Paper, between people who get along
Every dispute in this corner of the world starts between two people who liked each other at the beginning. An agreement is not a sign of distrust. It is what lets a disagreement six months from now be about a document instead of two memories.
It carries more weight here than in a shop sale. Illinois gives buyers specific remedies when a pet shop sells them a sick animal, but a person selling only dogs they raised is not a pet shop under the Act, so those remedies do not apply. What the two of you wrote down is what exists.
This is not legal advice. If you plan to reuse an agreement, have a lawyer read it once.
Name the dogs, not just the people
Registered names, call names, dates of birth, microchip numbers, and which health documents each side has already had verified. Attach copies rather than referring to them.
Microchip numbers do the work here. Two dogs in the same pedigree often share most of a name, and a number does not.
The mating itself
The stud fee and when it falls due. Whether it covers a repeat service if there is no pregnancy. Who travels and who pays for the travel. Who pays for timing tests or an artificial insemination. What happens if either dog is unwell on the day, or comes into season three weeks late.
Puppies, money, and the things that go wrong
Pick order and how many puppies each side takes. What happens with a litter of one, and what happens with a litter of none.
Who carries emergency veterinary costs and who has authority to approve them. A caesarean at two in the morning is the most expensive line in the whole enterprise, and it is the worst possible moment to discover that neither of you assumed it was yours.
What goes home with each puppy
Use the state’s list for licensed breeders as your template: age, sex and weight; breed; vaccination and veterinary records; sterilisation status; your name and address; anyone else who kept the puppy; and microchip documentation showing enrolment in a nationally searchable database.
Add what the list leaves out. What the puppy has been eating and how often, the vet who has seen it, and a number the new owner can call when something worries them at ten at night.
The clause people leave out
A take-back clause: you will take this dog back at any point in its life rather than let it reach a shelter. Put it in writing, with a phone number that will still work in eight years.
It is the single clearest signal that you are placing a dog rather than selling a product, and the people you most want as buyers read it that way.
Keep the file
Licensed breeders are required to keep records of the origin and sale of every dog, and to give buyers proof of pedigree. Below that line, keep the same file anyway: the agreement, the health documents, the microchip registration, and the dates.
The person who wants it years later is usually the buyer, and being the breeder who still has it is worth more than any advertisement.