How to Spot a Cyber Puppymill

The Internet has been a boon to puppy mills. No middle-man needed, they can now sell directly to unsuspecting consumers. Such puppy pushing websites have common features; be on the lookout for the following (few sites will have all these features but the more they have, the more suspicious you should be):

• Pictures of individual puppies posed against “cute” but unnatural backdrops like toy wagons or in baskets. Often females have pink collars and hair ribbons, males blue collars and bandanas.
   
• Pups look stiff, close mouthed, whites of eyes showing, and frightened. (This is because they have rarely, if ever, been handled before being posed in this way.)
   
• No pictures of the litter playing as a group in the kitchen, romping in the grass, sitting on people’s laps, etc. Nothing remotely natural or looking relaxed such as a pup napping on a human lap as the mother dog, who looks clean, healthy and happy, interacts with her pups.
   
• Pups available at all times.
   
• No matter what you request – they have one.
   
• Two or more breeds bred.
   
• No pictures of the parents.
   
• No pictures of their kennels.
   
• Adult dog names and numbers of adults not mentioned.
   
• Endless pages of pictures from “happy customers.”
   
• None of the kennel’s dogs are listed at the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals which tracks all manner of test results for common (and less common) canine genetic diseases.
   
• No health clearances shown or listed – although many testable problems excluded in their lengthy contract, so they are well aware they exist.
   
• No AKC or any organizations titles listed of any kind, including the Canine Good Citizenship, basic obedience or any other sport. (These appear at the end of a dog's name - CD, CGC, TD, etc.)
   
• No club membership listed.
   
• If purebred, may tout “champion bloodlines” (meaning some ancestor was a champion) but none of their dogs will actually be champions.
   
• “Registered” – but rarely AKC or UKC.
   
• Large, non-refundable deposit required.
   
• Guarantee is only a return to them for a replacement puppy – you pay shipping for both return of pup and replacement pup. That shipping will total more than the puppy you purchased.
   
• No refunds offered - ever.
   
• Credit cards accepted.
   
• No address listed on the site.
   
• Rarely is a phone number listed.

Good luck on your hunt for your new companion and we hope you find this information useful.