Puppy Buyer Questionnaire: Screening Guide for Breeders

A puppy buyer questionnaire gives you a place to start a conversation about a possible home. It helps you learn what someone wants from a dog, how they are preparing, and what they still need to work out.

Use the free questions below as a starting point for your breeding program. You can print the questionnaire, edit the text, or copy selected questions into a BreedTracker application and keep the submitted answers with the customer’s record.

FREE QUESTIONNAIRE

Download the puppy buyer questionnaire

Start a conversation about a prospective buyer's plans, daily life, and care arrangements. Print the questions or edit the text to suit your program.

Download questionnaireA4 PDFEditable text template

US Letter PDF · No signup required

The text file lets you change the wording and copy selected questions into your application.

Questions with room for written answers

How to use the puppy buyer questionnaire

The download has 15 questions across three pages, available in US Letter and A4. The editable text version contains the same questions. Add your program name and return details before sharing it, then adjust the wording or remove questions that do not help your placement process.

Tell people that brief answers are welcome and that they can write “not sure yet” or ask to discuss a question. A questionnaire should leave room for an unfinished plan. You can work through the details together.

The AKC’s guidance on finding homes for puppies  (opens in a new tab) identifies household arrangements, daily routines, training and veterinary care as useful topics for breeder interviews. The questions here develop those topics into prompts you can adapt; they are not a test or a scoring system.

15 puppy buyer screening questions

These are the questions in the downloadable template. Choose the ones relevant to your dogs and the information you need for the next conversation.

1. What interests you about this breed, and what would you like to understand better?

2. What would you enjoy doing with your dog? You can include companionship, outdoor activities, sports, showing, or other interests.

3. When are you hoping to bring a puppy home? How flexible is that timing?

4. Do you have preferences we should know about? Which preferences are flexible?

5. Who would the puppy live with, and who would be involved in its care? Share any supervision arrangements you would like to discuss.

6. What might a typical day look like for the puppy, including time without company and any help with care?

7. Tell us about other animals in the home and any help you would like with introductions.

8. What arrangements are you considering for rest, toileting, exercise, and safe outdoor access?

9. Are there any pet policies or permissions relevant to your home that you still need to check?

10. Tell us about any experience you have with dogs. If this would be your first dog, what support would be useful?

11. What are your thoughts about training and grooming? Are there topics or services you would like help exploring?

12. What arrangements are you considering for veterinary care?

13. How are you preparing for ongoing and unexpected care costs, and what cost information would help?

14. If your circumstances change, what support could you call on? What would you like to discuss with us about future support?

15. What would you like to ask us about our dogs, health records, how puppies are raised, our placement process, or the next step?

Turn screening answers into useful follow-up questions

Look for the practical detail you still need. A first-time owner may need help finding training support. Someone without a fenced yard may have a workable plan for supervised outdoor time. A short written answer may simply need a conversation.

For example:

If an answer is unclear or conflicts with something said earlier, ask about that specific point. Give the person an opportunity to explain. Record what was clarified and what still needs a follow-up, rather than treating a category such as housing type or previous dog ownership as a complete decision.

Make puppy buyer screening a two-way conversation

Leave time for the buyer to assess your program, too. The AKC’s questions for prospective breeders  (opens in a new tab) cover topics including parent health testing, how puppies are raised, written terms and contact after a puppy goes home. Be ready to discuss those subjects and share the relevant records.

For Golden Retrievers, the GRCA’s breeder-selection guidance  (opens in a new tab) also encourages buyers to verify health certifications, review the contract in advance and understand the breeder’s ongoing support. Use your own breed club’s guidance where appropriate.

Questions about costs, policies or a contract are useful parts of that discussion. Explain what your program offers, what it expects, and which arrangements remain undecided. Keep the questionnaire focused on care and placement information; it does not need someone’s financial account details or unrelated personal history.

Agree on the next step

After the conversation, make the next action clear. You might arrange another call, ask someone to confirm a care arrangement, discuss a later litter, or decide that the available puppy is not a suitable match.

A useful note names the unresolved point and the agreed action: “Buyer will check the building’s pet policy and contact us before we discuss availability.” It is more specific than “follow up later.” Keep later conversation notes separate from the original application so you can distinguish what was submitted from what changed.

Explain your own placement process before asking someone to commit. An application, a waitlist place, a puppy reservation and a payment are different steps. Tell the buyer which, if any, you are discussing and what happens next. Avoid leaving someone to infer a promise from the fact that you received their form.

APPLICATIONS IN BREEDTRACKER

Customize your puppy buyer application in BreedTracker

With BreedTracker Applications, create your questions, email the application, and keep the submitted answers with the customer. This example follows three adapted prompts through the form and into the saved record.

Choose the question and answer format

The buyer completes your questions

Review the answers saved with the customer

Create your application in BreedTracker

The printable and editable questionnaires above are available without an account.

Customize and send your puppy application

In BreedTracker, open Settings → Applications. Contact information is included: applicants in the United States provide their full name, email, phone, city, state and ZIP. International applicants can use the corresponding location fields. The email address comes from the invitation and cannot be changed within the buyer’s form.

Copy whichever prompts you want from the editable text file into the builder. This is a manual copy-and-edit step; BreedTracker does not import the questionnaire file.

For each question, choose Short answer, Long answer, Yes or no, Choose one, Choose several, Date or Number. Add help text where useful, decide whether an answer is required, and reorder the questions. Use Preview to check the form, then Save application when it is ready.

You can send the saved application from Customers, from an existing customer’s record, or from a verified litter interest entry. On an open public litter page, visitors can request an application by email. The buyer follows their private link and fills out the form without creating a BreedTracker account.

Keep the original application with the customer

A successful submission adds a prospect customer or associates the application with an existing customer. The completed application appears on that customer’s record. The breeder receives a notification, the account owner receives an email notice, and a new application appears in attention until it is viewed.

The saved record retains the questions and answers the buyer actually completed. Later edits to your application do not rewrite that submission. An already open buyer form also keeps the version it loaded while the buyer completes it.

Submission does not put the buyer on a waitlist or reserve a puppy. Those decisions remain separate. After submission, the buyer’s link stops working; send a new invitation if you need a fresh application. Use the saved answers to prepare your next conversation and keep the next placement step explicit.