A puppy sold in France should leave with an identification document, a vaccination record showing at least one injection, a microchip number registered to the seller, and a written sales contract. If the litter is registered, you should also receive an LOF certificate or the paperwork that lets you claim it, plus the parents’ health test results. Ask for all of it before any deposit changes hands, not after.
Which documents should accompany an Australian Shepherd puppy in France?
Start with the legal minimum, because it applies to every dog regardless of breed or registry.
- An identification document: in France this is the carte d’identification, issued after the microchip or tattoo is registered in the national file (I-CAD). The chip number must match the number written on the contract.
- A vaccination record (carnet de vaccination) signed and stamped by the vet who gave the injections. For a puppy leaving at eight weeks, expect the first core vaccine, usually a combined one, with the date and batch number recorded.
- A veterinary certificate of health issued shortly before departure, dated within a few days of the handover.
- A written sales contract with the seller’s identification, the puppy’s identification, the price, and the clauses on return or replacement.
- A receipt for any deposit paid.
If the breeder claims LOF registration, add the registration documents. The LOF is the French stud book (Livre des Origines Français) kept under the authority of the Ministry of Agriculture and managed by the Société Centrale Canine. A puppy from two LOF-registered parents can be registered, but the certificate is not always printed before the puppy leaves. What you must see is the proof of declaration of the litter and the pedigree numbers of both parents. Without those, the word “LOF” in an advert means nothing.
For a French-language walkthrough of this paperwork and the questions that go with it, Aussie France sets out the French LOF puppy guide in detail, including how to check that the litter declaration matches the parents named on the contract.
What does the LOF record show about a litter?
The LOF entry is not a health certificate. It is a parentage and identity record, and it tells you four things.
First, that the litter was declared. The breeder files a declaration of mating and then a declaration of birth, and the puppies are individually identified before registration. A litter that was never declared cannot be registered later without a long administrative process, and sometimes not at all.
Second, who the parents are. The pedigree shows the sire and dam with their own LOF numbers, and behind them the grandparents. This matters clinically: if the same kennel name appears repeatedly on both sides within two or three generations, the coefficient of inbreeding rises, and with it the risk of the recessive conditions the breed already carries.
Third, the date of birth and the number of puppies registered in the litter. A litter of ten registered puppies is not a problem in itself, but it tells you how much individual handling each puppy received in its first eight weeks.
Fourth, the breeder’s identity as the owner of the dam at the time of mating. This is the point to verify against the contract. If the person selling you the puppy is not the person named on the declaration, ask why, in writing.
What the LOF does not show is whether the parents were tested for hereditary disease. That information sits in separate veterinary documents, and it is the part most buyers never ask to see.
Which hereditary tests are asked for in the breed?
In the Australian Shepherd, the tests that responsible breeders in France and across Europe routinely discuss fall into three groups.
Eye examinations. The breed is affected by hereditary cataracts and by collie eye anomaly, a developmental defect of the retina and choroid. In France, the standard examination is done by an ophthalmologist approved by the SCC, and the result is recorded on the dog’s file. A breeding dog should have a recent examination, not one from five years ago, because some forms of cataract appear with age.
Hip and elbow scoring. Hip dysplasia is scored radiographically, and in France the reading is done under the SCC scheme with a letter grade. Elbows are scored separately. Ask for the actual grades of both parents, not the phrase “hips tested”.
DNA tests. The main ones requested in the breed are for the MDR1 gene mutation, which affects drug sensitivity, and for hereditary cataract and collie eye anomaly where a DNA test exists. Progressive retinal atrophy variants are also tested in some lines. Each test result is either clear, carrier, or affected, and a carrier dog can be bred responsibly to a clear partner. What matters is that the results exist and are shown to you.
Two points are worth stating plainly. A clear test on one parent does not guarantee a clear puppy, because the other parent’s status matters. And no test panel covers everything: degenerative myelopathy and some cancers in the breed have no predictive test that a breeder can use to guarantee a puppy will never be affected.
How are the questions put to a breeder before a reservation?
Ask in writing, by email, and keep the replies. A breeder who works with health documents will answer without irritation, because these are the questions they already ask themselves.
A short list that covers most of it:
- Are both parents LOF-registered, and can you send me their pedigree numbers?
- Was the litter declared, and will the puppies be registered?
- What are the hip and elbow grades of the dam and the sire?
- When was the dam’s last eye examination, and by which ophthalmologist?
- Which DNA tests have been done on both parents, and what were the results?
- Can you send copies of those documents, not just tell me the results?
- How many litters has the dam had, and how old is she?
- What has the dam been vaccinated against, and when was she last treated for parasites?
- At what age do the puppies leave, and what will they have received by then?
- What happens if the puppy is found to have a hereditary condition covered by your contract?
Question ten is the one that separates a breeder with a written health policy from one who is improvising. If the answer is vague, treat it as information about the breeder rather than about the puppy.
How do you read a breeder’s health documents?
You are looking for three things: the dog’s identity, the date of the test, and the result in a form you can interpret.
Check that the name and identification number on the veterinary report match the dog named as the parent on the LOF declaration. Reports get mixed up between dogs in a kennel, and mismatches are usually clerical rather than dishonest, but they still need resolving before you pay.
Check the dates. An eye examination older than two years, or a hip score taken before the dog was twelve months old, carries less weight. A DNA test is valid for life because the genotype does not change.
Check the result format. Hip scores should be given as a grade, not as “good”. Eye examinations should state the findings, including any note of a breeding restriction. DNA results should name the laboratory and the mutation tested.
Finally, compare the documents with what you were told verbally. If the advert said “all tests clear” and the papers show one parent untested for MDR1, you have learned something useful about how that kennel describes its dogs. That is not a reason to walk away automatically, but it is a reason to ask the next question in writing and see whether the answer is straight.
A puppy is a ten to fifteen year commitment, and the paperwork takes an afternoon to read. Read it before the deposit, not after the puppy is on your kitchen floor.