Basics:
PuppySpot maintains it’s a no-cost way for breeders to advertise the sale of their dogs, but it’s a disaster
Expected pay: NA
Husl$core: $
Commissions & fees: none for breeders; copious for customers
Where: Nationwide (remote)
Requirements: 18 or older
What is PuppySpot?
PuppySpot maintains that the site is a vetted, no-cost service for breeders to sell their puppies. Only families buying puppies pay the site.
However, if you’re a responsible breeder you should not sell here. And, if you are a responsible pet-owner, you should also steer clear.
Why? The site’s set up makes it impossible for buyers to know where their dog is coming from. So even though the site swears it will not send you a puppy from a puppy mill, there is no way to check that.
Complaints filed with the Better Business Bureau indicate that this site is a disaster for anyone who loves animals.
How it works
Breeders fill out an application to list their dogs on the site. The application asks for contact information, as well as information about how many dogs you’re breeding, the breed, and whether you are USDA licensed.
You’ll also need to agree to a Breeder’s contract. The contract has some general requirements regarding vaccinations and animal health and requires the breeder to guarantee that if the dog is found to have a congenital disease in the first year — or is brought to a vet with a serious illness in the first 14 days — that the breeder will be financially responsible for taking the dog back, exchanging it or paying the vet bills.
This is the basis for its “no puppy mill” promise.
But realize that if you get a sick dog, the remedy you’re usually offered is to return it — knowing that it will probably die in the process. Given that puppies are living things, not defective handbags, few people do that.
Meanwhile….
The rest of the contract with the breeder deals with advertising. And it’s clear that the crux of this agreement is to make sure that a PuppySpot buyer can’t find your dog anywhere else. Specifically, you must advertise each puppy in a litter with a name — that cannot be used anywhere else. You also have to give the site photos of the dogs that you don’t publish anywhere else.
Naturally, breeders can and do sell their puppies elsewhere. But they have to use different names and different photos. This insures that buyers won’t find out that they could buy the same dog for a fraction of the price directly from the breeder.
Customer side
Customers shopping for dogs on competing sites like PuppyFind can search for local breeders. They can also get information about the breeder selling their dog and contact that breeder directly. None of that information is available at PuppySpot.
You will not be given the name of the breeder; the breeder’s contact information; any information about where your dog is located; nor have any chance to see your dog in person before you buy it.
That sets up the idea situation for irresponsible breeders to hide behind PuppySpot’s marketing machine.
Ludicrous costs
The PuppySpot is willing to advertise dogs for free is because the site is charging more for them than the breeder. Therefore, they make money on the mark-up.
The site also charges a host of fees to buyers. These include delivery fees — even if you pick up the puppy yourself. These fees add somewhere between $300 and $2,000 to the cost of the pet.
And, if you compare the prices of dogs on PuppySpot vs. PuppyFind, you’ll quickly see that PuppySpot is already charging about twice as much for the same breeds.
Sick animals
But what is most tragic about this site are the number of complaints about sick and dying dogs. (See what their buyer’s say below.) Animals sent with Parvo, Giardia, and parasites. Dogs with serious congenital diseases that are often the result of overbreeding.
Recommendations
Responsible breeders want to know who is buying their dogs and they have no problems answering questions about health and vaccinations and bloodlines. PuppySpot doesn’t allow that communication, which makes us believe that any responsible breeder would want to avoid this site like the plague.
It’s also a terrible site to buy a pet. It’s not only unnecessarily expensive, it is far more likely to deliver a sick or traumatized pet than when you buy the same dog directly from the breeder.
Better places to advertise (and buy) a purebred dog include PuppyFind and the AKC Marketplace.
What their buyers say (from the Better Business Bureau):
If I could give a zero I would. We have a two year old *******Recently diagnosed with trachea malformation and trachea collapse Terrible prognosis. The only alternative is stent placement which is about $6000 and no guarantee she will survive the surgery. If she doeslife expectancy would be only two years additional. Without the surgery Death is eminent. We are heartbroken. Our vet said this was congenital at birth. Do yourself a favor do not buy from this company under ANY circumstance.
Congenital ailments
My 16 month old puppy was diagnosed with bilateral elbow dysplasia and this company could care less. RJ’s breeder had another German Shepherd with bilateral elbow dysplasia in 2017, they did nothing! And when my dog arrived at the airport I had to jump through hoops to pick him up as PUPPY SPOT was going to leave him in a crate and travel another 8 hours to drop off other puppies. They don’t care about your dog or its health, they care about lining their pockets.
The day I got him I couldn’t even take him for a normal 10 minute walk at 9 weeks because he was already in pain. They said they didn’t know when he had obvious indications of hip dysplasia. The only option I had was sending him back and getting a refund just so he can be put down or keeping him and dealing with this by myself.
Delayed delivery
I bought a puppy one month ago. I was told the puppy will be delivered to the door. Then, they told me they couldn’t do it but to the airport. One day before the delivery date, they called me to tell me the delivery was canceled because of weather conditions. After that, they went radio silent: no emails no calls, no responses. My son is sad and frustrated and we have asked for a full refund. They are not responsible, they are not serious. I have my lawyer ready to call them because I am not going to tolerate this scam.
Communication with the customer NONEXISTENT once the **** has been paid. This isn’t an inanimate package we are waiting for- its a living breathing animal for which we paid top dollar.
Great until they get your money. Then they lie. Bought a puppy at 10weeks. Was told it was going to ship the 9th-13th. Another delay led to another to another. Then the puppy was supposed to be delivered on the 23rd. Had to talk to 2 separate people before getting $100 off for shipping. Then they rescheduled delivery for the 29th because the dog now has Giardia.
Breeder vetting?
If you are drawn to PuppySpot because of their “breeder vetting” and “No Puppy Mill Promise” – that is a lie, no one at PuppySpot could tell me anything remotely specific to the breeder of my dog or even my dog. They ultimately cancelled on me after changing the travel twice, due to a congenital defect present from birth. The defect is indicative of poor breeding. 2. If you are drawn to PuppySpot because of the “concierge service” and “puppy manager” – this is also a lie. You are not “assigned” a puppy manager. You will talk to random people every time you call or use the app. These random people will likely be reading from a script somewhere overseas.
They will not let you contact the breeder directly so all questions and requests for updates, pictures, etc have to go through puppyspot. They only require breeders to update pictures every 2 weeks. So asking for pictures is pointless. They ask you to be patient and give them several days to get back to you with responses and most of the time the responses don’t answer the actual questions you had and then you have to start all over.
From Trust Pilot
“If you can figure out who the breeder is that your pup will come from – you can get it for about 50% of what they charge.”
“My husband bought a golden retriever puppy from purebredbreeders.com for our family shortly after we lost our 12 year old golden retriever to cancer. We took her to the vet the next day after she arrived and found out she had Giardia and worms. After six months of the puppy constantly vomiting, having extreme diarrhea and giving her constant medication, she is now fairly healthy but still undersized for 10 months old. Not only that, the puppy can’t be registered with any nationally accredited registration such as AKC, etc. I should have disputed the credit card charge but there is no way that I would send the puppy back (probably to be a lab test animal) if they demanded the return of the “property” so I did not. Stay far, far away from this company and do not believe the doctored photos and false promises.”
Updated 2/7/2023
Mike
Purchased a 17 week old Lab through Puppy Spot and was told that she was potty trained (she isn’t) . Was also told she was healthy and she arrived with hookworms and coccidia. I was also told she would be flown to us, not in a crate, but would be seated with the other passengers for an additional cost of $900 however she was brought to us by ground transportation.
Beware of purchasing a puppy through Puppy Spot. Their prices are also exorbitant.Reply
Linda Gilbert
I just bought a puppy from PuppySpot a few weeks ago. It’s been a horrible experience! He’s had Giardia from day 1! After doing some research, I discovered the person I was speaking to on PuppySpot was actually the breeder. She never let on that she was the breeder! I feel duped! I would never recommend buying a puppy without seeing it first! If I had seen my puppy, I would have turned around and walked away! He’s not potty trained and is hyper as hell! He’s also food aggressive and goes after my other dog if he has a bone. All in all, it’s been a nightmare!!! To top it all off, he jumped up to get a toy out of my hand and when he landed he broke his leg.( $6,000.00 for surgery) This has been one very expensive puppy!!! $5000.00+ for the puppy and travel expenses! Over $11,000.00 so far!!!
Reply
Elaine Spinelli
Beware of PuppySpot
The best advice I could give someone who was considering using PuppySpot to add a new fur baby to their family, would be: demand to know who the breeder is, and check them out yourselves.After much conversation back-and-forth with Lisa at PuppySpot, I was assured (because the window for socializing had long ago shut) that the 5-1/2 month old Schnoodle we were considering had been completely socialized, lived in a house with the breeder and their three young children, and that PuppySpot as a business, especially loved this breeder.
Our puppy arrived with extremely long toenails, smelling like a garbage truck (no exaggeration), had the infection Giardia, was at the very lowest weight of the acceptable weight for her age and when I asked the vet why she kept her legs stiff and straight when we picked her up, we were told this was an indication that this puppy, at 5-1/2 moths of age, had never been held by humans.
When we brought our new puppy to our groomer of 10 years, the comment was made directly to me, that “if it wasn’t you bringing her in, I would say she came from a puppy mill!“ When I asked why she had made that comment, she explained that the puppy would have to be shaved because her undercoat was so extremely matted to her skin that it had caused some skin breakdown and there was no other way without causing the puppy a lot of pain, than to shave it. She said “this is a major sign of a puppy mill. A responsible breeder would never allow her fur to get like this or her nails to grow so long!”
When I called PuppySpot to tell them they sold me a sick puppy, the “Puppy Manager” responded by telling me “it was my puppy and it was my responsibility to make sure the puppy got treated by a Vet.” We got no satisfaction, no make good, no follow-up.
We paid a lot of money to PuppySpot to “RESCUE” this dog and have her flown from Indiana to New Jersey, an hour from our home. When she arrived, she was lethargic and hours later came out of her “haze”. We have no idea what she was given on the flight, or if she traveled with a “Chaperone” as we had been told. We arrived at the airport where a gentleman met us outside in the parking lot in 20 degree weather!!). The poor pup was shaking it was so cold. That should have been the clue that this would turn out to be one shady operation.
We love our pup to pieces, even though she is extremely skittish around people, due to the lack of socialization. We will get her to fully happy and healthy adulthood with much more work than it should have been, and who knows what other health problems she’ll show as she grows.
We would NEVER get another dog from PuppySpot, and would NEVER recommend them to anyone. Don’t walk, RUN from PuppySpot!!!Reply
Paola Sanmiguel
I will never use PuppySpot again. In fact, I wish someone had written this review and warned me before I lost nearly $5K & went through a painful emotional rollercoaster. What you should know about PuppySpot:
1. They are not puppy experts—they advised that I get a male-female to raise as bonded pair where that should NEVER be done for the breed.
2. They don’t check on living conditions —one of my puppies were raised entirely indoors, allowed & trained to potty on hardwood floors which made the transition to home living & potty training incredibly challenging.
3. That same puppy, was allowed by breeder to chew & ingest plastic—PuppySpot didn’t see anything wrong with this and called me hysterical, even though my vet said it could lead to intestinal blockages and THOUSANDS of dollars in surgery and medical charges.
4. Puppies live in unsanitary conditions—One of my puppies couldn’t fly b/c he had a terrible case of worms. They couldn’t clear it and flew him anyway, leaving me with $100’s of vet bills & endangering his long term health.
5. Behavioral problems originating with breeder become your problem—the breeder for one of my puppies didn’t socialize my puppy properly, imparted no discipline nor dealt with aggressive behavior. When he came home he was aggressive towards my other puppy, didn’t accept training and would repeat bad behavior over and over. PuppySpot said I should hire and pay for a trainer as neither they nor the breeder was liable for his aggression.
6. YOU WILL NOT GET YOUR MONEY BACK—PuppySpot will re-home the puppy back to the breeder but will not reimburse you A CENT. Which works out great for them because they will turn around and sell that puppy again. There is NO SITUATION—even if the puppy was raised in unsanitary conditions, made untrainable by the breeder or made sick by the breeder—You will not get any money back.
7. Breeders get paid about 50% of what you pay PuppySpot—The up-charge from PuppySpot is considerable, especially as all they do is coordinate logistics BADLY. I was handed from one person to the next, they didn’t schedule flights for my puppies that were convenient for me and never provided any of the information I needed. In fact, I only got communications from them when things went wrong and it had become an emergency. That NIGHTMARE is what you are paying THOUSANDS of dollars for. It’s a total rip off for the breeders who are actually doing the work.Go online and find a breeder you like. Skip Puppyspot. They are a rip off, making excuses to keep you hard-earned money and harm puppies.
Reply
sjrogers
I was an administrator for reputable breeders in the state of Indiana for 5 years (NOT puppy mills), and this is my honest review of PuppySpot.com.
Note: I have never listed a puppy on PuppySpot as a breeder, so I have nothing to gain/lose by giving this review. I merely want to give an insider’s perspective.
1) Communication: Unless you managed to get in touch with someone in management, communication with the regular puppy managers was always hit or miss and often frustrating. They hound breeders for updated photos and information but take weeks to respond to time-sensitive emails (i.e. when is my puppy traveling so I know when to take them to the vet, did the photos I sent make it to the new puppy family?…etc).
3) Outrageous costs: Whatever amount you’re paying PuppySpot for your new puppy, please know that the breeder who raised those beautiful parent dogs, trained them, feed them, love them, and helped them bring that beautiful puppy into the world…that breeder is only getting about 1/3 of what you’re paying PuppySpot. “Well, it’s worth it for the Health Guarantee,” you may say. That’s fair. Except that those expenses are ALSO paid by the breeder, not PuppySpot. Just something to keep in mind.
3) Transparency: Never once have I seen someone from PuppySpot actually go to visit any of the breeders I worked with or meet the puppies they’re selling to you. So, if puppy managers are telling you all about the personality and home environment of the puppy you want, they are 100% lying to you. They don’t know that puppy at all.
4) Exclisivity: Breeders who list puppies on PuppySpot are not allowed to list their puppies anywhere else, period. If they find listings on other sites with the same puppy name and photos being used, it counts as a strike against the breeders’ profile and their account is disabled until all other listings are taken down. Three strikes, and a breeder is banned from PuppySpot for life. This is unfair to both the breeder, the families looking for a new puppy, and the puppy itself, as not everyone can afford PuppySpots outrageous prices and breeders often would rather talk directly to a prospective puppy family than go through a PS rep.
My advice: If you’d like to find a new fur-ever friend without breaking the bank or supporting businesses like PuppySpot, I recommend looking on Puppies.com and AKC.com, where you will deal directly with the breeders. Here are some things to look for in a good, honest dog breeder:
They have been raising the same breed of dog for at least 5 years, preferably more, and know a lot about that particular breed.
They welcome prospective families to their home to meet the new puppies and parents.
They have well-behaved and socialized parent dogs.
They can show you parent pedigrees and OFA documents.
They do health check-ups at 6 weeks and can provide that information to you.
TALK to them on the phone, don’t just email.Reply
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