How It Works

A majority of our POP experiences occur in partnership with Ronald McDonald House. In Portland, we also receive direct referrals from Doernbecher Children's Hospital and Candlelighters.

Beyond our RMH POP experiences, we have a few slots open for in-home POPs in our flagship location of Portland, Oregon. If you live in or near Portland and have a child between the ages of 2-20 years who has a physical health challenge (i.e. born with a disability, has a chronic illness, or is terminally ill) and would like to apply, you can do so here.

Please note we are a small (but growing!) organization. We will respond to your application as soon as we can, but it might not be right away. For the safety of the puppies (also a vulnerable population), not all households will be eligible for puppy visits.

With RMH-based POP experiences, most families staying at RMH are eligible and are invited to sign up and participate on a first-come, first-serve basis.

For home-based POPs (relevant in Portland, OR only): Due to our liability insurance and the safety needs of the puppies, certain home situations and health conditions are not acceptable for the POP program.

For both our RMH events and our Portland in-home experiences, scheduling depends entirely on the availability of puppies. Breeders typically only have 1-3 litters a year, and they typically only socialize their puppies between 5-12 weeks. We are continually vetting new responsible breeders and welcoming them into the program, but there are still times where there are no puppies available.

If you are looking for an in-home POP in Portland, it also depends how many people are on the waitlist before you. We do our best to reach as many children as we can.

Yes, a small portion of our POPs are available as a means of fundraising, though we keep the majority of our POPs for our POP children and families.

If you are interested in a sponsored POP team-building event or want to host a POP fundraiser for your family or group, please contact us. We are a small team that prioritizes serving our families, so thank you for your patience in hearing back from us.

Responsible breeding is top priority for POP. Most often, new breeders are referred in by our existing vetted breeders. To ensure the safety of the children and families we serve and the puppies we help to provide, all breeders must complete our thorough vetting process including an online application, extensive phone interview with our Breeder Vetting Team, and an onboarding call. All breeders must also be approved by our partner organization, DOGG!T, before they are eligible for POP consideration.

DOGG!T is dedicated to raising the standards of responsible dog breeding through education, transparency, and accountability, while helping connect well-bred, healthy dogs with the right families. They believe responsible breeding begins with prioritizing health, temperament, and breed preservation, supported by documented, breed-specific health testing and clearances recommended by OFA and AKC National Breed Clubs. DOGG!T helps Pile of Puppies identify and approve breeders who demonstrate these responsible practices.

DOGG!T believes that supporting ethical breeding and advocating for shelter and rescue dogs go hand in hand, sharing the goal of reducing irresponsible breeding, preventing shelter surrenders, and improving the lives of all dogs. Together we're proud to bring the unconditional love and joy of dogs to children who need a little extra happiness, comfort, and connection in their lives.

No. While we love to hear about your favorite breed(s), we cannot guarantee a specific breed for a POP experience. Puppy availability is wholly dependent on our breeders and the timing of their litters.

We use breeders because we are working with a sensitive population who have health risks and low or compromised immune systems. We must know where the puppies have come from and that they are healthy.

The Humane World of Animals states, “You don't want to buy a puppy from a pet store or a website. Most of those puppies come from mass breeding facilities, better known as puppy mills. If you've decided to buy a dog from a breeder, you'll want to support one who has their dogs' best interests at heart.”

We stick to their guidelines when interviewing responsible dog breeders.

For RMH partnership POPs, a clean, dedicated area is partitioned off with an exercise pen and lined with a tarp and new puppy pads (with additional on hand, just in case). Participants must have clean clothes, no shoes, and freshly washed hands and face. For any who have a dog at home, new clean socks are required.

For in-home Portland POPs, we interview all families prior to adding them to our wait list. If a dog is in the house, specific restrictions and safety precautions are taken. There can be no other animals in the exercise pen with the puppies, and family pets are kept away from the room altogether. Some breeders require a dog-free home before bringing in puppies. Each breeder will decide what they are and are not comfortable with.

For POP events, we accept referral-based volunteers only. If someone has referred you, please contact us and include the name of the person who referred you in your message. We will send you a link to the volunteer application and let you know when new opportunities arise.

If you are interested in joining POP as a breeder, please complete our Breeder Application here.

We are actively in the process of expanding from our flagship location of Portland into new areas! Near-future locations include Seattle, Los Angeles, San Francisco Bay Area, Austin, Philadelphia, NYC, and more.

To achieve our goal of a nationwide joy presence, every new location requires funding. That means every dollar counts. If you would like to contribute to our cause, we gratefully welcome your donations.

If you would like to bring POP to your area specifically, or you have ideas or expertise that can help us scale nationally, please contact us to discuss.