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What each verification tier actually required, how disputes are handled, and what we do when a breeder turns out to be a broker.
Looking for what a badge means in plain terms? How we verify breeders
Tiers are earned, not assigned at signup. Buyers can filter by tier, and every breeder profile shows exactly which tier they hold.
New breeder account, no documents reviewed yet.
Breeder's identity and business/kennel registration have been checked by our Trust & Safety team.
Highest tier: breeding stock has documented health testing and the breeder has passed a facility review.
Where a registry offers a public lookup, like OFA, we check submitted results against the source record rather than taking the breeder's word for it. Everything else is reviewed by a person as the breeder sent it.
Reselling puppies you didn't breed is not allowed, and every breeder signs a commitment to list only puppies they bred and raised. Verification at the ID-Verified tier checks their kennel registration or licence, or a reviewer looks at why they have neither, and the top tier requires health testing records for the actual parents plus a facility review. If we find a listing is a resold puppy, the listing is removed and the account loses its tier, with a written explanation sent to the account holder.
Opening a dispute immediately halts any scheduled payout on that transaction. It cannot be released while the dispute is open.
Messages, photos, and vet records submitted by either party are visible to the other. There are no one-sided submissions.
Every dispute shows its response deadline on the page. Overdue disputes are flagged in our internal queue.
Every outcome, whether a refund to the buyer, a release to the breeder, or no payment action, is recorded with notes visible to both parties.
If you think a resolution was wrong, you can appeal it. Account actions are never taken without a stated reason.
Visits and pickups happen in person, between the family and the breeder. A few habits keep both sides safe:
The rights families and breeders each have are set out in our Terms of Service.
We never hold your funds. Payments run through Stripe, a licensed payment processor, and are held in the breeder's own Stripe account, where they can't be paid out to the breeder's bank until the release conditions are met. Every state change, whether paid, held, released, refunded or disputed, is logged with a timestamp that both the buyer and breeder can see on the transaction page.
Your phone number and email stay private while you talk. Families and breeders message each other in their getabreeder inbox, and each side sees the other's details once a puppy is paid in full through the site, when you actually need them to arrange pickup. This is enforced by the database, not just hidden in the interface.
Our payment hold and dispute process only cover sales that happen here, so phone numbers, email addresses, links, social handles and requests to pay another way are removed from messages and listings automatically. It protects you from the most common puppy scams, which almost always start with “text me instead” or “pay me on Zelle.”