A responsible Goldendoodle breeder health-tests both parents and can show you the results. They raise the puppies in their home, ask you at least as many questions as you ask them, and put everything in a written contract, including what happens if you can ever no longer keep the dog. This guide covers what to ask, which answers to expect, and the red flags we’d walk away from.
A quick note first: we retired from breeding several years ago. We have no puppies, no waitlist, and we don’t refer people to specific breeders. What we can share is what we learned from the other side of the table: what we did, what we asked of families, and what we saw go wrong elsewhere.
Start by considering rescue
When we were breeding, the first answer on our FAQ page was: please, please check your local shelter first. We still mean it. Doodles do end up in rescue, often because a family didn’t realize how much grooming and exercise they need. Many of them are wonderful adult dogs whose coat, size and temperament you can see before you commit.
- Doodle Rescue Collective is a volunteer foster network for Goldendoodles and Labradoodles.
- Golden Rescue (Ontario) has placed Golden Retrievers across Canada since 1990 and sometimes helps Golden crosses.
- Your local SPCA or humane society, and Petfinder-style listing sites, let you search for “Goldendoodle” or “Poodle mix” near you.
If rescue isn’t the right fit for your family, that’s okay. Just go into the breeder search with the same care.
What a responsible breeder does
Health-tests both parents, with results you can check
“Vet checked” is not health testing. A vet check says the dog looked healthy that day. Health testing screens for inherited conditions that can’t be seen from the outside. For a Goldendoodle, the parents should have results for the conditions that run in both parent breeds:
- Hips and elbows: X-rays evaluated by the OFA (Orthopedic Foundation for Animals) or PennHIP. Final OFA ratings need the dog to be at least 24 months old.
- Eyes: an exam by a board-certified veterinary ophthalmologist (often listed as a CAER exam). It should be repeated, since some eye conditions appear later.
- Heart: the Golden Retriever side is prone to subvalvular aortic stenosis (SAS). The Golden Retriever Club of America recommends an exam by a veterinary cardiologist, not just a stethoscope check.
- Knees (patellas): especially relevant with Poodle and smaller-sized parents.
- DNA tests commonly recommended for Goldendoodle breeding pairs: prcd-PRA, GR-PRA1 and GR-PRA2 (inherited blindness), degenerative myelopathy (DM), von Willebrand disease type 1 (a bleeding disorder, from the Poodle side), NEwS (a fatal neonatal seizure disorder in Standard Poodles), and ichthyosis (a skin condition in Golden Retrievers).
A breeder doesn’t need every parent to be “clear” on every DNA test. A carrier bred to a clear dog can’t produce affected puppies. What matters is that they’ve tested and planned the pairing around the results, and can explain it.
How to check: ask for each parent’s registered name or registration number and search the OFA website (ofa.org) yourself. Normal hip and elbow results on dogs over 24 months are public by default. For DNA tests, ask to see the lab reports, and check that the dog’s name or microchip on the report matches.
Raises puppies in the home, not a kennel
How the first eight weeks go shapes the dog you bring home. Look for puppies raised in the house, around everyday noise, children and handling. They should stay with their mother until they’re properly weaned, and have a plan for early socialization. We describe what we did in how we raised our puppies and our guide to early neural stimulation. Not every good breeder does it our way, but every good breeder should be able to tell you what they do and why.
Matches puppies to families
Good breeders spend a lot of time with each litter and use what they learn to match puppies to homes. They’ll ask about your household, your schedule, your children and what you want in a dog. Sometimes they’ll suggest a different puppy than the one you liked in the photos. We always matched primarily on temperament, not coat color. Our guide to choosing a puppy goes through the traits we looked at.
Questions to ask any breeder
- What are the parents’ registered names, and can I see their health results (OFA/PennHIP, eyes, heart, DNA)?
- What generation is this litter (F1, F1B, F2, multigen), and what adult size and coat do you expect? How confident are you? See Goldendoodle generations explained.
- Can I meet the mother (and the father, if he’s on site) and see where the puppies are raised?
- How are the puppies socialized before they go home? Do you start crate or potty training?
- At what age do puppies go home? (It should be at least 8 weeks.)
- What vet care will the puppy have had: exam, first vaccines, deworming, microchip?
- What are you feeding, and what should I have ready?
- What does your contract cover: health guarantee, return policy, spay/neuter terms?
- If I can’t keep the dog at any point in its life, what happens?
- Can I talk to a family who took one of your puppies home?
- How do you decide which puppy goes to which family?
A good breeder answers these readily. Expect questions back, too. When we were breeding, we asked families about their home, their children, their daily routine and their plans for training. We’d have worried about a breeder who didn’t.
Red flags
- Always has puppies available, or has many litters and several breeds at once.
- Won’t let you meet the mother or see where the puppies are raised.
- Wants to meet in a parking lot or deliver the puppy without you ever seeing their home.
- Sends puppies home before 8 weeks. The Canadian Kennel Club’s code of conduct bars its members from selling puppies before 8 weeks, and 8 weeks is the widely accepted minimum. Some provinces and municipalities also regulate breeders and sales, so check local rules.
- “Vet checked” is the only health claim, or health results can’t be verified.
- No written contract, or a contract with no health guarantee and no return clause.
- Pressure to decide now, or a deposit demanded before they’ve asked you anything.
- Rarity pricing: big premiums for a “rare” color or a label like “English Cream” (see English vs. American Goldendoodle).
Online puppy scams
Puppy scams are common, and doodles are a favorite target because they’re popular and expensive. The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre describes the usual pattern: an ad with a low price, then a chain of extra payments for “shipping,” “vaccinations,” “insurance” or a special crate. The puppy never arrives. Warning signs:
- The seller can’t or won’t do a live video call showing the puppy with its mother.
- The puppy can only be shipped, never picked up.
- Payment is requested by e-transfer, wire, cryptocurrency or gift cards before you’ve seen the puppy.
- The price is well below what reputable breeders charge.
- The photos appear elsewhere online. A reverse image search (Google Lens or TinEye) often shows them on other sites under different names.
Pay with a method that offers fraud protection. If you think you’ve been targeted, report it to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca) and the BBB Scam Tracker.
Deposits and contracts: what’s normal
Many good breeders take a deposit, and that’s reasonable. It should come after you’ve both decided the fit is right, and the terms should be in writing. Before paying anything, make sure you know:
- how much the deposit is, what it’s for, and exactly when it is or isn’t refundable
- when the balance is due, and what happens if the litter is smaller than expected
- what the health guarantee covers (usually congenital or genetic conditions) and for how long
- any spay/neuter requirements, and any breeding-rights terms
- the return or rehoming clause
That last one matters more than people think. Every puppy we placed went home with our “No Doodle Left Behind” rehoming agreement. If a family ever couldn’t keep their dog, we had the first right to take it back, and they agreed never to surrender it to a shelter or sell it to a pet store. A breeder who commits to taking their dogs back at any age is telling you they care where every one of them ends up.
If a breeder offers you a reduced price in exchange for keeping one of their breeding dogs, that’s a guardian arrangement, with its own responsibilities. Read our explanation of guardian home programs before you sign one.
What should a well-bred puppy cost?
We won’t quote current prices, because they vary widely by region and change quickly. For context: in 2015, our last years of breeding, our puppies were $2,400 CAD including GST. That included a health record with vaccinations and deworming, a toy carrying the litter’s scent, an information package, a three-year written health guarantee against congenital defects, and lifetime support.
Whatever the price, it should pay for the things that make a difference: tested parents, home rearing, vet care, a real contract and a breeder who picks up the phone years later. A very low price usually means something on that list was skipped. A very high one should be explained by more than color or a label.