A lack of transparency and accountability in the dog world has allowed disreputable sources to mislead and take advantage of prospective dog owners for too long. Even the most well-intentioned consumers often find it difficult to tell whether a breeder is responsible or not, let alone know what to look for.
Good Dog is on a mission to change that by creating a trustworthy and transparent online community that shines a light on vetted, responsible breeders. We hope that by educating prospective dog owners and connecting them with responsible breeders, we can help people avoid the bad ones and can push puppy mills and other disreputable sources out of the system.
It’s critical to our mission that we maintain the integrity of our platform by enforcing our standards in a meaningful way. We believe that transparency and accountability is the key to doing so, which is why we screen each breeder before they can become a member and why each breeder’s Good Dog profile clearly displays their practices and policies and clearly indicates which of these have been independently verified.
Our hope is that the combination of screening, transparency, accountability, and community self-regulation will not only help maintain the integrity of our community, but also create a movement that elevates the standards in the dog world overall.
All breeders on Good Dog are screened to ensure they meet our Breeder Code of Ethics before being allowed to join the platform. This Code of Ethics, which was developed in conjunction with our breeder, veterinary, and academic advisors, describes the minimum standard of care we require all breeders to agree to abide by in order to become part of our community.
We know, however, that a simple standard isn’t enough. It’s just a starting point. Most breeders we work with, in fact, far exceed these norms. That’s why we’ve created a platform where breeders can share all that they do to ensure the health and welfare of their dogs, such as the education they receive, health testing they perform, and enrichment they provide, and we work to verify the information as much as possible.
As time goes on, we are excited to keep improving our standards and screening process by using more advanced verification techniques, conducting virtual and in-person visits, partnering with similarly minded communities such as clubs, and working with past owners to ensure that all breeders continue to adhere to our standards.
The Good Dog screening process begins with a breeder sharing information about themselves and their program with us. We look to make sure that breeders are taking great care of both their puppies and breeding dogs.
We ask that a breeder share proof of the health testing they conduct, such as CHIC/OFA numbers, DNA test results, or other official documentation. We want to make sure that all of their litters are the result of conscientious planning and consideration for not only known health problems within the breed, but also of the parents’ individual physical and emotional well-being and lack of hereditary and congenital diseases.
We make sure breeding dogs are well taken care of, have a clean and comfortable environment, and are breed after the right minimum age, before the right maximum age, and at the proper, healthy frequency.
We check to ensure that all puppies are provided a clean bill of health (including a fecal exam with negative results) and given appropriate vaccinations before going to their new home. Lastly, a member of our team speaks with each breeder, and often their primary veterinarian, by phone to learn about the breeder’s background, practices and policies.
As our community grows, our screening process will grow with it as we continue to learn from you.