Frequently Asked Questions
All of our puppies (regardless of the color/size/gender/coat-type) are $3800. Yes, you absolutely can find less expensive puppies elsewhere, but this is one of those times when you really do get what you pay for. Our program is not for those who are looking for the cheapest possible puppy; our puppy families are wanting the best, and they have done their research! You can hire an unlicensed casual handyman (cash only, available immediately, no contract, no references) to do a major construction project, or you can hire a licensed, insured and professional contractor, who has a solid reputation and many references. We are professional breeders, for customers who are discerning and don't mind waiting to get the healthiest and best temperament puppy possible. Our adult dogs are FULLY HEALTH TESTED, including DNA testing, hips, elbows, patella, and cardiac by the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals and eye certification by a canine ophthalmologist. About a quarter of the dogs that we pre-breed health test never have puppies at all because they failed one of the health tests. In addition, we are a legitimate business registered with the state and accredited with the Better Business Bureau A+ rating. We accept credit cards and pay taxes (which is an enormous expense!), as every legitimate professional business should. In addition, ALL of our eight week old puppies have been overnight crate-trained (11pm-5am), doggy-door trained, trained to go up/down ramps, taken OUTSIDE to toilet every two hours (we do NOT use potty pads, newspaper or litter boxes) and our puppies are groomed weekly (starting at age 4 weeks old). We raise all of our puppies with bio-sensory training and Service Dog desensitization protocols learned from raising puppies for Upstate Guide Dogs; we do not add on extra charges for our puppy training program, as we do these protocols with every puppy we raise. Watch our daily videos on our Facebook page and read our reviews!! MANY of our puppies become service dogs and therapy dogs. Read our 300 plus reviews to see WHY our puppies are special and worth the investment. If you find an inexpensive puppy or a puppy available immediately, we urge you to read the breeder's reviews on both Google and Facebook. If the breeder does not have reviews, it is because the review tab was turned OFF by the breeder, as that tab is there by default for every business page.
It depends on the litter!! While we primarily focus on Standard size and Medium size (because that is the size needed for service/therapy dog prospects) we do offer all three sizes (miniature 15-35 lbs, medium 35-50 lbs and standard 50-70lbs). We do NOT breed toy size puppies. Also, it's important to note, that miniature size goldendoodles are (when DNA tested) mostly miniature poodle because Golden Retrievers are large dogs; they do not exist in miniature sizes.
We are located in North Carolina, but people come to us from ALL over the United States. Because our puppies are crate-trained, we are happy to have our puppies fly WITH you in-cabin from Raleigh, NC airport (or Charlotte or Richmond), but we will not ship our puppies, nor do we sell our puppies "sight unseen," from just a photograph. There truly is no comparable goldendoodle program anywhere else in the country, so many families travel long distances to add a Peters' Puppy to their home. The focus of our program is to raise Service Dog prospects, Therapy Dog prospects and exceptional family pets.
Unlike most breeders, we do NOT breed for any particular color. Poodles (like people!) come in dozens of colors and so do our doodles. We embrace diversity (in both people and in dogs!!!) and we Love and Celebrate ALL different colors. Our puppies are red, cream, apricot, black, chocolate, merle, grey, silver, brown, and Parti (white with colored spots). That said, we highly discourage families from choosing a puppy based JUST on color!! Coat color can and (probably will) change as the puppy ages! This is the reason why our family selection date is when the puppies are at least six weeks old; families can then assess personality, coat-type, size, and activity level before choosing their puppy. If color is your number one priority, Peters Puppies will not be a good fit; you will be better served by an online pet store (such as Puppy Spot) or a breeder that lets you choose from a photograph when the puppy is very young. Please check our current litters for more information on our current wait-list process.
There’s no such thing as a 100% hypoallergenic dog; some people are allergic to dog saliva or dander, not the fur. That said, our dogs are low to non-shedding and many allergy-sufferers can tolerate our dogs. We can do a T-shirt test for you (you send us a T-shirt and we will have our dogs sleep with it and add dog hair) so that you can gauge the severity of your allergic reaction. Also, we are happy to DNA coat test puppies for you (the DNA testing/lab fee applies) prior to the selection date, to help you select the most allergy friendly of the puppies. DNA testing is the only way to know for CERTAIN if a puppy is Plus/Plus for Curl and F/F for furnishings and N/N for shedding. If you have severe allergies, it is quite possible that you will not tolerate a goldendoodle; unfortunately, we are unable to place puppies in homes on a "trial" basis. Please consult with your allergist prior to reserving a puppy.
We DNA test all our dogs through Embark Labs (or Paw Print Genetics) so that we can breed out hundreds of genetically inheritable diseases, such as Von Willebrand's disease, PRA, and Degenerative Myelopathy (see full list in our health warranty). Although hip/elbow Dysplasia can be caused by environmental factors, we also X-ray our adult dogs' hips and elbows to help prevent dysplasia. In addition, our adult dogs have certifications by the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals for normal cardiac, patella, eyes and thyroid. Of course, not all genetically inheritable diseases are testable in advance (nor are diseases such as cancer), but as science evolves, we add more tests to our program. Upon request, (lab and DNA kit fees apply) we can also DNA coat test puppies for you, to see which puppy is the most hypoallergenic based on furnishing, curl, and shed genes.
Inside our home, using Service Dog Protocols we learned when raising puppies for Upstate Guide Dogs. Specifically, the first few weeks of life our puppies are raised right in our bedrooms in our home near Raleigh, NC. Then (age 2 weeks old) our puppies are moved into our dining room, surrounded by the hustle and bustle of our busy family and other dogs. At age four weeks old, our puppies are moved into the toddler room, which is 20 x 25 and right off our kitchen. Our puppies then have a doggy-door to go outside into our 3500 sq. foot play yard with small and large motor skill equipment, including steps, ramps, wheelchairs, walkers, balance boards and many other enrichment activities. See the daily videos on our Facebook page! We begin the crate-training and housebreaking process at age five weeks old. Our puppies are Well on their way to being housebroken by age eight weeks old. Read our hundreds of reviews and check out our Facebook for pictures and daily videos.
No. Pediatric spay (prior to puberty) has been proven to be harmful to organ growth and bone density. It can also result in spay incontinence. We require that our customers wait until age 12 months old prior to desexing their puppy. Many vets push pediatric spay (prior to puberty) to prevent unwanted pregnancies; however, our puppy families have done their research and they are responsible enough to prevent unwanted teenage puppy pregnancy. We do recommend that our customers spay/neuter After puberty, to prevent cancers and pyometra.
Sandy started puppy raising for Upstate Guide Dogs in the mid 90’s. Our puppies are raised with Early Neurological Stimulation, Puppy Culture, Avidog, and Service Dog Protocols inside our home. Many of our puppies (over the years) have become service dogs, therapy dogs, and emotional support dogs. Therapy and Service dog prospects will be chosen by a trainer (not the client) after temperament testing. If you are needing a Service Dog or Therapy Dog, please contact us directly for more information.
If you are getting a therapy dog prospect or a service dog prospect (NOT an emotional support dog- as ESAs are not covered under the American for Disabilities Act) then the selection process for one of our puppies is entirely different. It's important to understand the distinction.
If you are getting a therapy dog, the mental health practitioner/nursing home/hospital/school/facility where you will be taking the therapy dog may have a specific agency that they require for choosing and training the dog. For example, dogs working at UNC Hospital must be certified through one of these organizations: Pet Partners, Dogs with a Purpose, Love on a Leash, or Alliance of Therapy Dogs. It is important to connect with a trainer from the appropriate agency prior to selection of a puppy, as these agencies often have their own breeding programs or their own selection process.
Service dogs do tasks for one specific individual to mitigate that person's disability. Often it takes years to train a service dog, and we can refer you to trainers who specialize in certain tasks (example, diabetic alert dogs, mobility support etc). If you are getting a service dog prospect, we need to know the tasks the dog will be performing so that we can make certain that you get the right size dog to perform the tasks needed.
Emotional Support Animals are just pets who help calm the owner, and Emotional Support dogs have no protections under the American for Disability Act. We treat Emotional Support dogs as pets and those getting an ESA do not get a special position on our waiting list. Please let me know for sure which route you will take-- the pet route or the therapy/service prospect dog route. If you are wanting one particular gender or color, then we will just leave your reservation as a "pet" reservation instead and you will have the normal selection process instead.
For therapy and service dog prospects, the TRAINER will choose your puppy for you, and you will get no say on gender or color etc. The only exception to this policy is for therapists who need a dark colored dog to serve clients who might be triggered by mouth/eye stains that often appear on light colored dogs. We can refer you to several different trainers who can come to our home to do the temperament testing and select your puppy for you (for a fee) or you can have your own trainer come select for you, but again, the owner/handler will NOT be selecting their own puppy. We have a high success rate because we strictly enforce this policy.
When you get on a litter list for a therapy dog or a service dog prospect, you essentially get to bump everyone else on the list (we back date your reservation date so that you have the top spot); this allows the trainer to choose from the entire litter. The trainer may not even find a suitable prospect, and you must be respectful of that assessment. Therefore, we need to know if you are for sure wanting the therapy dog or service dog prospect slot from the very beginning.
YES! Because they don’t shed, all doodles should be groomed every 8 - 10 weeks at the minimum. See my resources page for grooming resources.
We used to have weekly visiting hours, but we made the decision to discontinue this practice for these reasons. 1)THREE different times now, we have had puppies get broken legs from visitors dropping puppies! 2) Allowing visitors greatly increases the risk of the puppies catching Parvo or other life-threatening diseases. Puppies have delicate immune systems and no vaccinations yet. 3) Our puppies are raised INSIDE our home, not in a kennel with a public meeting area. It's not safe to allow virtual strangers into our home and it's uncomfortable for our children to feel that their private spaces are open to the public. 4) We would set specific visiting hours, and inevitably people would show up during the last few minutes, saying that they drove many hours and got stuck in traffic. Then, visiting hours ended up taking the entire day. This was stressful for us, the puppies, and the mom of the puppies. 5) We tried to limit the number of visitors to two adults per family, and people would still show up with carloads of people and children. At times, there were 30 or more people (strangers!) in our home and yard!! 6) Visiting strangers greatly stress out our new mommies, who are hormonal and protective of their puppies, and our family. 7) We video every single day! With today's technology, in-person visits are not needed to see exactly how our puppies are raised. 8)We also provide personal visits via Zoom/Facetime or Skype. Like and follow our Facebook page for public videos https://www.facebook.com/peterspuppies/
You choose your puppy (by Zoom or Skype or phone) when the puppies are approximately 6-7 weeks old (go home age 8 weeks old). We wait that long to have families choose their puppy because we often need to assess puppies for service/therapy dog prospects. Service and therapy dog prospects must be chosen by a professional trainer (no requests for gender/color will be considered). Peters' Puppies LLC reserves the first pick of every litter for Service dog prospects or for Peters Puppies LLC. We strongly encourage families to choose their puppy based on temperament, size, and coat type, not JUST color/gender! We speak about each puppy's personality on our Facebook page during our daily videos. Like and follow our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/peterspuppies/
We live in Henderson NC and we do not ship cargo. People come to us from all over the US and fly their puppy back with them in cabin.
Families choose their puppy in the order of when we received their reservation. Families indicate interest in a litter by logging into our website portal with their secure Pin number (provided after the reservation fee is remitted). The website portal shows exactly what litters are available, how many girls/boys and the attributes of the coat type (curly, furnished etc.). Families who have allergies should only select from the litters that are double furnished (FF). Please watch the video on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/peterspuppies/posts/1138062289963019 and also use the search bar on the FB and type in allergies for more information.
We have hundreds of five star reviews on our Facebook page and also Google. Be aware that if a breeder does NOT have reviews (from over many years) posted, it's because they manually turned that review tab OFF. The reviews tab is on all business pages by default. Thousands of people started up new breeding businesses during Covid-19, as they thought it might be an easy at home business. Please do your research and purchase from an established and reputable breeder who has experience and real reviews over the years.
We feed our dogs and puppies TLC Whole Life dog food. It is appropriate for All Life Stages. TLC has three sources of protein to help mitigate food allergies, and it has the right protein, calcium and phosphorus ratios, plus joint supplements. We have switched dog foods five times in seven years, due to recalls and new research. For example, the FDA recently found that grain-free diets cause DCM (heart disease) in Golden Retrievers. TLC has never had a recall and has the appropriate grains. TLC can only be ordered directly from the manufacturer so that it is always fresh. TLC is NOT an MLM company (it is an affiliate link) and we don’t require you to order this food. We have just found that it works great, and the ingredients are sourced in the US, Canada, and New Zealand, not in countries with no quality control or inspection. Lastly, in the USA when the ingredients say “chicken meal” on dog foods, that means any part of the chicken (feet, beaks, feathers etc.). This is not the case with TLC food (manufactured in Canada). Chicken meal is ONLY dehydrated chicken meat, and lamb meal is dehydrated lamb meat.
Please order online here (affiliate link)
https://tlcpetfood.com/nutrition/peterspuppiesllc
Our process is different than most others. We don't have a whole bunch of puppies and then just hope to sell them. Instead, we have a waiting list for our puppies, and then when a dog cycles, we reach out to the waiting list to see if that timing/size/color/coat-type will meet their needs. If we have enough interest in the potential litter (families mark their interest in our private customer portal), only then do we proceed with having the litter. This is why families generally wait about 3-6 months to take home a puppy. We do sometimes have last minute availability if we have a larger litter or if someone backs out last minute. Overall though, the more specific you are about your desires (example, miniature size, curly, red, female) then the longer the waiting time because we have fewer puppies meeting your criteria. If you only want one particular gender, then the waiting time is double than the waiting time for someone who will accept either gender. Families who are flexible on gender/color/coat/size will often be able to choose from a litter within a few months of joining the waiting list. We URGE you to be cautious because scammers abound; scammers regularly steal our photos/videos, take a deposit, and then simply disappear! Ask the breeder for references and read the reviews!!!! If the breeder does not have reviews then they manually turned OFF the review tab, as the review tab is on business pages by default. When you see a website that has many puppies available immediately, please be extra cautious. Most reputable breeders will have a waiting list.
Our adult dogs are given a thorough physical exam (including blood work and fecal) by a reproductive specialist vet (90 minutes away) prior to every breeding. We also DNA test all our adult dogs so that we can breed out hundreds of genetically inheritable diseases, such as Von Willebrand's disease and Degenerative Myelopathy. Although Hip and elbow Dysplasia are often caused by environmental factors (NOT genetics), we also X-ray our adult dogs' hips and elbows to help prevent dysplasia. We offer a lifetime guarantee for the diseases for which we are able to test (Embark genetics) and a two year guarantee for displaysia and other diseases (see health guarantee for a complete list). In addition, our adult dogs also have certifications by the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals for normal cardiac, patella, eyes and thyroid.
Our puppies go to our vet at age 6-7 weeks of age for a full examination and their first DHPP shots (NOT LEPTO). We do not buy shots online and self-administer (to save money) because we feel that it's important that our puppies are examined and treated by a licensed veterinarian! Online and Tractor Supply vaccinations may not have been stored at the correct temperature (refrigeration is required) and many vets will not even accept the shot records when a breeder self-administers puppies' vaccines. While it's costly to have a vet examine and administer puppy vaccinations, we feel that it is absolutely necessary.
We no longer microchip puppies before they go to their homes. In 2016, we had six puppies (out of 12) that had SEVERE reactions from microchips that migrated. Those six puppies required surgeries (and months and months of antibiotics) which resulted in many other immune related issues later. Leaving our home and getting vaccines is stress enough on our puppies, without adding in microchipping. Instead, we suggest that families microchip their puppy when the puppy is older and the immune system is more mature. Please watch this video https://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2009/11/14/how-safe-are-pet-microchips.aspx
Absolutely. We provide our puppy families with a certificate for 30 days of free Trupanion pet insurance (not valid in NY) because puppies, just like human babies, have accidents and have immature immune systems. We chose Trupanion for our clients only because they do not have a "waiting" period or underwriting period, and we have found that most puppy accidents occur during the first two weeks of going home. However, Trupanion is also one of the most expensive pet insurance plans; you might want to change to a different insurance company during that first month. Our own dogs have Nationwide Pet Insurance with the whole wellness rider. Pet insurance is sold at a minimal cost and it will easily pay for itself if your puppy has any type of illness or accident. One swallowed sock can result in a $5,000 obstruction surgery!
Our puppies come with a licensed vet exam record, their first shots, training information, and a goody bag. In addition, we also send you home with your puppy's "lovey", the SNUGGLE PUPPY that has been your puppy's crate buddy since age five weeks old.
The American Kennel Club (AKC) does not register doodles. It took AKC over 100 years to recognize and register Golden Retrievers (which was a deliberate mix of Water Tweed Spaniel and flat coat retriever in the 1800s in Scotland). We do NOT register our dogs/puppies with GANA because that registry organization REQUIRES that we microchip puppies; we experienced HUGE issues with micro-chipping our babies in the past and no longer find micro-chipping safe (see FAQ about shots/microchip). See video https://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2009/11/14/how-safe-are-pet-microchips.aspx
The first step is to complete the application on this website. You will then be invited to attend an information (question/answer) session via Zoom. Generally, we have several dozen families attending and these information sessions can sometimes lasts up to 2 hours. After the Zoom meeting, if you wish to join the Peters Puppies Master Waiting list, please request an invoice for the application/reservation processing fee ( $500 nonrefundable). The $500 fee is nonrefundable (although this fee does go towards the purchase price) even if a puppy is never purchased, as Peters Puppies has already provided the consultation time and application processing. NO EXCEPTIONS. Please realize that most families will ultimately wait 3-6 months or more to get one of our puppies; we do not mass produce. The application fee will go towards the final balance (paid online) when the litter list is finalized, when the puppies are two weeks old (selection is when the puppies are six weeks old). Puppies will go to their homes at age eight weeks old. If you have specific needs or desires, your wait time for a puppy will increase. For example, if you only want one particular gender, then your wait time will be double that of someone who is flexible on gender, because half of the puppies will be the gender that you do not want. If you are getting a service or therapy dog, the waiting time is significantly longer and your puppy will be chosen for you by the service dog trainer.
You can view or sign it here: peterspuppies.com/contract
