Good Dog

What Good Dog does

Good Dog is a New York-based, privately held two-sided marketplace founded in 2018 that connects prospective dog owners with ethical breeders, shelters, and rescues across 300+ breeds. The platform vets breeding programs through a proprietary five-area screening process (breeding practices, physical health, mental health, environment, and buyer education) developed with veterinary and academic experts, accepting only about 1 in 5 applicants from a pool of more than 175,000 programs reviewed. A three-tier Health Testing certification (Good, Great, Excellent) and a verified-reviews system with 58,000+ owner reviews at a 4.9 app-store rating reinforce buyer trust and breeder differentiation. Supporting products include a Learning Center, a Good Breeder Center, and a Shelter & Rescue Network, all delivered through the gooddog.com web platform and native iOS/Android apps with integrated secure payment processing.

The underlying technology stack is a standard consumer marketplace architecture: web and mobile applications, search and filter across 300+ breeds, direct messaging between buyers and supply-side partners, and a payment-protection layer facilitating transactions. The company's primary revenue stream is marketplace commission on breeder transactions, with shelter/rescue facilitation likely operating at lower or zero take rates; specific pricing, subscription tiers, and commission rates are not publicly disclosed. Good Dog's go-to-market combines content marketing through the Learning Center, earned media in publications such as Newsweek and Entrepreneur, a robust verified-review flywheel, and community-building with breeders via mentorship programs and Avidog University integration. The company has raised $6.7M in a 2019 Series A from BarkBox, BoxGroup, Felicis, Fuel Capital, Slow Ventures, and SV Angel, and operates with 101-250 employees from New York, serving a US-only customer base.

Name

Good Dog

Legal name

Good Dog

Website

https://gooddog.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Good Dog is a two-sided US marketplace connecting prospective dog owners with vetted breeders, shelters, and rescues across 300+ breeds, using a proprietary five-area screening process that accepts only 1 in 5 breeding programs and has matched over 250,000 families since 2018.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Pet Marketplace

NAICS

Pet and Pet Supplies Retailers (45991)

akta.pro primary industry

Companion/Specialty Animal Breeding & Genetics Services (non-livestock) (AFAEAJAO)

Keywords

• Dog marketplace platform
• Pet adoption services
• Breeder screening platform
• Verified dog breeders
• Shelter rescue network

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Transaction/Marketplace Commission: Good Dog operates as a marketplace connecting buyers with breeders, shelters, and rescues. The platform facilitates connections and transactions between parties, with the business likely earning a commission or transaction fee on sales completed through the platform.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Good Dog operates a two-sided online marketplace connecting prospective dog owners with vetted breeders, shelters, and rescues across 300+ breeds. The platform facilitates discovery, direct messaging between buyers and sellers, and secure payment processing for dog transactions, supported by a comprehensive breeder screening process that accepts only 1 in 5 breeding program applicants.

Product overview

Good Dog is a unified marketplace and community platform that connects prospective dog owners with ethical breeders, shelters, and rescues. The core product is the Good Dog Platform and Mobile App, which enables search across 300+ breeds from vetted breeders (accepting only 1 in 5 applicants), direct messaging, and secure payment services. Supporting the marketplace are the Standards & Screening Service (which evaluates breeding programs on physical/mental health, environment, and buyer education), the Health Testing Levels Program (a three-tier Good/Great/Excellent certification system), the Learning Center (educational resources), and the Good Breeder Center (breeder resources and policies). The Good Dog Shelter & Rescue Network and Verified Reviews System extend coverage to adoption and buyer decision-making. The platform has facilitated over 250,000 dog adoptions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Good Dog Platform A web-based marketplace that connects prospective dog owners with vetted breeders, shelters, and rescues across 300+ breeds, featuring search, filtering, direct messaging with sellers, and secure transaction facilitation.
• Good Dog Mobile App An all-in-one mobile application for iOS and Android enabling users to search breeders, connect with ethical sources, receive updates, and pay securely when bringing home a dog.
• Standards & Screening Service A vetting and screening service that evaluates breeding programs across breeding practices, physical health, mental health, environment, and buyer education, accepting only 1 in 5 applicants into the network.
• Good Dog Shelter & Rescue Network A network connecting users with trusted animal shelters and rescues, offering features to showcase animals and facilitate responsible adoptions within the broader Good Dog marketplace.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 250,000 families have found their dog through Good Dog
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Petfinder: Long-standing online pet adoption directory connecting adopters with shelters and rescue groups. Directly comparable as a two-sided marketplace for sourcing dogs, though its supply is shelter-led rather than breeder-led.
• Adopt-a-Pet: One of the largest non-profit pet adoption platforms in North America. Directly comparable as a pet-acquisition marketplace with a similar buyer-facing mission, though focused on shelter and rescue supply.
• PuppySpot: Online marketplace for purchasing puppies from vetted breeders with a screening process. Most directly comparable peer — same buyer profile (families seeking purebred/designer puppies), similar breeder-curation model, and similar transaction-based revenue model.
• AKC Marketplace: American Kennel Club's breeder directory and litter listing service. Comparable as a trusted, registry-backed channel for connecting buyers with breeders, though more of a directory than a transaction marketplace.
• Rover: Two-sided marketplace for dog walking, boarding, and pet care services. Comparable as a dog-owner-facing marketplace with similar trust-and-verification mechanics, but operating in services rather than acquisition.
• Wag!: On-demand dog walking and pet care platform. Comparable as a dog-owner marketplace, though narrower in scope than Good Dog and focused on services rather than acquisition transactions.

Broad incumbents

• Chewy: Largest online pet retailer in the US with an established customer base of pet owners. Comparable as a broad pet-care ecosystem player and a likely strategic acquirer or competitor if it expands into pet sourcing or services.
• PetSmart: Largest North American specialty pet retailer, including in-store adoption programs. Comparable as an incumbent pet-care ecosystem and potential strategic acquirer of curated sourcing platforms like Good Dog.
• BARK (BarkBox): Subscription-based pet product company and an early Good Dog investor. Comparable as a broad pet-brand serving dog owners, with overlapping customer demographics and historical commercial relationship with Good Dog.
• Petco: National pet retailer with growing services and veterinary footprint. Comparable as a full-spectrum pet-care incumbent whose expansion into adoption and wellness services overlaps with Good Dog's broader pet-owner ecosystem ambitions.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/officialgooddog

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors6 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Good Dog