What to Send Home With a New Puppy: The Go-Home Packet Checklist
Go-home day is a blur. Families arrive excited, the puppy is wiggling, someone wants a photo, and you're trying to remember whether you printed the vaccine record. The folder you hand over is what the family will lean on for the next few months, and it's what their vet will read at the first visit.
Here's what belongs in it, and how to put it together without retyping anything.
What to send home with a new puppy
The short version: everything the vet needs, everything the family signed, and enough of the puppy's routine that the first week feels familiar.
Paperwork
- Health and vaccination recordGo-Home Packet
- Shots and deworming still dueUpcoming care checklist, in the packet
- Weight history and growth chartGo-Home Packet
- Parents' health testingGo-Home Packet, Litter Summary
- Signed sales contract and health guaranteeSigned PDF from the contract
- Paid invoice or receiptInvoice / Receipt
- Registration paperworkAKC Ownership Record, pre-filled
- PedigreePedigree Certificate
- Temperament test resultsPuppy Aptitude Report
- Microchip number and registration stepsOn the puppy's record
In the bag
- A few days of the food the puppy eats now
- A blanket or towel that smells like the litter
- A toy from the whelping box
- Feeding amounts and the daily routine, written down
- Your phone number and the best time to call
The health record matters most
The vet will look at this before anything else. A good one has every vaccine with the product name, date, and lot number, every deworming with the product and date, any vet visits and what was found, and the puppy's weights so far. The parents' health testing belongs here too. It's the first thing a careful buyer asks about, and the easiest to lose track of.
Don't stop at what's already been done. One breeder told us her printouts showed every shot she'd given, but not the 12- and 16-week shots still to come. Families assumed the puppy was finished. A short list of what's still due, with the age each one is due at, fixes that.
The paperwork they sign or register
- The contract and health guarantee. Hand over a signed copy, even if they signed online. If you're still writing yours, start from our contract templates for dog breeders.
- Registration paperwork. If the puppy is being registered, include the form, filled in as far as you can.
- The microchip. The number, the registry, and a reminder that registering it in their name is their job, and it should happen in the first week.
- The receipt. A paid invoice closes the loop on the money and saves you an email later.
Things a form won't cover
The bag matters as much as the folder. Send a few days of the food the puppy eats now, so any switch can happen slowly. Add a blanket that smells like the litter, and a familiar toy. Write down how much the puppy eats, when, and what the day usually looks like. And put your phone number somewhere obvious, with the best time to reach you.
How BreederBuddy builds the packet
Most of what's in the folder already lives in your records, so there's no reason to type it again.
- Go-Home Packet. One PDF with the puppy's full health history, weights, and parent information. Print it from the puppy's row on the litter page, or from the Document Manager. You choose which sections to include.
- Upcoming care. The packet includes a checklist of what's still due, on by default, so the family and their vet can see the next shots coming.
- A compact option. Tick it and records are laid out as tables, so a typical puppy's packet fits on one page instead of three.
- Litter Summary. One PDF for the whole litter: both parents with their health testing, then every puppy's records. It's handy when your state asks for litter paperwork.
- The rest of the folder. Signed contracts as PDFs, invoices and receipts, a pre-filled AKC ownership record, a pedigree certificate, and the puppy aptitude report all print from the same place.
Questions
Do I need to give puppy buyers vaccination records?
Practically, yes. The buyer's vet needs to know what was given and when to plan the rest of the series, and most families will ask. Some states also require a vet health certificate when a puppy is sold, so check your state's rules.
When should I print the go-home packet?
The day before pickup. That way the records are complete and the list of what's still due starts from the right day.
Should the packet go home on paper or by email?
Both. Paper goes in the folder with the puppy. A PDF copy by email means nothing is lost when the folder ends up in a drawer.
How do I keep track of the shots still due after the puppy leaves?
Give the family the list and the ages, and ask them to share the vet's records after the next visit. Our free puppy vaccination schedule builds a dated list from the birth date that you can send along too.
Your records already hold everything in this folder. See how health records in BreederBuddy come together.