A private rehoming runs on trust, and paperwork is how trust becomes something you can check. An adult dog arrives with a medical past, a registration identity, and a daily routine that exists mostly in the seller's head, and every missing piece becomes your problem at your first vet visit or your first difficult night. A genuine seller expects to hand over a proper bundle and will usually have it ready. Hesitation about records is information too, and it is better learned before the dog is in your car than after.
The veterinary record, in full
Ask for the complete clinical history from the dog's current practice, not a vaccination card alone. The full record shows vaccination dates and what is next due, parasite prevention and when it was last given, any surgery or dental work, ongoing conditions being monitored, and any investigations that were started but not finished. Ask the seller to tell the practice you are taking over, because the smoothest route is the record transferring practice to practice with the seller's consent rather than you reconstructing it from memory.
Two gaps deserve direct questions. First, ask what the dog is currently being treated or monitored for, in the seller's own words, and compare it with the record. Second, ask whether there has been any symptom the seller noticed but never had checked — a cough on exertion, a lump mentioned at home, intermittent limping — because those are exactly the things that never reach a clinical record yet matter enormously to the dog's next chapter.
Identity and ownership documents
The microchip paperwork is the single most urgent item. You need the chip number, the database the chip is registered with, and the seller's cooperation in transferring the registration into your name, because an untransferred chip means a lost dog is traced to someone who no longer owns him. Alongside it, expect any registration documents the dog has, insurance paperwork if a policy exists and can be transferred or continued, and a signed, dated transfer agreement or receipt that names the dog, both parties, and the fact that ownership is passing over. That simple document protects the seller as much as you if questions arise later.
If the dog originally came from a breeder, ask whether the original sale contract included a return-to-breeder clause. Many good breeders require first refusal on rehoming, and a seller who is quietly breaching that clause is telling you something about how this sale is being conducted.
The written life of the dog
The final part of the bundle is not official at all, and it may be the most valuable: the seller's written notes on daily life. What the dog eats and when, where he sleeps, how he is on walks, with children, with other dogs, in the car, at the vet, and being left alone. Ask for honesty about the hard parts — fears, triggers, and habits like guarding food or chasing cats — because a seller who volunteers the difficulties is almost always describing a dog you can plan for.
Agree the bundle before money or the dog changes hands, and check the microchip number against the paperwork in person. When the handover happens, KinsLe Transferrable Profiles moves the dog's profile to you with its history, records, and routines intact, so the bundle you collected becomes the dog's permanent file rather than a folder that fades.