Breaking Down the Historic Downturn in the Puppy Market

A brief overview

Since early 2020, the puppy market has experienced significant fluctuations, with a surge in demand followed by a historic decline. Four years later, demand has fallen 50% below pre-pandemic levels, leaving much of the dog community in uncertain and unfamiliar territory. Together, we’ve faced these challenges head-on by adapting to the changing landscape. This article explores the market’s shifts, what the data shows, the unique perspective of Good Dog breeders, and the proactive measures we've taken to keep our community thriving.

The 2020 spike in the market

With the rise in shelter-in-place orders and remote work during the start of the pandemic, millions of Americans turned to dogs for companionship. At the time, Google’s data tracker, Google Trends, indicated a 250% increase in searches for “puppies for sale” in the United States. This level of demand from potential puppy buyers was unsustainable, and the initial spike diminished in the years that followed, eventually dropping to pre-pandemic levels and continuing to decline as people returned to in-office jobs, traveled more, and shifted their priorities.

A historic downturn in demand

This phenomenon could be attributed to what some call post-pandemic ripple effect, where the rush to adopt puppies at the start of the pandemic caused a downturn in the market afterward. Whether it’s post-pandemic ripple effect, travel, or more cautious spending, Google Trends shows that active searches for available puppies just aren’t as high as they were a few years ago. At the start of 2022, demand normalized to a level similar to what we experienced before the pandemic. By 2023, the market dropped to nearly half of what it was before the pandemic.

That number has only continued to decline. In 2024, Google Trends reported that searches for “puppies for sale” were down over 80% from the peak. This data aligns with what some responsible breeders have been experiencing within their programs and what we’ve heard many of you share with us. But just as the spike in demand wasn’t sustainable, neither is the lull in the market. As the post-pandemic ripple effect fades, the market is expected to normalize. Despite these challenges, we’ve continued working together to overcome the fluctuations. In the last four years, Good Dog has defied the trajectory of the market, becoming the leading platform for puppy buyers. Good Dog breeder Crystal Bower said, “Things were crazy during the pandemic. Puppies were snatched up quickly. Now I really have to work hard to place each litter. It is getting better slowly, though.”

How the downturn impacted responsible breeders

While it was typical to send puppies to their new homes after the eight-week mark, more and more breeders were surprised to find themselves keeping puppies well into adolescence before finding suitable homes in recent years. As puppies stay longer, breeders are investing time and money into training and development. Running small businesses, being there for their families, looking after their breeding dogs, and raising growing puppies is a significant investment of time and money. With the rising cost of food, pet supplies, and vet care, keeping puppies well past eight weeks adds up. Although it's an undertaking, some find that puppies with strong foundations, proper socialization, and house training can typically rise in value and are great candidates for buyers looking for older dogs. Good Dog breeder Whitley Perry emphasized, “It takes good and dedicated breeders to get through times like this and not give up.”

Some breeders turned to paid advertising on social media platforms to attempt to reach new buyers but found it costly, risky, and unreliable. Most social platforms prohibit online animal sales, forcing breeders to navigate community guidelines carefully to avoid having their profiles suspended. These platforms are also full of scammers, making it difficult and time-consuming for breeders to determine if buyers are legitimate. Even when genuine connections with real buyers happen on social media, many tend to have a lower level of commitment — more focused on getting a dog someday rather than in the moment.

The rise in the sophistication of scammers

At the same time, scams have become more costly and sophisticated than ever, with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) reporting that Americans lost over $9 million to pet scammers in the last four years, and with most pet scams going unreported, that number is believed to be much larger. Scammers are also finding more complex ways to emotionally manipulate and exploit buyers – using stolen photos, fabricating stories, and asking people to pay through gift cards, wire transfers, or payment apps. 

Buyers aren’t the only group impacted, with breeders often getting their personal photos and health testing information stolen by scammers trying to impersonate programs with responsible practices. Scammers are also preying on breeders who are in fear of losing their program pages with Facebook’s ban on animal sales, targeting them with convincing private messages sent to their Facebook accounts in an attempt to hack their profiles and steal their personal information. Good Dog breeder Jody Vaughn told Good Dog, “[COVID] helped the market because of all the stay at home workers, but it has created challenges regarding scams on both sides ... As a breeder[,] I have learned how to prove that we are a legitimate and responsible [breeding program].”

Scammers aren't just targeting breeders on social media. Subscription services where breeders pay to list litters are also inundated with scammers posing as potential buyers. This not only becomes wasted money but also frustration that you’re spending your valuable time distinguishing genuine inquiries from fraudulent ones, adding another costly layer of complexity to the puppy placement process.

How Good Dog is empowering breeders in a changing market

In response to these challenges, we adapted and made changes to better support our breeder community, emerging as the top platform for potential puppy buyers. We implemented several improvements to keep our community thriving:

1. Bringing back the application process to prioritize serious buyers. To put educated buyers first and save your valuable time, we reintroduced the application process, ensuring that only genuinely serious buyers can connect with you.
2. A personalized Insights Dashboard to give you the tools you need to succeed. Our new breeder dashboard gives you the program data and insights you need to improve your visibility and successfully place your puppies in great homes on Good Dog.
3. Detailed puppy listings so buyers can see what makes your programs special. New listings showcase the time, care, attention, and expertise that go into raising each puppy, and we made sure buyers have to spend more time on your listings before reaching out to you.
4. Putting quality first with improvements to our search ranking algorithm. Ranking is now based on more quality-oriented factors, and we designed our system to be fair for programs of all sizes.
5. Custom listings for adult dogs. Recognizing the need to support you in finding homes for your older dogs, we created a custom flow so you can properly list adult dogs and connect with great buyers.
6. Certifying breeders and continuing to educate buyers about responsible breeding practices. We’ve invested in ongoing educational resources and screening processes to help buyers identify and understand how important it is to work with breeders with responsible practices.

Beyond these improvements to the platform, we’ve invested in a dedicated security team and built sophisticated systems to protect our community from scams and fraudulent chargebacks. We scan every payment on our platform to screen for signals of a possible issue. In light of the increasing threat of scammers, we know how important it is to ensure Good Dog is the safest place for you to find great homes for your puppies. Our team works to protect your messages, payments, puppies, and personal information, so you can put your time back into what matters most — raising your puppies.

Looking ahead

If you’re a breeder noticing a decline in applications, dealing with scammers, getting ghosted, or keeping puppies longer than expected, know that this could be a reflection of the market. The downturn has impacted everyone differently, but looking ahead, it’s promising that despite the challenges, Good Dog has emerged as the leading platform for puppy buyers, and continues growing as a reliable place for you to make meaningful connections with serious buyers. Our ability to adapt together paired with our commitment to quality will help us weather these changes and continue building Good Dog into the safest and most reliable platform for you to place your puppies in great homes.

Shaping The Future of Good Dog

We encourage all breeders to make the most of the resources and features built for you on Good Dog so we can continue working together to thrive in this evolving landscape. Our commitment to quality, safety, and meaningful connections will guide us as we shape the future of Good Dog and the puppy market.

Thank you for being a valued member of the Good Dog community. We look forward to continuing this journey with you, supporting your success, and ensuring that every puppy finds a loving home.

If you have questions or need support, don’t hesitate to reach out to us at breederteam@gooddog.com. And as always, thanks so much for being part of our breeder community – you are truly what makes Good Dog great.