Six rules that prevent almost every bad outcome.
We read every listing, but we cannot stand next to you when you hand over money. These are the checks that matter, in the order they matter.
print this out, take it with you
Never send money before you meet
This is the single most common fraud in Indian pet classifieds and it is entirely preventable. Someone posts photos of a beautiful litter, asks for an advance to 'hold' a puppy or to cover transport, and disappears.
There is no legitimate reason to pay anything before you have stood in the same room as the dog. A genuine keeper would rather you visit. If someone pushes for an advance, that pressure is the whole scam.
See both parents, on the property
Photos prove nothing. Ask to see the sire and dam where they live. If the sire belongs to someone else — which is normal — ask to see the dam and get the sire's owner's number.
Look at the dam's condition. A thin, worn-out mother means back-to-back litters. Look at where the puppies are kept. You are not being rude; you are doing the thing that separates a good outcome from a bad one.
Get the paperwork that actually matters
A vaccination card with the vet's stamp, dates and vaccine batch numbers. A deworming schedule. For a Rajapalayam, ask directly about BAER testing for congenital deafness.
Pedigree papers matter far less than most buyers think, and for most native breeds they do not meaningfully exist. Health records matter enormously.
Eight weeks, minimum
A puppy taken from its litter before eight weeks misses the window where it learns bite inhibition and basic dog social skills from its siblings. The behavioural cost shows up months later and is hard to undo.
Anyone offering you a six-week-old puppy is either uninformed or wants it off their hands. Both are reasons to walk.
Be suspicious of high prices, not low ones
Native breeds from genuine village and working lines cost between nothing and about ₹20,000. The listings asking ₹45,000 and up are overwhelmingly urban resellers with a marketing layer between you and whoever actually bred the dog.
A high price is not a quality signal here. It is usually a sign that you are several steps removed from the litter.
Expect to be interviewed
The best keepers ask uncomfortable questions: how big is your compound, how many hours are you out, do you already have a male dog, what happens when you travel. Some will refuse you.
That friction is the strongest quality signal available. A seller who does not care where the dog goes is telling you exactly what kind of operation they run.
Report a listing
If a listing here turned out to be fraudulent, misdescribed, or came from a commercial breeding operation, tell us the reference number and we will pull it and look at everything else that account has posted.
Report it to us