Where Do Breeders Find Customers Online?

Matt Matasci Matt Matasci · Updated September 5, 2024

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Dog ownership is one of life’s greatest joys. You know this — after all, you’ve started a business with the hope of placing puppies in fellow dog lovers’ forever homes. 

Unfortunately, the ever-increasing demand for puppies has resulted in some people taking advantage of the system. Web-based dog sales have allowed scammers and unethical breeders to proliferate. As a result of this minority of bad actors, many potential puppy buyers can be unnecessarily wary of every breeder.

Luckily, this increase in demand has also resulted in a number of legitimate online resources for breeders and buyers. These websites can make it easy to find customer leads and begin the puppy buyer vetting process. One great resource for breeders is Responsible Pet Breeders, an organization that maintains a database of member breeders. Being a member of this organization is a signal to potential buyers that your business follows ethical guidelines.

Pet Shipping with CitizenShipper

Whether you’re starting a new business or just looking for sales leads, we’ve gathered some of the best places to find puppy buyers online. 

1. American Kennel Club

American Kennel Club (AKC) traces its roots to well over 100 years ago when a group of local kennel club representatives formed a “club of clubs.” Over the decades it’s become the gold standard for breeding, health and training information. 

There are few dog organizations with the clout and name recognition of AKC. You won’t find a better-trusted puppy marketplace — while it’s unaccredited by the Better Business Bureau (BBB), it has an A+ rating from the organization

Why Choose AKC to Find a Puppy Buyer?

Unlike other organizations in this article, AKC is much more than a puppy marketplace. It has one of the world’s largest libraries devoted to dogs, with internal and external references on any and all dog-related inquiries.

Another benefit of listing puppies on AKC is its rewards program. You’ll earn up to $10 in rewards per puppy when you register dogs with AKC, contact them about pet insurance and download the TailTrax mobile app. Here’s how you earn:

  • $2 for every new puppy buyer that registers their dog with the AKC.
  • $5 when the new owner contacts the AKC about pet insurance.
  • $3 the first time each new puppy owners downloads the TailTrax mobile app.

“Over the decades AKC’s become the gold standard for breeding, health and training information.”

Using the AKC Marketplace

There are a few options for listing puppies on AKC’s marketplace. You can choose to pay for a single listing, an annual or monthly subscription, or post free listings after becoming a Breeder of Merit.

One-Time Listing Vs. Subscription

Your choice between a single listing and an ongoing subscription to AKC’s marketplace depends on how frequently you have litters. Most breeding businesses will opt for the subscription, though initially you may consider a single listing to test the waters.

To post a listing you must have a:

  • Litter Number
  • Dam Registration Number
  • Dam Certification Issue Date

One-Time Litter Listing

  • Breeders pay $35 for a 90 day listing on the marketplace. 
  • If the listing expires, you can renew for another 90 days for $35. 
  • After creating a listing, you can customize your listing details and add photos or videos to the post. 

Subscription

  • You can purchase the subscription on an annual or monthly basis.
  • A monthly subscription is $12 a month with a $37 sign-up fee.
  • An annual membership is $112. 
  • When you pay for a subscription, your breeding business is searchable on the marketplace even when you don’t have a puppy listed for sale. 
  • When you subscribe to AKC, you can create as many listings as you please
  • Listings expire after 90 days but subscribers can repost the puppy for free.
  • Subscribers can post future listings to advertise upcoming litters and build a waiting list.

“The Breeder of Merit program was created to highlight members that are ‘breed ambassadors’…the most conscientious and committed members, dedicated to preserving the breed’s characteristics and producing healthy, well-socialized puppies.”

Breeder of Merit

Joining the Breeder of Merit program is another way to post listings on AKC. This program was created to highlight members that are “breed ambassadors.” In other words, these are the most conscientious and committed members, dedicated to preserving the breed’s characteristics and producing healthy, well-socialized puppies.

Not only are Breeder of Merit members able to list puppies on the marketplace for free, they also have priority positioning in search results.

Other benefits of the program include:

  • Access to AKC’s direct, toll-free number.
  • 30 days of free health insurance for your puppies and a 10% discount on an annual insurance policy.
  • 33% discount on 25-count boxes of AKC Reunite microchips.

Breeder Profile

While the puppy listing may be enough to entice some buyers, your Breeder Profile is where you sell your business. A well thought out profile can be the factor that converts a curious browser into an excited customer. On your profile you can include:

  • Contact Information
  • Distinctions (i.e. AKC Breeder of Merit, AKC Club Member)
  • AKC Registration Information
  • Memberships (i.e. AKC National Breed Club Member, AKC Specialty Club Member)
  • Competitions
  • Photos and Videos
  • Location and Phone Number, Breeds and Website Link
AKC has some of the most robust breeder profiles in the industry.

Other Services

One final reason to use AKC to list your puppies is that it has a section for Grooming and Training services. If your business offers either of these services, you can post a listing on the marketplace. And if you don’t provide these services, this is a great place to find a groomer or training for your own personal dogs!

2. Good Dog

Good Dog was created in response to abusive behavior by puppy mills, scammers and other unethical players in the breeding industry. It differs from AKC in that it’s a for-profit business, but it holds its breeders to a similarly high standard. 

Why Choose to Use Good Dog to Find a Puppy Buyer?

One simple reason — it’s free for breeders to use! The puppy buyer pays a Service & Protection Fee, which is in addition to your quoted price. Good Dog never takes a cut from breeders. 

The site is accredited by the BBB and holds an A+ rating. Because the site is extremely cautious about who it will allow to sell puppies in the marketplace, it’s earned nearly perfect reviews. Good Dog boasts an average rating of 4.89/5 stars on its BBB page.

Good Dog has location-based search pages that make it easier for customers to find breeders near them. These pages can be toggled between Purebred Breeders, Crossbreed Breeders and Shelters & Rescues

“Good Dog is free for breeders to use! The puppy buyer pays a Service & Protection Fee, which is in addition to your quoted price. Good Dog never takes a cut from breeders.”

Good Breeder Community

To ‌post free listings on Good Dog, you’ll have to join the Good Breeder Community. In addition to the puppy listings, there are several other benefits:

  • Weekly Webinars
  • Sample Puppy Contracts
  • Exclusive Discounts
  • Free Access to Your Litter A to Z
  • Access to expert veterinarian advisors

Not just anyone with puppies for sale can join the Good Breeder Community. Every breeder in the community is vetted. This gives the site and your business credibility because only the most conscientious breeders can sell puppies on this platform.

1. Sign up and complete a brief questionnaire.

2. The team at Good Dog reviews your breeding program. 

3. Join the community with a certified badge and custom-designed profile.

Breeder Profiles

Good Dog gives breeders the chance to create rich, detailed profile pages. It’s divided into several sections that act as a guide to help you create an informative and engaging profile.

Good Breeder has extensive breeder profiles. This information is crucial for any potential puppy buyer.

At a Glance

In this section, you can provide a personalized message about who you are, where you’re located and what kinds of dogs you breed. 

Puppies

This is where you list your puppies that are available for adoption. Reserved puppies are listed in this section, though it’s made clear they’re no longer available. If a puppy is still available for purchase, it will be listed first and be marked as “Available.”

If you have newborn puppies that aren’t ready for adoption or a litter that has an upcoming due date, you can list them on Good Dog! This is a great way to build up a wait list of customers. 

This section includes:

  • Status of the puppies (newborn or upcoming due date)
  • Breed
  • Birth/Due Date 
  • Ready Date (when they are able to be adopted)

After listing your puppies, newborns and upcoming litters, the next section is where you include the instructions for customers to apply for adoption. This is where you’ll include the price of the dogs — Good Dog includes a link to a resource that explains the cost of a dog from a responsible breeder. 

Getting Your Dog Home

Explain here the types of pet transportation you’re comfortable with. Some breeders will only sell locally, but many opt for trusted pet shipping companies like CitizenShipper for long-distance buyers.

While ground transportation is the most common (and for certain breeds the only) way puppies are delivered, you can also include Flight Nanny and Pet Safe Air Cargo as other options. 

About the Puppies

There’s a section below Getting Your Dog Home that gives you a space to talk about how you raise your puppies. From Enrichment & Socialization to Health Guarantee to a section explaining what’s Included with Puppy, this is one more opportunity to pitch your business.

The Sire and Dam of your litter is extremely important and customers will want to know about the puppy’s genetic background. Your profile includes a section called Moms & Dads where you can list the parents of your litter.

Parent Dog Health Tests

This is where you can list any health clearances the puppies’ parents passed prior to breeding. 

The Good Dog Pod

The Good Dog Pod is a podcast that was launched in June 2020 and has over 100 episodes to date. While the podcast is free and available to anyone, it’s more evidence of the professionalism and due diligence the site takes when vetting breeders.

The podcast is available on Spotify, Audible, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and anywhere else you listen to podcasts. Episodes are between 24-45 minutes in length and cover a wide variety of dog-related topics. 

Breeder-relevant topics include:

3. Puppies.com

Puppies.com was formerly known as PuppyFind.com but rebranded a few years ago and launched a new site. It was founded in 2003 as a website for connecting puppy buyers with breeders.

It now has a comprehensive Breeds page that provides detailed profiles on dog breeds. The Learning Center mostly details the legal terms of service for those using the site, but Helpful Tips on Licensing gives breeders a crash-course on getting a USDA license

Membership Tiers

Puppies.com offers three different types of memberships for breeders. Depending on your business needs, you can select between a 30 Day Membership, 90 Day Membership or a Premiere Membership

30 Day Membership

The 30 Day Membership is a one-time charge of $29.99. The membership includes:

  • Access to Puppies.com’s network of potential puppy buyers.
  • A profile page with listings and testimonials.
  • Up 20 puppy listings.
  • Ability to securely communicate with potential buyers.
  • Track the amount of times your listing is viewed and the number of clicks you receive.

Premier Membership

The Premier Membership acts more like a subscription. This tier has a monthly charge of $19.99 or a recurring annual charge of $199.99 — you’ll save almost $40 a year by signing up for a full year up front. This membership includes all of the paid plan features plus:

  • Post up to 40 listings
  • Search Engine Optimized profile that has its own Puppies.com URL
  • Public contact info and access to the puppy news feed
  • Breeder directory listing
  • Featured listings that reach more customers
  • Premiere badge on your puppy listings

90 Day Membership

The 90 Day Membership is a one-time charge of $79.99. Selecting this membership saves you nearly $10. The membership includes:

  • Access to Puppies.com’s network of potential puppy buyers
  • A profile page with listings and testimonials
  • Up 20 puppy listings.
  • Ability to securely communicate with potential buyers
  • Track the amount of times your listing is viewed and the number of clicks you receive

New members get a free seven-day trial to try out Puppies.com

Puppies.com was formerly known as PuppyFind.com but rebranded a few years ago and launched a new site.

Why Choose Puppies.com to Find a Puppy Buyer?

Breed Matchmaker

When potential clients use Puppies.com to search for a new dog, they use the Breed Matchmaker. This feature begins with a quick quiz that asks the puppy buyer to rank their priorities. These questions include: 

  • Size Range: Miniature to Extra Large
  • Playfulness Preference: Fetch? I Think Not to Let’s Play!
  • Activity Level: Couch Potato to Born to Run
  • Barking Tolerance: Very Little to Woof!
  • Grooming Need: Little to None to High Maintenance
  • Watchdog Abilities: Not Really to Absolutely
  • Trainability: Not Really to Best in Show
  • Cuddliness: Not Really to Never Leave My Side

Other questions on the Breed Matchmaker include:

  • What outdoor space do you have?
  • Do you have small children, other dogs, cats or dog allergies?

Puppy buyers use this tool to narrow their search. This helps you as the breeder because you’ll know important information about the customer and their living situation before the initial contact is made. 

Breeder Profile

The Breeder Profile page is where you can input:

  • Kennel name
  • Email address
  • Other contact information
  • Location
  • Federal and state licenses 
The breeder profiles on Puppies.com allow you to describe your business in detail.

The About Me section is where you can really personalize your profile and stand out from the competition. This is the place you want to talk about yourself, your company and what makes you a responsible breeder. 

Featured Breeders and breeders with Confirmed Email Addresses receive a badge on their profile page, another opportunity to rise above your competitors. 

The Puppy Updates section is the place to announce any new puppies you’ve listed on the site. Just below this section are links to the puppies you currently have on the marketplace.

This is an example of a puppy listing on Puppies.com.

Listing a Puppy on Puppies.com

When you list a puppy on Puppies.com, there are several fields you can populate to give puppy buyers a vivid picture of your litter. 

  • Photos — you’re able to add up to 10 photos
  • Puppy Name
  • Birth Date or Expected Birth Date
  • Breed —- there’s a field for mixed breeds
  • Price
  • Gender
  • Coat Pattern & Markings
  • Colors — you can pick a max of three colors

In addition to these fields, there is a section where the breeder can select Characteristics. These are displayed on the customer-facing listing under the section Why I Stand Out. There are several choices:

  • Champion Sired
  • Show Quality
  • Champion Bloodline
  • Registered
  • Registrable
  • Current Vaccinations
  • Veterinary Exam
  • Health Certificate
  • Health Guarantee
  • Pedigree

You’re also able to customize the Delivery Options. Select between: 

  • On-site pickup
  • Local delivery
  • Shipping
Mawoo Pets has simple breeder profile pages but they include all the info a puppy buyer needs to know.

4. Mawoo Pets

Mawoo Pets is a less-known marketplace where you can post listings for your puppies. While the site lacks the resources of Puppies.com or Good Dog, it has a strong reputation. The company is accredited by the BBB and has a solid A rating from the organization. 

Breeders have to fill out a quick five-minute application to be considered for the marketplace. It’s currently used by over 850 breeders across the United States and Canada. 

Why Choose Mawoo Pets to Find a Puppy Buyer?

As mentioned above, Mawoo Pets lacks some of the bells and whistles you’ll find on larger pet marketplaces, but it’s still a very viable place to find customers. The listings are simple but include every piece of information the buyer needs to start the adoption process.

One downside to using Mawoo Pets is that the breeder information is located at the very bottom of the puppy listing. While it’s not that big of a deal, your business won’t have as much visibility on the site as with other marketplaces. 

The breeder profiles are very simple as well — it only includes a single profile picture, your biography, your location, what breeds you offer and what your delivery options are. At the bottom of the profile are links to the puppies you’re currently selling or reserving.

On the back end, the profiles include:

  • My Pets — this is where you’ll add and track any available or upcoming puppies to your profile.
  • Reservations — this section is organized between Applications and Sales. It’s where you keep track of past customers and potential sales. 
  • Earnings — here’s where you track your earnings on Mawoo Pets. You’re able to link a bank account to this section.

Mawoo Pets lacks some of the bells and whistles you’ll find on larger pet marketplaces, but it’s still a very viable place to find customers. The listings are simple but include every piece of information the buyer needs to start the adoption process.

You can't sell puppies on most social media marketplaces, but it's a great way to raise awareness of your business.

5. Find a Puppy Buyer on Social Media

Social media isn’t just an easy place to advertise and sell your puppies. It also offers an opportunity to connect with breeders and customers. You may or may not sell a lot of puppies through certain channels like Instagram and Tik Tok, but working to become a “petfluencer” is excellent advertising for your business. 

The barrier of entry for breeders selling puppies on social media is much lower than through sites like AKC and Good Dog. Therefore, you may find that customers are more wary of your legitimacy and ethics. Don’t be offended by any hesitancy from a potential puppy buyer — you also want trustworthy, ethical customers and any questioning on their end is a good sign that they’ll provide a good forever home.

  • Facebook — Breeders can run ads and traffic campaigns on Facebook. You can create a Group to raise awareness about your business. Unless you have a business storefront, you’re not permitted to sell animals on Facebook Marketplace
  • Instagram — Like Facebook, there aren’t sales opportunities for breeders on Instagram. However, it is another great channel to earn followers and promote your business. Posting behind-the-scenes photos and videos give potential customers a better idea of the steps you take as an ethical breeder. 
  • Google My Business — Every kennel should have a Google My Business profile. It’s free and adds credibility to your business. When potential customers search for breeders in your area, your My Business account will be among the top results.

Other social media channels that you should use to promote your business include YouTube, Tik Tok, Pinterest and Twitter.

Sites like PuppySpot are a good supplemental location to find a puppy buyer.

6. Other Puppy Buyer Marketplaces at a Glance

Puppy Spot

Puppy Spot’s interface is very similar to that of Mawoo. Breeders are screened before they can post listings — the screening process involves a short quiz followed by a phone call with a representative from the website. The site has a breed match quiz that helps a potential puppy buyer select the right breed for their lifestyle.

Pawrade

Like the AKC marketplace, you can post free listings on Pawrade. The user interface is fairly simplistic, but intuitive and easy for buyers to use. With three million visitors each month, your listing will get a decent amount of traffic. 

Pet Classifieds

It’s free to post a listing on Pet Classifieds and for $15 you can get more exposure with a featured ad. For that price you get 40 days of priority ad positioning. There are three packages:

  • One Basic Featured Ad for $15
  • Premium Three Featured Ads for $35
  • Business Six Featured Ads for $60

Recycler

Recycler is the online successor to the groundbreaking Los Angeles-based classified publication The Recycler. The site is very low-tech and lacks many of the bells and whistles of more pet-focused marketplaces. However, posting on the website is very inexpensive so if you’re looking for new customer leads, it’s a good place to start. 

Craigslist

Craigslist is essentially the modern version of a classified publication. It’s free to post a listing under Pets. It has a vast reach, but unfortunately that means you’ll have to do a great deal of vetting any applicants you receive through the website. 

Shipping to Customers

While many breeders understandably refuse to sell to buyers that cannot come in-person to pick up their dog, the breeding industry has evolved with the rise of internet sales. Customers are able to locate specialized breeders hundreds or even thousands of miles away — and they’re willing to pay the associated costs of transporting the puppy to their home. 

If you’re open to partnering with a puppy shipping organization, the best place to find a trustworthy and experienced transporter is CitizenShipper

When you’re transporting precious puppies, you need someone that will put the same care and professionalism into the job as you put into your kennel. Every driver that uses the CitizenShipper marketplace has undergone a stringent background check — many have years of experience transporting puppies.