No. Our team is made up of animal welfare, behavior and veterinary professionals, as well as members of the public, none of whom breed dogs.

We do not allow breeders to have much influence over our content, but we do consult with trusted breeders about their perspectives and experiences. We cannot work in a vacuum without understanding breeders and their needs, but breeders are not allowed to join our Facebook community except by invitation, and are not allowed to recommend themselves if they do.

The Puppy Seekers Project does not endorse any specific breeders, as we cannot guarantee anyone’s actual practices. We focus on educating puppy seekers so they can make more informed decisions.

We do offer a chat through our Facebook group where they can request breeder recommendations and evaluation support from our greater community. You can join it here.

Yes, a big part of what we do is discuss different breeds. We do, however, feel that there is a lot of variety within breeds, and it is more important to select the right “line” and the right breeder within breeds or within a group of related breeds.

We have found that searching only within one breed can often cause puppy seekers to overlook better options for their needs, especially if you’re also geographically restricted.

Our core criteria is good welfare – for the dogs and people who will live with them. In general, we prefer breeders: 

• whose dogs’ welfare is as good as, or better, than what we would expect in a good pet home
• who socialize puppies gently and extensively in a home setting
• who utilize health testing, reduce inbreeding, and select against untestable disease
• who produce dogs with functional bodies and minds
• who prioritize well-being over type and tradition
• who will take the dog back at any point in its life
• who are kind to prospective buyers
• who produce dogs for whom there is a place in our society

Purebred status or to-standard breeding is not in itself a main criteria. For more information on what we value in breeding, see the Functional Dog Collaborative position statements.

Our community is global, but the vast majority of our membership is from the US and Canada, and therefore a lot of our content and expertise reflects North American context.

In the 21st century we demand a lot from pet dogs, especially urban pet dogs. Selecting and raising dogs to be calm, easy to walk on leash, quiet, good with other pets, not environmentally sensitive, good with strangers, and able to be home alone during the workday is just as challenging as breeding performance dogs, show dogs, or working farm dogs.

These are in no way worth less than the latter. We believe the world needs more such dogs, because they are less likely to be rehomed, and more likely to have good welfare, offer their humans good welfare, and be adopted if they ever need to be rehomed. They are also in much higher demand than all the other dogs combined.

While dogs bred for show, performance or work can make good pets for some puppy seekers, constraining their selection to being both a good pet and a good show/performance/working dogs we feel is unnecessary, and may affect genetic diversity negatively by eliminating too many dogs from the gene pool, a major concern in dog health.

Just as we love to see titles on parents of show, performance or working prospects, we love to see dogs bred as pets show evidence of thriving in pet situations, such as being involved in therapy or service work, or gaining advanced CGC titles.

Since our criteria emphasizes welfare, socialization and health, and not purebred status or tradition, we support the breeding of mixed breed dogs that meet our criteria for a good breeder.

We invite you to look at our answer for the « Can you help me select the right breed for me? » question in our FAQ.

Our expertise is in helping average people locate dogs that will primarily be pets, and to a lesser extent service or therapy dogs. We can, however, also support the search for a show or performance dog. Though we find that there are communities better equipped to help with this and we are happy to direct puppy seekers accordingly.

The majority of our community does participate in events with their dogs, though less often at high levels. We are also able to help evaluate breeder recommendations received from elsewhere.

Absolutely. We welcome all members of the public who value our mission and methods, except for those currently breeding dogs. We encourage breeders to join the Functional Dog Collaborative community instead, which is designed for breeders.

Because the Puppy Seekers Project group is designed as a supportive community for non-breeders it’s important that they are able to speak freely in a community that focuses on their experience.

We recognize that good breeders usually mean high sales prices ($2000-3500 US). Good breeders have significantly more expenses (health testing, specialist veterinary support, taking time off work, etc.) and generally do not make profit even at these prices, we understand that this amount may simply not be in everyone’s budget.

We are dedicated to helping all puppy seekers find a dog, so long as they have resources to take care of a dog, and are in good faith seeking harm-reduction. We will also support them in finding alternative sources, such as rescue or retired adult breeding dogs.

Our leadership team has significant experience working in rescue and shelters, and our community is happy to support puppy seekers in finding a reputable rescue/shelter and choosing a dog.

We fully support adopting a dog from a rescue/shelter if someone has the options and resources to do so – there can be some significant advantages to adopting an adult dog!

There are too many unwanted dogs, but the solution to that is arguably not as simple as taking those dogs and sorting them into homes that want dogs. There would be many unhappy dogs and unhappy people, and likely a lot of safety issues. And they would have to transport them a great distance, as dog overpopulation is high in some areas, and very low in others. In addition, with urbanization and housing restrictions, small dogs, and dogs that have the ability to thrive in dense urban areas, are in high demand, and these are dogs that shelter populations typically cannot, and should not be expected, to provide.

Addressing the root cause of overpopulation may be a better solution. Affordable neutering services are very helpful to this end, but social science research (Rowan and Kartal 2018), and strong regional variability, suggests that dog overpopulation is largely systemic in nature – meaning it is controlled by social, cultural, economic and political trends.

A drastic drop in shelter populations was seen in the 70s, and was likely caused by normalizing neutering, as well as a change in perception of dogs – a change in the human-dog relationship within society – probably related to changing views on social equality, as well as temporary economic prosperity. This is borne out in increases in shelter numbers during times of economic crisis, such as post-Covid.

We can work on further improving the human-dog relationship by increasing existing safety systems, health care and education for the human population. Doing so may allow people to have better welfare and better relationships, and thus make different decisions around acquisition, care, breeding and abandonment of dogs. In global regions where this has already taken place, like parts of Europe, shelter populations are virtually non-existent.

The Puppy Seekers Project supports sustainable solution by focusing on people, by being kind to puppy seekers, highlighting social inequities persistent in the world of dog breeding, fostering emotional bonds between people and their dogs, supporting the breeding of dogs who are easy pets that will improve human welfare and not burden the shelter system, and reducing demand for breeders that exploit dogs.

We are entirely volunteer operated, so we love to hear from people who have skills to share! We are always looking for people who are like-minded veterinary and shelter professionals, certified trainers, breed experts, graphic designers, writers, people who like to read scholarly articles for fun, people who enjoy social media moderation and web design, and more. To get started, join us on our Facebook group, and get to know the community better.

If it feels like a good fit, PM an Admin or email us at puppyseekers@gmail.com.

Breeders interested in volunteering can send us an email – we currently do not allow breeders into our Facebook group except by invitation. We also encourage all breeders to join the Functional Dog Collaborative group for breeders.

Several of our volunteers train and/or use service dogs and therapy dogs, and we are happy to support searches for trained, started and prospective service dogs, as well as prospective therapy dogs.

We are happy to support puppy seekers in finding puppies or adults, from breeders or rescue/shelters.

Yes, please join our Facebook group for discussion, learning materials and tailored advice.

The primary way to get tailored recommendations and advice is through the chats within our Facebook group, but potential volunteers can also reach out to us by email at puppyseekers@gmail.com

Yes. Please contact us at puppyseekers@gmail.com.

At this time we are not registered as a charity or non-profit. However, our sister project the Functional Dog Collaborative is.