Food First: What, How Much, and When
The most useful collection-day questions start with the bowl. Ask exactly what food the puppy has been eating, how much at each meal, how many meals a day, and at what times — then ask for enough of that food to cover the first days at home. A sudden food change is one of the commonest causes of an upset stomach in the first week, and an upset stomach muddles housetraining just when you are trying to build it. Also ask what treats or chews she has had, whether she eats alongside her littermates or separately, and whether she has shown any reluctance around food that you should watch.
Sleep, Toileting, and the Words She Already Knows
Ask where she has been sleeping — with her littermates, in a pen, in a crate — and honestly how the nights have gone, because a puppy used to sleeping in a pile will find her first solo nights hard, and knowing that in advance changes how you set up her bed. Ask what toilet routine she knows: whether she has been taken to grass, paper, or pads, at what intervals, and whether she has any signal. Ask what words she has heard consistently — her name response, any cue for toileting, anything used to call her in — so your household continues her vocabulary instead of accidentally starting over.
What She Has Already Met in the World
A good breeder or rescue can tell you what socialization has already happened: which sounds she has heard, whether she has met children, other dogs, or visitors, how she has been handled, and whether she has ridden in a car. Just as valuable is the other side — what has frightened her so far, and what settled her. A puppy who panicked at the vacuum but recovered on a lap is telling you something practical about her first weeks at home. Ask, too, about her individual character among the litter: boldest, quietest, first to the bowl — that context helps you read her early behavior fairly.
Health and Paperwork to Leave With
Before you leave, confirm what health care she has already had: which vaccinations and worming treatments, on what schedule, what her microchip details are, and whether the litter or mother had any health issues you should tell your own veterinarian about. Ask when she was last seen by a vet and whether anything from that visit needs follow-up. Get the answers in writing or by message while you are still there — collection day is emotional and busy, and the feeding amounts you were sure you would remember are exactly the details that blur by evening.
Turning Collection Answers Into Her Permanent Record
Everything you learn at collection is the first chapter of your puppy's own history, and it is most useful when it is written down once, properly, rather than scattered across messages and memory. Her food and amounts, her sleep setup, her known words, her fears and comforts — together they are the handover that lets her new household continue her life instead of restarting it. That is the idea behind KinsLe's Transferrable Profiles, where a puppy's history, records, and routines travel with her profile into her new home intact.