Commercial Dog Breeders - also known as Puppy Mill Breeders, or USDA Breeders

They breed for PROFIT only! They have no concern for the numbers they produce, who they sell for, or the quality they produce. They do not do genetic(heredity) health testing appropriate for the breeds they breed. They do not breed dogs that are correct for the Standards. They do not offer long-term guarantees (alot of hereditary defects don’t show up until the dog reaches maturity). They breed every heat cycle, with no concern for the bitches health. The dogs live (generally) in cramped quarters, have no socialization skills, usually not fed proper diets, do not receive proper vet care, etc. It is not unusual for pet store puppies to have behavioral issues & medical issues from puppyhood to adulthood. Housebreaking can also be harder.

It is common practice for them to *dual-register* puppies... all this means is they register with 2 registries: generally AKC and some *other* registry, just incase they are suspended from AKC for their breeding records, or if they get *caught* registering puppies to parents they don’t belong to. This is why these types of breeders are so much AGAINST DNA registering.

Commercial dog breeders can sell directly to a Pet Store, Broker, or the general public. If they sell to the general public, alot of them are getting smarter on how to answer questions people are asking.

To legally sell to a PetStore, a commercial dog breeder MUST be USDA licensed. There are ways around this though...

Commercial Dog Brokers

A commercial dog broker buys directly from the commercial dog breeder. In other words, they are a middle man. A commercial dog broker can sell directly to the public or to petstores.

They are now also starting something fairly new: brokering puppies that are rejected by the PetStores (or the commercial breeders themselves know they can’t sell). They are setting up *shops* as RESCUE when they are not truly a rescue group. SO BEWARE!!!