Frequently asked questions for adopters

Tipaw is a platform to help you find the pet that matches you and comes from responsible breeders. First, we make future adopters aware of the importance of choosing a dog that suits them by providing articles, breed descriptive sheets, and an orientation questionnaire. Secondly, to reinforce transparency, encourage best breeding practices, and prevent scams, Tipaw brings together responsible and passionate breeders and shelters. All breeders registered on Tipaw commit to respecting our ethical charter. Tipaw also offers solutions to support owners throughout the life of their pets. Finally, Tipaw (Belgium) also has a section listing many professionals in the animal sector supporting animal welfare. We optimize the visibility of these professionals and their appointment booking by allowing pet owners to immediately schedule an appointment online. In conclusion, all those registered on Tipaw have a personal space "My Tipaw" gathering information about their pets, their digital passports, and their appointment histories with professionals.

Tipaw was founded in 2017 based on the following observations:

1. Pet stores & puppy mills: A significant number of puppies nowadays come from puppy mills and pet stores, flooding the market and responsible breeders with ads.
2. Impulsive purchases: Often linked to excessive advertising and lack of awareness and guidance in the decision of the future owner.
3. Abandoned animals: Every year, too many dogs are abandoned due to impulsive and unsuitable purchases. This overburdens the shelters which require sustainable solutions.

Following these observations, Tipaw's solution is as follows:

1. Highlighting responsible breeders: All member breeders adhere to an ethical charter. Moreover, all masters visiting our site will have the opportunity to evaluate the member breeders.
2. Raising public awareness: We aim to assist future masters in choosing a breed suitable for them. Online questionnaires and experts (soon to be available) are provided. We are thereby doing everything to prevent impulsive purchases.
3. Highlighting shelters: We collaborate with shelters to help abandoned dogs find a new family. By giving them more visibility, we hope to help them quickly find homes suited for each dog.

Tipaw's mission is to improve animal well-being by developing digital solutions. It is structured around two main axes:

1. Improving the daily life of animals
1. Raising public awareness by facilitating access to information
2. Encouraging the adoption of a pet from organizations that care about animal welfare
3. Provide the best start in life for all animals
4. Make access to care faster and easier for all animals
5. Support owners throughout the life journey of their animal(s)
2. Improving the daily life of animal professionals
1. Increase their visibility
2. Enhance their working comfort
3. Save time by reducing their administrative work
4. Digitalize their services to improve their clients' experience

If you want to know more, we invite you to visit this page.

Pierre, the founder of Tipaw, and his associate Eloi quickly surrounded themselves with experts working tirelessly to improve animal welfare. Tipaw grows year by year, incorporating more and more functions: engineering, operations, marketing, finance, sales, and legal. Tipaw also regularly receives support and advice from professionals in the animal world (university professors, veterinarians, breeders, etc.). You can find the members of our current team here.

You've come to the right place! Tipaw can assist you on different levels. Firstly, we help you find the breed that matches you through a directional questionnaire, a series of advice and articles, and descriptive sheets for all breeds. Secondly, we provide you with a list of responsible breeders and shelters, as well as the new available litters. Create your account in a few clicks and thanks to our application system, you can apply for a puppy from breeders of your choice. After sending your application, you can directly contact the breeder and, if both parties wish, organize visits with the aim of adopting a puppy.

All available litters can be found here. To buy or reserve a puppy, you are invited to apply for a puppy from the litter announcement or, if no litter has been published by the breeder, from the breeder's profile. Tipaw does not make any decisions about reservation or the sale of a dog. This decision is entirely up to the breeders. Once your puppy application is sent, you can make a payment in your personal space My Tipaw under the tab My Applications to get in direct contact with the breeder.

Responsible breeders registered on Tipaw receive many inquiries. To help them find adopters suited to the breed and character of the dogs they breed, they need to know a bit more about you. They greatly appreciate it when you briefly describe your situation when you apply for a puppy from their breeding. Thus, conscientiously applying to breeders through Tipaw significantly increases your chances of getting a puppy. Once your request is sent, you can cover the platform fees and make direct contact with the breeder, if you have additional questions or motivations, or simply to arrange a visit.

Puppy prices are always set by the breeders based on their own criteria (pedigree, genetic tests, competitions, coat color, etc.). Tipaw does not make any decisions regarding the prices and potential deposits for puppies.

Buying a dog from a responsible breeder sometimes requires patience. Breeders listed on Tipaw prioritize the health and well-being of their dogs over maximizing the number of litters per year. This results in more balanced dogs that have the best chances of physical and psychological development. A breeder on Tipaw cannot individually guarantee a large number of puppies per year, but they distinctly set themselves apart from pet stores and puppy mills by prioritizing the nature of their dogs. Moreover, there is strength in numbers: thanks to the thousands of responsible breeders gathered on Tipaw, new listings appear every day on the platform. Therefore, we invite you to regularly check the litters via this link.

For Tipaw, a responsible breeder is one who is passionate about their breed, continually reassesses their breeding practices, is available for future owners, follows up on their puppies after they have left, makes thoughtful breeding decisions without close inbreeding, and meets the requirements of our ethical charter.

To counter puppy mills, pet stores, and scams, Tipaw has implemented multiple stages of control and verification for breeders wishing to register on the platform. This allows responsible breeders to stand out from intensive breeders and to emphasize the quality of their work. This provides the security and peace of mind of finding a puppy from breeders who consider animal welfare their top priority. Any breeder wanting to register with Tipaw starts by reading and accepting our charter. Then, the breeder is invited to complete their profile and answer a questionnaire reviewed by our trained team. Every breeder who wishes to register with Tipaw is therefore obliged to provide information about their dogs and breeding (address, agreement number (Belgium), SIRET (France) or UBN (Netherlands), health, education, selection, pedigree, tests, activities, etc.). All this information is verified one by one. Additionally, each breeder must provide the full contact details of their veterinarian. In this way, if we have any doubts, we can verify additional information. Based on these criteria, Tipaw decides if a breeder is "responsible" or not. If a breeder does not meet all the platform's criteria, they will not be accepted on Tipaw. Once the breeder profile is validated, additional verification is done when adding each new litter by the breeder. This represents an additional level of control for each litter using chip numbers, and/or litter as well as several mandatory pieces of information to provide. Moreover, potential owners can report a breeder at any time if they feel they don't meet our ethical charter. Lastly, we've added a "reviews" section with ratings on welfare, follow-up, cleanliness, and interaction with buyers. These reviews are written by adoptants who have visited the breeder (whether they adopted a puppy or not). These last two elements allow us, if we deem it justified, to delete a breeder profile from our platform.

No. Tipaw is a specialized and recognized platform that informs, educates, and raises awareness among new adopters to help them find a dog of the breed that suits them. Moreover, thanks to our significant selection work and ongoing control at the level of breeders and their litters, we eliminate the risk of scams or obtaining a dog from intensive breeding that presents an increased risk of physical and/or behavioral disorders. We are completely transparent about the breeding conditions and the prices of the breeders, and we support both the future adopter and the breeder at every stage of the acquisition or sale of a puppy.

In order to secure the platform and confirm your seriousness and interest, service fees will be asked to send your applications and make contact with the breeders. To maximize your chances of finding a puppy, we advise you to apply to various breeders of the breed you are looking for. This amount allows Tipaw to:

• Ensure follow-up and support throughout the adoption process
• Verify the ads and breeders present on Tipaw
• Continue our fight against puppy mills and puppy maltreatment
• Continue to educate future masters on responsible adoption

If you encounter any problem during the payment process, we invite you to contact support at info@tipaw.com for assistance.

A pedigree is a genealogical tree, assuring you that your puppy is of pure breed. There are various federations issuing pedigrees in Belgium and France, however, the LOSH pedigree (issued by Société Royale Saint Hubert in Belgium) and LOF pedigree (issued by Société Centrale Canine in France) are the only pedigrees recognized by FCI (Fédération Cynologique Internationale) in these respective countries, certifying the puppies' ancestry. Each breeder specifies in their ad whether their dogs have the FCI pedigree or not. Note that a dog with a pedigree doesn't guarantee good health; it only provides assurance and information on lineage.

A genetic test or DNA test involves taking cells from the dog to analyze its genetic code and detect potential genetic diseases. These tests help prevent breeding dogs that may develop hereditary illnesses. The diseases tested for are determined based on the dog's breed and its peculiarities. On Tipaw, we strongly recommend breeders to conduct the tests advised for their breed, but it isn't mandatory. The tests are expensive, which is why dogs that have been tested are often sold at a higher price than others.

No. Welcoming a dog is a very important decision that must be thoroughly thought through! We do not personally know all the breeders registered on our site, but we individually verify all the registrations and the addition of litters to ensure that they comply with our ethical charter. Today, we work hard to perform this verification as well and objectively as possible. But this is not 100% of the work that needs to be done. That's why the future adopter's own feelings are very important when buying a puppy! We always advise adopters to meet the breeder and the dogs (puppies and parents). If you do not have 100% trust in the breeder, we strongly advise you not to rush and look for other breeders on Tipaw.

It's not possible for individuals to sell their own dog on Tipaw. Only responsible breeders can place their litters of puppies on our platform. To give away a dog, it's officially mandatory to go through a shelter (in Belgium). Some shelters also offer the possibility to rehouse a dog while it's still with its owner, so it only has to move once.

First, we wish to involve all relevant stakeholders around the cause we champion: animal welfare. Secondly, we aim to provide a simple solution to pet owners searching for a professional near them. On Tipaw, it's easy to find a vet, groomer, or educator near one's residence and to schedule an appointment immediately.

This operation is irreversible. Deleting your account is done as follows:

• Go to Tipaw login and enter your email and password.
• Click on My Tipaw then on My Profile.
• Click on Delete My Account at the bottom of the page on the left, highlighted in red.

It is only possible to cancel your appointment digitally if you have a Tipaw account or created one during your online appointment booking, and if the appointment is more than 24 hours away. To cancel an appointment, click here, then on cancel the appointment.

It is only possible to cancel your appointment digitally if you have a Tipaw account or created one during your online appointment booking, and if the appointment is more than 24 hours away. To reschedule an appointment, click here, then on reschedule the appointment.