Buying a puppy online means sending a significant sum to someone you have never met for an animal you have not held. The questions you ask before that transfer are the only real protection you have.
Here are the questions worth asking any Dachshund breeder, what a good answer sounds like, and what a bad one tells you. Apply all of it to us.
The five that matter most
1. Can we do a live video call with the puppy?
The single most useful question available, and it is free. Not a recorded clip — a live call. Ask them to pick the puppy up, show you the room, hold up three fingers.
Good answer: yes, when suits you. Bad answer: any excuse at all. Broken camera, bad signal, puppy at the vet, we only use text. A seller using stolen photographs cannot pass this test, which is precisely why it works.
2. Were both parents dapple?
Only relevant for a dapple or heavily white puppy, and then it is critical. Two dapple parents can produce double dapple puppies with substantially raised rates of deafness and blindness.
Good answer: a clear no, with the parents described. Bad answer: vagueness, or not knowing what you are asking. See our dapple genetics guide.
3. What do both parents weigh as adults?
The only meaningful predictor of adult size at eight or ten weeks. Nobody can promise an exact finished weight.
Good answer: two numbers, without hesitation. Bad answer: a guarantee that the puppy will finish at a precise weight, or a “teacup” promise. There is no such size.
4. What exactly is included, and what is extra?
Get the whole figure before any deposit. Vet examination, vaccinations, worming, microchip, health guarantee, paperwork — and delivery quoted separately and upfront.
Bad answer: fees that appear after the deposit. A special crate, insurance, a customs charge. That escalation is the most common shape of puppy fraud, and once it starts the money already sent is gone.
5. What happens if it goes wrong?
Ask what the health guarantee actually covers, for how long, and what they expect of you. Ask what happens if you cannot keep the dog in two years.
Good answer: published terms you can read before committing, and a breeder who wants the dog back rather than rehomed by a stranger.
Worth asking too
- Can I see the mother? On video at least. A breeder who cannot show the dam should explain why.
- How many litters do you produce a year? You are listening for a small number.
- Where do the puppies sleep? Home-raised and kennel-raised produce different dogs at eight weeks.
- What have they been socialised with? People, noises, surfaces, other dogs.
- What are they eating, and how much? You want to keep it the same for the first fortnight.
- Has a vet seen them? When, which vet, and what did they find.
- What back-care advice do you give? A Dachshund breeder who does not mention the spine unprompted is not paying attention — see IVDD.
- Will you ask me questions? A breeder with no interest in where a puppy goes is a warning sign in itself.
Answers that should end the conversation
- Any refusal or excuse around a live video call
- Pressure to pay today, or another family is interested
- Payment only by wire transfer, gift card, cryptocurrency, or friends-and-family
- A price far below everything comparable
- Guaranteed adult weights, or “teacup” as a selling point
- Claiming a dapple line never produces health problems
- No named person, no phone call, text only
- Fees appearing after a deposit
Any single one of these is sufficient reason to walk away. There are other puppies.
The five-minute check
- Reverse image search every photograph in the listing
- Search the exact phone number and email address
- Search the business name plus “scam” and plus “review”
- Check how long the domain has existed
- Copy a paragraph from the site and search it in quotation marks
Use a payment method with recourse. A credit card is best.
Now ask us
We would rather be checked than trusted.
- We will do a live video call before you pay anything. Ask us to show you something specific.
- We will tell you both parents’ weights, coats and patterns for any puppy.
- We do not breed dapple to dapple.
- We quote delivery separately and upfront, never after a deposit.
- Our health guarantee and adoption contract are published. Read them first.
- Every puppy is $1,000 regardless of coat or colour.
See who is available now, read more about us, or get in touch and start with the video call.
