How to tell if a dog breeder in Colombia is reputable

Not in the sense the phrase suggests. Colombia has no official registry of dog breeders. That is not an opinion: the Senate’s committee report on Bill 002 of 2025, which proposes creating that registry, starts precisely from the fact that none exists today.

What does exist is the ACCC (Asociación Club Canino Colombiano, Colombia’s FCI member kennel club), a private body affiliated with the FCI (Fédération Cynologique Internationale) that registers purebred litters and breeders’ kennel names (afijos). According to that same report, between 2016 and 2023 it recorded 522 litters and 103 members. That is a useful figure, and a small one next to the number of ads online.

So when a website says “certified breeder” or “registered breeder,” the right question is: certified by whom, and under what number? If the answer is an ACCC kennel name, you can check it. If there is no answer, it is only a phrase.

Seven things. None of them depends on taking the breeder’s word for it:

• The mother, and the father if possible. In person or on a live video call, with the puppy beside her. A breeder who won’t show you the mother has no good reason.
• Health tests for both parents, each with the name of the test, the result, the date and the laboratory or clinic. Every breed has its own: dysplasia in large and working breeds, the heart in the Cavalier, eyes and kneecaps in small breeds.
• Registration, where the breed allows it. For breeds recognized by the FCI, the parents’ registration numbers. For crosses such as the Maltipoo or the Cockapoo no pedigree is possible, and an honest breeder says so.
• A written contract that identifies who is handing over the puppy, sets out the terms of the guarantee and says what happens if the puppy falls ill.
• The age at handover. Never before eight weeks.
• The vaccination record and the veterinary certificate, signed by a veterinarian with a professional license number.
• Where they are. A real place you can visit by appointment. Colombian health regulations place breeding kennels outside the urban perimeter.

More than most people think. An animal handed over by a breeder in exchange for money is covered by Colombia’s Consumer Statute (Law 1480 of 2011): you are entitled to truthful and sufficient information about what you receive, and to a legal guarantee. The Superintendencia de Industria y Comercio (SIC) has treated pets as goods covered by that guarantee, as far as their health and their matching the stated breed are concerned.

You can also insist that the puppy is not handed to you in the street. Decree 780 of 2016 does not allow selling animals in the street, and it places breeding kennels outside the urban perimeter. And Law 2480 of 2025 does not allow breeding to be combined with daycare, boarding or grooming on the same premises: a place that does everything at once on one property deserves one more question.

This is general information, not legal advice. We cite several articles through secondary sources; if you have a dispute with a seller, the SIC is the authority to turn to.

• A price far below the market. Colombia’s Attorney General’s Office (Fiscalía) warned in July 2026 that this is the first sign of an online pet scam.
• Urgency: being told that only two puppies remain, that the price is lower today only, or that another family will take the puppy unless you put money down right now.
• A deposit before you have seen the puppy on a live video call.
• Handover in a parking lot, a bus station or a mall.
• Puppies of many breeds “all year round.” A female dog does not have litters all year round, and neither does a family kennel.
• Guaranteed sizes (“teacup,” “mini toy”) or impossible health promises (“one hundred percent hypoallergenic”).
• Docked tails or cropped ears. Cosmetic mutilations have no justification, and the animal protection law penalizes cruelty.

None of these signs proves a scam by itself. Several together are reason enough not to send money. Our guide to puppy scams explains them one by one.

With the same things we ask of anyone else. The health tests of each parent dog are published in Meet the parents, with the result, the date and the document. The way we raise our dogs is in How we raise. Every breed page has a “not for you if…” list as long as its “for you if…” list.

And we say what we are not. The Maltipoos and Cockapoos we breed are crosses and have no pedigree. The kennel’s registrations appear in the footer of this website only when there is a real number you can verify: a blank is more honest than a made-up seal.

If, after reading this, the right choice for you is another breeder, or adopting, this guide will still have done its job.