Buying a puppy online???

[lukenick1]

We are ready for a family pet. I am interested in a non shedding breed. I see many pups for sale online but I am scared of buying a dog that I cannot interact with. Has anyone bought a dog from a website online and it was successful?
Thanks

 

[kristieboyd]

Be very, very careful with online animal purchases. I friend of mine got scammed out of a few hundred dollars purchasing a dog from an online place.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Have you thought about adopting a shelter animal or rescue animal? There are so many of those that are euthanized each month.

 

[luvsmickeymouse]

I am in the process of adopting a beautiful poodle puppy from pet finder, she is gorgeous. The process so far has been everything as promised, and with pet finder you don't pay anything until you pick up your pet. Mine was transported from a shelter in Louisiana and we pick her up Friday.

The dog in my signature is my son's dog who is also from a shelter, and he is wonderful, we all love him.

 

[dfchelbay]

We are ready for a family pet. I am interested in a non shedding breed. I see many pups for sale online but I am scared of buying a dog that I cannot interact with. Has anyone bought a dog from a website online and it was successful?
Thanks

These are the three websites I use when it comes to looking at dogs. They are Hoobly, Puppyfind and Ebay classifieds. You just put in the breed you are looking for and your city, state and zip. It gives you those dogs for sale in your area. I have had much success. It is local to wherever you are. I put in poodles because its a non-shedding dog, and Orlando, Florida as my location. You can see how it finds those dogs in the geographic location you have chosen. Don't be weirded out by the Ebay site, it's not the same as the auction site...you're not bidding on a dog...lol

http://www.hoobly.com/1946792/1858/0/

http://orlando.ebayclassifieds.com/...81.3792365&radius=LESS_THAN_75&output=gallery


http://www.puppyfind.com/for_sale/?...aafca9358b5a69a9bf7a0846&country=248&state=FL

 

[marie1203]

I would highly suggest you adopt there are many shelters and rescues for every breed that you can find a puppy that suits your family. We will never buy a puppy. We did that with our first because honestly we didn't know anything better we used puppyfind our pomeranian end up having $2500 of vet bills 3 days after we got (aka puppy mill). Unless you are willing to spend well over $3000 for a dog that you know it has breed right (genetic testing to back it up from reputable breeder)I would adopt. Consider that adoption in many cases can be cheaper because rescues usually have done most of the vet stuff by the time they are put up for adoption. Many dogs are put down every day!

 

[tripplanner2]

I believe I used Puppyfind.com. If not it was a site very similar. Anyway, we bought from someone that was local, 1 hour away. We were able to pick from the litter and got to meet our puppy before bringing him home. We spent a lot of time with the breeder and he sells his puppies to all the local stores by me. Like you, I needed a dog that was non shedding and hypoallergenic. So we needed to purchase and not go through a shelter. The same puppy that we paid $900 for cost $2750 plus tax at the local pet store. I got a guarentee and he paid for the first round of shots. He made sure the puppy was healthy before we lost contact. He kept in touch for a decent amount of time. I would highly recommend.

 

[louey]

All I can say is Puppymill! Puppymill! anytime you buy a puppy online or at petstore. If you want a specific breed and do not want to adopt a rescue, just make sure you find a reputable breeder. No good breeder would sell online or in news paper they don't have to if they are good. Just be sure to do your homework, it will payoff in the end

Just FYI this is a wonderful rescue
http://www.hua.org/component/animals/?animal_type=dog

 

[mjkacmom]

ALL puppies you buy online, or in a pet store, are from puppymills, or backyard breeders. PLEASE do not support animal cruelty. Either find a rescue, or find a reputable breeder (will never sell to a store, or ship). The breeder's #1 reason for breeding is to improve the breed, not to make money selling puppies. The breeder will not breed dogs that have any medical problems, and will make sure you neuter your puppy, and agree to return the dog if, for whatever reason, you need to surrender it.

Go on petfinder.com - you can find any breed.

 

[I Believe In Magic]

My ex-MIL got her puppy from a breeder in FL, and we live in MI. She had success with it and if you need the name of the service she used I can have my ex call her. LOL (because I can't. haha)

 

[mom2val]

Please please please consider adopting a dog! You can use petfinder to find shelters near you and rescue organizations. In 1993 we got a beautiful chesapeake bay retriever from a shelter. We had Katie until she passed in 2008. In 2000 we adopted a chocolate lab from a shelter and we had Abbie until she passed in Jan 2011. Last weekend we went to adopt a puppy at a local shelter only to have the people in front of us in line adopt the puppy we wanted. Our dd was heartbroken. I knew of another shelter a town over and we drove to it. We found our Gracie there! She is a rat terrier/chihuahua mix 6 years old. She is so sweet and loving. Already housebroken and fixed. We took her to our vet a few days after adopting and she is in perfect health - she got all her shots at the shelter and was negative for heartworms.

 

[Mickey'snewestfan]

I agree that buying a puppy online or in a pet store is a sure way to support puppy mills, and the continued abuse of animals.

No responsible breeder is going to let their puppies be shipped off to total strangers. They're going to want to talk to you, ask you questions, etc . . .

I'd go to the American Kennel Club website and look for breeders of your desired breeds. Call or email around and see who has puppies. Interview them, and let them interview you, and see if you can find a match.

Good luck!

 

[kacaju]

http://www.akc.org/breederinfo/breeder_search.cfm

See what you can find through here.
Many, many times a breeder will hold onto a pup because they want to show it. As the pup grows it turns out not to be a show quaility pup. There are many reasons...pup got to big (outgrew the breed standard size) pup just does not like the show ring, the pup has a fault so it cannot be shown
but that does not mean it will not make a great family pet.

 

[ShelsGoingToDisney]

Another option for you if you want a specific breed is to see if there is a rescue group for that breed in your area. They are very selective who they will adopt to and they foster the dogs, get them healthy if that is needed, spay/neuter and work on training.

I agree with the others please don't support the puppy mills by buying online!

 

[lukenick1]

I was interested in adopting but most shelters have pit bulls, labs, or mixed big dogs. I need a small non shedding dog.

 

[TIGGER'SFRIEND]

Just google for rescues of the breed you may be interested in--please consider this route as there are many dogs looking for their forever home--many puppies too

 

[ktlm]

We bought a puppy after finding the breeder's website online. She is now our 8 year old furry child, and is the absolute best dog I have ever had. We knew we wanted a Havanese for temperment, non-shedding, and for being hypoallergenic. I love shelter dogs, but we were hoping to have a baby soon, so we wanted to stick to a breed with known characteristics as far as kids were concerned (yes, I am aware that there are always bad apples in every breed). Back then, Havanese were pretty scarce, they had not gotten as popular as they are now. We got online and found a breeder we thought was in our state. We called her instead of buying online- I would never purchase a puppy without talking to someone. It turns out, she had been in our state, but had recently moved to CA (seems like she had inherited some land there). Normally, I would not have bought a puppy I had not seen and could not go see, but I felt very comfortable with this lady, and everything checked out when I did research on her. We were provided with pictures of the mother, father, and whole litter of puppies. One of our neighbors loved our dog so much that she bought a puppy from the same breeder...again would up being an adorable dog.

You have to be very careful when buying something like a dog online. You definitely want to do some research on the breeder. It can turn out great like it did for us. Our breeder is not a puppy mill or backyard breeder. She is definitely a legitimate business. She breeds 2 breeds only, and they are related breeds. She shows dogs in those breeds as well. We were screened. We had to fill out applications and have a phone interview (I don't think I would trust an online breeder that didn't care where their dog was going). She even wanted updates on how the puppy was and how she turned out as an adult. She also does have some adult rescue dogs (only in her breeds) up for adoption. I believe in this computer day and age that most legitimate breeders do have websites and will operate business in that manner. Of course, there are a lot of puppy mills and scammers out there too...you just have to be careful.

 

[pezheadmeg]

I was interested in adopting but most shelters have pit bulls, labs, or mixed big dogs. I need a small non shedding dog.

Find a local rescue. My parents' 17 pound cocka-poo came from the town shelter. She wasn't even a year at the time. My Cocker was a shelter rescue as well. The dogs are there!

 

[cheekymonkey]

We did not buy from a puppy mill but from couple who wanted to breed their pair one time. We bought online (per a face book referral) but did get to meet our sweet Lucy before making a final decision. I had searched for many months on petfinder but had not found a good match as we have small kids and old cats.

Good luck with your search! The one piece of advice I can offer is the puppy's disposition/personality is the same at 6 weeks as it will be at 1 year +. So choose the personality that suits your family and lifestyle.

 

[kermit116]

If you are looking for a specific breed you can still get that breed and adopt. Visit petfinder.com - which has listings of adoptable dogs in shelters and rescues all over the country. You can search by breed and look for small dogs, which they do have in plenty of shelters and breed specific rescues all over the country. In fact, you may have better luck with Petfinder than you would with just visiting your local shelter if you are looking for a small dog of a specific breed.

Often breed rescues (such as dachshund rescue) will search local kill shelters and scoop up those breeds of dogs before they are killed. The dogs will usually be put in a foster home to get socialized with a family and/or other pets, and then put up for adoption on the breed rescue's website or on Petfinder.com. If you know what breed you want to get, I'd suggest you google that breed's name along with "rescue" - you will likely find many organizations that can help you find the right dog.

I cannot speak strongly enough against buying a dog online. As the previous posters have mentioned, unless you are buying from a reputable breeder (often someone who shows that breed of dog), you are probably buying from a puppymill. To get an idea of where a dog ordered online may be coming from, you may want to visit the videos the Humane Society of the United States has posted of a raid they did on a puppymill in TN (where they rescued 700 dogs - mostly small dogs). (http://video.humanesociety.org/vide.../Tennessee-Puppy-Mill-700-Dogs-Rescued-Day-2/).

Many of these dogs live in cages stacked on top of each other, with feces (that are never cleaned) dripping down onto the dogs at the bottom of the stack. At this puppymill in TN, they had dogs living in homemade crates that had chicken wire for flooring (to allow all the animal waste to fall to the ground). When these dogs were rescued, they had cuts on their feet from standing on wire all dog long. Many had their nails ripped off there they had been caught on the chicken wire. These dogs lived in horrendous conditions with little or no human contact, and their puppies were sold online to those who didn't know any better.

A good thing to look for if you are still dedicated to finding a dog from a breeder online is to see if that "breeder" breeds many breeds of dogs or is dedicated to one or two particular breeds. Puppymills are notorious for breeding a variety of dogs - usually they breed small, cute dogs that are easy to sell online and/or are fashionable at the moment (think the run on chihuahuas when the Taco Bell Dog was so popular). Most reputable breeders are dedicated to the advancement of a particular breed. They will dedicate their lives to finding great dogs and breeding them for the purpose of improving that breed, rather than jumping around to breeding different breeds of dogs based on what's popular at the moment. Also, a reputable breeder will be happy to allow you to come visit the dog you want, visit its parents, visit the facility. This will not happen if you buy a dog online from a faceless "breeder."

I apologize if this sounds preachy, but I own three small rescue dogs who lived in absolutely horrendous puppymill conditions prior to being saved and put up for adoption. They are all of the cute variety - very popular breeds, commonly featured on TV and movies, therefore commonly desired by people looking to get a new pet.

There are so many dogs that get put in shelters or rescues every year that are killed that it is easy to find a good dog to adopt. In fact, in this bad economy there are more families having to put perfectly good family dogs (potty trained, good with kids), in shelters because they cannot afford them any longer. This means those who are shopping for a new dog are in a better position to get a shelter/rescue dog. In this way it's a "buyer's market" for shelter/rescue dogs.

Please, please, please reconsider buying a dog online and look at adopting a rescue dog on Petfinder or from a breed rescue. Rescue dogs are so grateful to be rescued by their new families, and it's a great opportunity to give back to the world at large by rescuing a helpless little animal.