Here’s a surprising truth: puppy brokers can have a major positive influence on animal welfare. Beyond being another avenue to connect responsible pet stores and responsible breeders, their hands-on involvement, experience, and resources put them in a unique position to raise the standards of the entire breeding industry. Join us as we explore the benefits can offer breeders, stores, families, and dogs.
What is a Puppy Broker?
A puppy broker, or puppy distributor, is an intermediary between breeders and pet stores. Some may also adopt out and/or deliver puppies to customers directly. They are USDA-certified, and are required to adhere to care standards of treatment, transportation, and handling. They also must provide transparent records about the source of their puppies.
Much like breeders and pet stores, not every distributor is equal. Some distributors will adhere to only the minimal standards set forth by the USDA – or worse, try to skirt them altogether. A quality distributor is not only committed to the animals in their care, but they can play a unique role in promoting animal welfare across the board through their standards and expertise.
What Sort of Breeders Work with a Broker?
As we discussed in our blog on breeders choosing to work with a pet store, being an ethical breeder is a lot of hard work. While teaming up with a responsible pet store to place puppies in permanent home eases the burden, it does not eliminate it. Breeders would still need to do some measure of self-promotion online to establish connections with a trustworthy pet store, as well as communicating closely about transportation, health records, pedigrees, and more. If a breeder works with more than one pet store, this work multiplies.
Moreover, many individuals who breed dogs professionally simply can’t engage in online marketing. Raising puppies is a popular vocation in Amish and Mennonite communities. However, permitted technology use varies based on which doctrine a group follows. Many would not permit the sort of constant digital communication needed to place puppies in the 21st century. This is where a distributor shines. By taking on the technology-intensive record-keeping, communication, and transportation, a distributor can facilitate the relationship between store and breeder while remaining respectful of religious restrictions.
What are the benefits of working with a distributor?
Puppy distributors can play a hugely positive role, for breeders, adopters, and for dogs. Here are just a few of the benefits of working with a broker:
Helping New Breeders Find Their Feet
While some new breeders are fortunate enough to have an experienced mentor, the learning curve for those starting from scratch is steep. A quality broker can help these new breeders start off right. From advising on kennel construction materials and furniture, to sanitation protocols, to establishing schedules for veterinary care, a distributor’s support can make a massive difference for a fledgling breeder. They can also put a breeder on track for certifications right out of the gate – more on this later!
Regular Check-Ins
Breeder Support Coordinators are able to regularly visit their breeder partners. Frequency of visits depends on the distributor; some may visit every few months, while others have boots on the ground as often as every two weeks! These visits are opportunities to make sure that the kennels are running smoothly, adhering to welfare standards, and evaluate opportunities for improvement. Breeder Support Coordinators can also help troubleshoot any recent problems. Finally, distributors can also coordinate visits from pet stores who want to personally ensure that their puppies are coming from responsible breeders.
Placing Puppies
Whether working directly with the public or with a trusted pet store, a breeder is still responsible for finding placements for their puppies. A given litter could range from a single puppy to a dozen. This means that during the eight weeks before a puppy is ready to leave its mother and siblings, a breeder must spend time coordinating a spot for each of these puppies. Distributors, on the other hand, tend to purchase whole litters. They have a broader network of connections to find placements for puppies. A breeder working with a trusted distributor can focus on day-to-day care, secure in the knowledge that their puppies have somewhere to go when the time is right.
Finding Homes for Adult Dogs
It is not only puppies who benefit from a distributor’s network of potential homes. When a breeding dog is ready to retire, they deserve a loving home. Distributors are able to use their reach to not only look in the immediate area, but potentially search all over the nation for the right home for a dog’s golden years. Some work in partnership with rescues to find placements for their dogs. Some have even established their very own nonprofit adoption agencies!
Developing Breeding Program
A quality breeding program is part of what sets a responsible breeder apart from a backyard breeder. Selecting dogs that are genetically and temperamentally sound is key to producing healthy puppies. When it comes to purebred or designer hybrid dogs, breeders must also take care to ensure that their breeding pair is not closely related. When a breeder is looking for a new dog to add to their kennel, a broker can identify dogs from other breeders that they work with that will strengthen their breeding program. Quality brokers can also facilitate OFA testing to screen out predispositions toward genetic issues.
A Helping Hand with Logistics
As previously mentioned, distributors can be extremely helpful in the organization side of adopting out puppies. They create profiles for the breeders for potential adopters or pet stores to review, make sure all of their paperwork is in order, organize transportation, and more. Trustworthy distributors operate with full transparency. They organize and provide all the important information for a future family to understand where a puppy came from and their medical history.
Certification Guidance
Brokers are helping to usher in the future of dog breeding through their support of the Canine Care Certification program. This groundbreaking program, developed by Purdue University, creates science-backed standards for certified breeders to follow the ensure the physical and behavioral well-being of all dogs in their care. Distributors are leading the charge to increase adoption rates of the CCC. Their Breeder Support Coordinators know all the ins and outs of the program requirements, and they can both educate breeders why it is a worthwhile endeavor and give concrete, actionable guidance to get each kennel up to certification standards. They can also assist with other certifications, such as AKC or Blue Ribbon Breeder Certification.
An Extra Safety Net
In the end, a quality distributor amounts to an extra safety net to all involved. For the breeders, they are a layer of support – someone to call for advice when it is 9PM and the vet is closed. They are an extra set of eyes on the puppies to ensure their health and well-being. Distributors can choose to be selective, both about breeders and stores that they partner with, to make sure that puppies are coming from a good place and ending up in good homes. To paraphrase the president of one of our distributors, the objective of a distributor is to leave the industry better than when they came into it. They exist to educate, motivate, and facilitate a brighter future for puppies and their breeders everywhere.
