About
Who This Is For
The Companion Dog Project is intended for breeders who:
- Breed at a deliberate, small to moderate scale
- Prioritize temperament, health, and suitability for pet homes
- Are willing to operate within defined standards
- See transparency as a strength, not a liability
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Membership
What You Get
Registry Access & Tools
- Register dogs and litters within a structured, health-focused registry
- Track health testing, pedigrees, and breeding records in one place
- Mobile tools for puppy weight tracking you can share on social media
- Mobile document upload — photograph vet records directly into the database
- All your dogs' data accessible and manageable from your account
Visibility & Puppy Listings
- A customized CDP member badge for your website and marketing materials
- A public breeder profile you control, with visibility in registry search
- Puppy listings on the CDR puppy listings page — we help drive qualified buyers to good breeders
- Profile and listings stay active as long as 1 of every 2 CDR-registered litters meets Verified Litter criteria
Discounts & Community
- Embark breed club pricing on DNA panels
- Gensol breed club discounts on your first order
- Health testing guidelines and a tool that tells you exactly what tests you need for your dog's mix
- Referral discounts — 20% off per referral, up to 40% off
Coming Soon
- Optional tools for buyer applications and contracts
- Owner data management — keep puppy owners' info organized
- Verified vet connections for cardiac, eye, and patella exams without OFA registration
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Requirements
How It Works
1
Register your litters
All litters produced by active CDP members must be registered with a recognized registry — CDR, AKC, IWR, GANA, WALA, or ALAA. You decide what works for your program. Not every litter needs to be registered with CDR, but all litters need to be registered somewhere.
2
Meet a baseline standard
Of the litters you register with CDR, at least one out of every two must meet the criteria for a Verified Litter. The standard is health testing on both parents and a predicted or actual COI of 10% or less, along with other requirements in our full guidelines. Achievable and meaningful — not punitive.
3
Join a project or use the defaults
If you join one of our breeding projects (or start a new one!), your project sets its own verification standards with CDP approval. Otherwise, CDR defaults apply.
Why COI matters here
We value the diversity that mixed breed programs produce, and we highlight it. Throughout the registry, we help educate buyers and the public about the importance of genetic diversity and what it means for the health and longevity of their dogs. Your work improving genetic diversity is part of what makes this registry different.
Privacy and control
You have full control over the visibility of your dogs and health testing results on your dashboard. Dogs can be hidden from public view. Outside studs or dogs owned by non-members can be added as unregistered parents for registering litters — including Verified Litters — as long as the dog's identity can be confirmed by the registrar. The registry is built to respect the way breeders actually work.
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Investment
Pricing
Basic
$200/year
or $20/month
Built for small and startup programs
- Up to 2 adult dogs + 1 litter per year
- Additional dogs: $35 each
- Additional litters: $50 each
- All membership benefits
Pro
$400/year
or $39/month
Built for active programs with multiple breeding dogs
- Unlimited dog + litter registration
- Full breeding program management
- All membership benefits
Referral Discount — Refer up to two new breeders per year and receive 20% off your next renewal for each, up to 40% off.
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Leadership
Advisory Panel
The Companion Dog Project is guided by an advisory panel that includes Jessica Perry Hekman of the Functional Dog Collaborative, Marina Phillips, a breeder with over 30 years of experience in the guide dog world, a practicing community veterinarian, and two active companion dog breeders who understand the day-to-day challenges and realities of breeding for families. Our standards are grounded in current research and shaped by people who are actually doing this work.
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Join
Get Started
We welcome breeders from a wide range of backgrounds and program types. We especially encourage breeders interested in collaborating with others — our project framework is designed to make that easier and more productive.
Current Projects
Bearded Retrievers
Bernedoodles
Golden Mountain Doodles
Mandala Spaniels
We respect and support the work of the Goldendoodle Association of North America (GANA) and welcome members to dual-register Goldendoodles or use Goldendoodles as breeding stock for other projects.
Your application includes a conversation — a chance to get to know each other, make sure it's a good fit on both sides, and answer any questions you have. We'd love to talk.