Owners get mini goldendoodles from S’pore pet shop, DNA tests allegedly show no golden retriever ancestry
Recently, several pet owners who bought mini goldendoodles from a local pet shop found through DNA tests that they were allegedly not the claimed breed.
The owners expressed frustration to MS News over what they felt was misrepresentation by the pet shop.
They have since contacted the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) about the matter.
Alleged sibling mini goldendoodles grow up looking different
Several affected owners spoke to MS News about the situation.
36-year-old Bryan and his wife had gotten two dogs from the pet shop The Pup Life SG in May 2025, for S$4,000 each.
Image courtesy of Bryan
According to the shop, their dogs, Hachi and Kyuu, were mini goldendoodles from the same litter.
Mini goldendoodles are a mix of a miniature poodle and a golden retriever.
The couple suspected something was amiss when the dogs grew up looking quite different.
Image courtesy of Bryan
Later on, Bryan received a message from Ms Alicia Sandve, who informed them that she had gotten a mini goldendoodle from the same shop.
However, a DNA test revealed that it wasn’t a goldendoodle at all.
The couple thus decided to perform an at-home DNA test on Hachi and Kyuu.
DNA certificate of pet allegedly fraudulent
MS News reached out to Ms Sandve, who explained that she bought one mini goldendoodle, Oliver, from The Pup Life SG last November.
Source: @thetravelingoliver on Instagram
“Everywhere we went, people asked what breed he is. We said mini goldendoodle, and every single person said he doesn’t look like one,” she recounted.
Ms Sandve then decided to perform a DNA test through Embark. The results were surprising.
“No mini poodle, no golden retriever in him at all. A completely different breed,” she shared with MS News.
Image courtesy of Alicia Sandve
Oliver turned out to be a cockapoo, a mix between a standard poodle and a cocker spaniel.
The Pup Life SG had given Ms Sandve DNA testing certificates of her dog’s parents, which seemingly affirmed Oliver as a mini goldendoodle.
Source: @aliciasandve on Instagram Stories
She thus reached out to Orivet, which runs the DNA testing company named in the certificates.
“They came back to me via email, confirming these certificates are not from them and are fraudulent,” she said.
Image courtesy of Alicia Sandve
Orivet told MS News that they provided a response concerning the certificate back in Jan 2026.
Pet shop owner allegedly promised not to work with breeder
Following this discovery, Ms Sandve reached out to The Pup Life SG in Jan 2026.
However, she described their initial response as consisting of “very bad excuses”.
She alleged the shop claimed that mini goldendoodles didn’t necessarily mean breeding a mini poodle with a golden retriever.
One of the pet shop’s owners reportedly scheduled a call with her after she told them that the DNA certificates were fake.
“On the call he denied knowing these dogs are not mini goldendoodles,” she said.
According to Ms Sandve, The Pup Life SG claimed that they obtained the dogs from a breeder in Ireland, and promised not to work with them anymore.
Source: @thetravelingoliver on Instagram
The Pup Life SG allegedly gave Ms Sandve a full refund and let her keep Oliver.
She thus initially decided not to go public with the issue.
However, she then coincidentally came across Hachi and Kyuu’s Instagram account, noting that Hachi looked similar to Oliver.
This prompted her to reach out to Bryan and his wife to warn them.
Refund allegedly offered only if dogs returned
Earlier this month, Bryan finally received the DNA test results from Wisdom Panel.
According to him, Hachi turned out to be a cockapoo who didn’t have any golden retriever DNA and was only 2% mini poodle.
Image courtesy of Bryan
Meanwhile, Kyuu did have 52% miniature poodle DNA, but lacked any golden retriever ancestry.
Image courtesy of Bryan
Bryan also found out that Hachi and Kyuu were not even related.
He alleged that The Pup Life SG claimed the amount of golden retriever DNA could become negligible after many rounds of breeding.
Subsequently, The Pup Life SG allegedly offered a full refund only if Hachi and Kyuu were returned.
Bryan refused and expressed his frustration with the response to MS News, saying that he felt the shop had asked for his dogs back like they were “random commodity”.
Image courtesy of Bryan
After they made posts on Instagram, The Pup Life SG allegedly contacted them and offered S$500 for each dog, which they refused again.
The couple has raised the issue with NParks and CASE.
Other pet owners intending to perform DNA tests
Jay, another owner who bought a dog from The Pup Life SG, told MS News that he intends to test his dog’s DNA in light of the situation.
He expressed sadness for the puppies that may have been bred in puppy mills for profit.
“We thought we were getting them from a reputable shop and reputable breeder,” Jay explained.
He was also upset that the pet shop had allegedly “blatantly lied” to their customers.
The stories from other affected owners also prompted Ms Sandve to go public with her experience.
Source: @thetravelingoliver on Instagram
The Pup Life says standard processes were followed
The Pup Life SG responded to an MS News query confirming their awareness of the concerns circulating online.
They stated that the information obtained and provided to owners comes from the puppies’ respective breeders.
“It is part of our standard process to request and review breeder documentation and relevant import records prior to any sale.”
The Pup Life SG said that they complied with their standard processes regarding the puppies in question, including reviewing veterinary reports from the country of origin.
Pet shop verifying DNA tests for ‘mini goldendoodles’
Additionally, the shop is currently verifying the DNA results from the DNA test kit companies, Wisdom Panel and Embark.
They pointed out that Embark’s terms and conditions apparently state that they do not guarantee the effectiveness of any specific test.
The Pup Life SG also highlighted Wisdom Panel’s terms and conditions, stating that their products are not intended to prove the pedigree of a pet.
A pedigree is a record of ancestry for the pet, usually used to prove that a dog is purebred.
The Pup Life SG stated that they have engaged legal advisers and are reaching out to the breeders.
They also promised to contact the involved customers and asked the public to let the review process take its course.
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Featured image adapted from @thetravelingoliver on Instagram and courtesy of Bryan.
