morning
- Lay a non-slip mat inside the shower and one just outside itMost bathroom falls are a wet foot on a dry tile - the second mat catches that.
- Move the dog's water bowl out of the bathroom doorwayA short walk at night plus a wet floor is the classic slip pattern.
- Put a nightlight on the hallway between bed and bathroomRoutes walked in the dark account for half of all after-dark "I've fallen" calls.
- Keep a phone on the bathroom ledge before turning the shower onA fall happens in the first minute; reaching back to the bedroom takes too long.
- Switch a tall loofah-on-a-stick for a wall-mounted soap dishBending and reaching for soap while standing is the common bathroom-slip cue.
- Test the grab rail by leaning on it once a month, lightlyRails pulled loose from tile are the silent second fall on the same day.
- Place the towel on the rail before turning the shower onCold, wet seniors slip on the reach for a towel, not on the standing.
- Night-time03
Night-time routine - the bed, the dog and the hallway
- Walk the dog once more in the yard at 9 pm, not 11 pmA short, calm pre-bed loop prevents a wake-up at 2 am and a half-awake stumble to the back door.
- Put the leash on a hook by the back door before bedReaching for the leash at half-past-two on a winter morning is when the senior steps back into the dark hall.
- Charge the phone on the bedside table, volume up, ringer onA phone on silent is the same as a phone in another room when help is needed.
- Pick a "house slippers on before you stand" rule - alwaysCold floors and bare feet are the small cause behind most night-time calls.
- Wear the Lifeline Collar collar - even through the nightA dog fall or a senior fall both happen in seconds; the SOS is on the dog before you stand up.
- Keep a glass of water on the bedside, not the kitchenWalking to the kitchen at midnight means a slippery floor, the back door and the dog barking.
- Set one lamp on a timer for the first hour of sleepThe senior wakes in the half-dark and looks for shapes; the lamp keeps the route in front of them.
- Write the date on a small note on the bedside, with the morning's GP slotA day-of-the-week note cuts 60 seconds of confusion from every "what day is it".
- Dog-care basics04
Dog-care basics - food, walks and the small vet visit
- Feed the dog at the same two times every day, in the same spotPredictable feeding calmest the dog and removes the half-dozing reach for the bowl at 5 am.
- Keep one spare lead and one spare collar in a drawer by the doorA broken lead at 7 am means a panicked, slow walk - which is where most falls start.
- Refill the dog's water bowl in the morning, not at nightA dog that needs a drink at 3 am will nudge the senior out of bed for it.
- Walk the lead hand, not wrist, on colder afternoonsA sudden pull on a thin wrist is the same lift force as a fall - 18 kg of dog at full tilt.
- Keep the dog's ID tag on at all times; back-up phone on the collarIf the dog slips out the gate without you, the tag is the difference between a same-day call and a lost dog.
- Write the vet's number on the fridge, beside the GP numberTwo numbers on the same door, in the same handwriting, makes them easier to read in the dark.
- Have a neighbour or pet-sitter who knows the dog's nameA vet visit that needs a 6 am drop-off will be the second call you make; the first catches the dog.
- Bring a small towel and water on every walk, even short onesMost senior-pet tiredness on a walk is dehydration, not age - and a tow-off is a quiet break.
- Emergency contacts05
Emergency contacts - by the door, on the fridge, in the phone
- Put 000, the local police and the closest 24-hour ED on the first lineThree numbers on day one; the senior never has to look for the first one when something goes wrong.
- Keep two family or friend contacts - mobile, work, after-hoursOne person across a three-time-zone gap; the second is the person who picks up the same evening.
- Pick one neighbour and agree on a daily wave or knockA missed wave at 9 am is the cue for the neighbour to ring; the senior never has to ask for help.
- Write the Lifeline Collars 24/7 desk number on the same fridge cardPress the button on the collar and the desk answers; the senior should see the number alongside the others.
- Add a 4th line: the GP and the chemist for repeatsMedication running short is the small slip that becomes a 7-day emergency; keep the chemist with the others.
- Record the dog's vet and the closest 24-hour animal hospitalA dog injury is the reason a senior hops the fence or walks alone at midnight - the vet number is the same plan.
- Save all six numbers as labelled speed-dial favouritesOne tap, no scrolling - the same group of contacts lives on the fridge, in the phone and in a written list.
- Mobility & falls06
Mobility and falls - rugs, stairs and the slow Sunday stand-up
- Lift every loose rug or fix it with double-sided tapeA rug corner is the leading cause of the "I went down in the lounge" call; tape is a $5 fix.
- Keep one lamp on in every room the senior walks throughHalf-lit hallways turn a half-trip into a fall; the light keeps the route even before the dog barks.
- Add a second handrail on any staircase with five or more stepsMost stair falls are the single-rail version; two rails keep the climb the same in both hands.
- Move the dog's bed so the senior can stand up next to itBending to pat a dog in an awkward corner is the cue for a half-fall on the way up.
- Wear the Lifeline Collar collar - on every walk and in the yardA dog fall or a senior fall both happen in seconds; the SOS is on the dog before you stand up.
- Sit before you tend a low cupboard, the oven or the dog's foodMost low-bench falls happen on the way back up; a kitchen stool next to the bench is a small readjustment.
- Carry the phone in a pocket, not in a back trouser pocketA phone in a back pocket is the wrong shape on a fall; a small bag at the hip is the same phone, kept safer.
- Place a chair in every long hallway - a halfway pointA chair in the hall is the halfway break to lean on before the senior reaches the front door.
Same 45 lines, one printable A4 page.
How to use it
Download, print, write the names in by hand.
Download as PDF below, print it on standard A4 - one sheet, both sides.
Fill in phone numbers and contact names by hand - in print you can read.
Keep the sheet by the front door or laminated on the fridge.
Cross out anything that no longer applies. Replace phone numbers and contact names the moment they change - if the neighbour moves, the fallback is gone. If you go from “two friends” down to one, add another name to the list. The checklist is a living page, not a one-off print.
Read more from the workshop
The longer reads behind each line on the checklist.
Four articles that go deeper on what the checklist is written around - the four personal-alarm categories in Australia, the cellular edge at the rural property, the dog-as-carrier idea behind the collar, and the wider system the collar sits inside. Read one with the senior you are buying for; the other three stay bookmarked for next week.
- Article/blog/choosing-a-personal-alarm-for-seniors-in-australia
Choosing a personal alarm for seniors in Australia
If you are researching a personal alarm for an aging parent who walks with a dog, four categories of device exist in Australia today. This guide walks through each one honestly, names the five features that matter most for a senior living alone, and explains where the Lifeline Collar fits in that picture.
- Article/blog/no-signal-coverage-and-when-the-dog-runs-to-the-letterbox
No-signal coverage and when the dog runs to the letterbox
Many of the seniors this system is being built for live at the edge of cellular coverage, not the middle of it. This article walks through what "no signal" means in practice - the back paddock, the letterbox at the end of the drive, a regional property with one bar on the front porch - and the satellite fallback and event-buffering the collar plans for those moments.
- Article/blog/the-dog-as-part-of-the-safety-system
The dog as part of the safety system
A collar-integrated alarm depends on one thing that the marketing copy is sometimes quiet about - it works because the dog is part of the senior’s regular day. This article walks through what that means in practice: the morning collar-on routine, the kitchen-and-yard day, the garden and letterbox afternoon, and the moment the senior walks out without the dog - the moment the collar does not work.
- Article/blog/connected-safety-system-roadmap
The connected safety system: how the SOS collar fits the wider plan
The SOS dog collar is the headline. The system around it is what actually keeps the senior safer — the printable checklist on the fridge, the 24/7 Australian monitoring desk on the other end of the button, the satellite fallback at the edge of cellular, and the contact chain named in print on the fridge card. This article walks through each layer in the order the senior is most likely to need them.
- Focused Q&A/faq
Have the checklist in hand but still have one specific question?
The /faq page answers the buyer-objection list in plain English — battery life, accidental triggers, waterproofing, the SOS path end-to-end, no-signal coverage, and the sizing/strap/cleaning routine. Reading time: under five minutes. Keep it next to the checklist, so the family heir can answer their own version of the question while you are reading it.
Stay close to the launch
The SOS collar the checklist was written around.
The checklist above is useful without the collar - that is why we wrote it. The collar is the next layer: a single tactile button on the side of the everyday collar the dog is already wearing, that opens a line to a 24/7 monitoring desk the moment it is pressed. First 100 collars go to seniors nearest our Perth workshop. Add yourself to the list and we will tell you the day reservations open.
- One confirmation email when reservations open - no drip, no follow-ups.
- Dog name and suburb are optional - and help us prioritise the first batch by area.
Have feedback on the checklist instead?
Open the contact formGet in touch
Spotted a missing line on the page? Prefer email - read every one.