PuppySpot: Much Maligned Dog Broker

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.

But, in reality, you’re going to get a fraction of what they charge for your dogs and your dogs are not likely to be well-treated in the sales process.

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 the site’s “no puppy mill” promise, which says that if buyers are dissatisfied, they’ll get their money back.

But realize that if you buy here and get a sick dog, the remedy is usually to return it. And most buyers realize that the dog will probably die in the process. Given that puppies are living things, not defective handbags, few people do that.

PuppySpot review

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 verify that.

Complaints filed with the Better Business Bureau (since taken down) indicate that this site is a disaster for anyone who loves animals. And while the company appears to be going through a whitewashing campaign to divorce itself from the terrible reviews it has generated over the years, we see signs that the problems persist.

Most importantly, the structure of the site simply creates unacceptable risks.

Why we’re negative

To explain: The site takes great pains to make sure that the buyer and the breeder never have direct contact. And, it takes great pains to ensure that you’d never see the same puppy listed for sale online.

How does it do that? Most of the contract with the breeder deals with advertising. It says 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. And it ensures that they don’t even know where the breeder that they found on PuppySpot might be located.

PuppySpot also insists on handling shipping of the dogs at great cost to buyers. Buyers, again, have no idea whether their dog is coming from next door or across the country.

Because buyers cannot personally meet the dogs before they buy — nor talk to the breeder or see the conditions in which the puppies are raised — there is no way to avoid buying from an unscrupulous breeder.

Better alternatives

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. Even if you ask PuppySpot to get answers to basic questions about your dog’s disposition or food choices, you’ll get no answer. There is no way to get any information from the breeder through this site.

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. This is likely why the site bars any communication between breeders and buyers.

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, Guardia, and parasites. Dogs with serious congenital diseases that are often the result of overbreeding.

People who try to get PuppySpot to pay for their dog’s medical treatment are often told that they can return the dog instead. Sure. What animal lover is going to do that?

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 Puppies.com and the AKC Marketplace.

What their buyers say (from Trust Pilot)

Everything went well until we got our dog. He was severely drugged I’m guessing by the transporter. Dog was matted in his own feces then sprayed with deodorizer when handed over with an injured eye and excessive bugs. Very disappointing paying a premium to get an animal treated properly and then have him abused. (8/2024)

As an elite breeder that offers lifetime health warranties on my puppies, I would not recommend using Puppy Spot….[they demanded] I start deworming my puppies at 2 weeks, which is unnecessary and harms their gut health. [We deworm at 6 or 7 weeks.] Second, the travel options include flying the puppies cargo. It is 100% unsafe for them due to their size and nature of the breed. But if I won’t allow my puppies to fly cargo I would not be accepted in the program. This was unacceptable. The health of my dogs would be at risk. I have safe means of transport for my puppies. But that was denied for use. (8/2024)

Huge mark-up

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.”

Sick puppy

Our puppy arrived with double ear infections, one scarred injury on his rump one injury to his face. He suffered from diarrhea with blood in the stool, multiple dewormings and worse yet, malnurishment. Did Puppy Spot care ? Nope. Have spoken to Jenna in CS and she wouldn’t even acknowledge the conversation with an email stating they were looking into it . She refused! We sent the expensive doctor bill as requested by Jenna, no response! How’s the puppy now? He’s recovering. How are we? Some $4k deep and luckily we love dogs. So beware of this puppy mill. (8/2024)

Can’t talk with breeder

We were so happy to finally get our puppy home! One thing that would have been very helpful is if we could have had a conversation with her breeder to find out more about her habits and demeanor before we got her home. We attempted to do this through a Puppy Spot representative but our request wasn’t followed through and we were never able to have that conversation. (8/2024)

While I adore my new puppy and we are settling in, I’ve not enjoyed the process of a blind purchase. I had questions for the breeder but it seems none ever reached the breeder. I have no idea how she was raised or anything about them. Also the transport is traumatic for puppies. The breeder had shredded paper in the kennel and we cleaned out about two cups of paper dust from the kennel when she arrived at the airport. Nasty. And could not have been good for the pup. (8/2024)

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.

Updated 8/16/2024