Buying a puppy online???

[DisneyMarathon]

Enter the breed and your zip code. It will list dogs and puppies that are available around your area for adoption.

http://www.petfinder.com/index.html

http://www.adoptapet.com/dog-adoption

Many dogs end up at the shelters because their owners can no longer take care of them due to financial situations, etc. There are many excellent dogs ... waiting for you to give them a good home.

 

[nexttripdisney]

Buy locally--have you looked in the classifieds? That's how I found our cockapoo. I was able to drive over to the breeders farm and see that the animals were treated well and it was not a puppy mill.

There are also animals that will meet your requirements (non-shed) in animal shelters all the time.

 

[RachaelA]

Buy locally--have you looked in the classifieds? That's how I found our cockapoo. I was able to drive over to the breeders farm and see that the animals were treated well and it was not a puppy mill.

There are also animals that will meet your requirements (non-shed) in animal shelters all the time.

They may not have been a puppymill, but they were backyard breeders. Backyard breeders contribute just as much as puppy mills to the overpopulation of pets in the US.

OP, please adopt. It may take a bit to find the dog you are looking for, but there are so many dogs out there. You can let the small dog rescues or breed specific rescues (like poodle rescues) know what you are looking for and they can let you know when they get a dog that matches.

 

[aprhj]

My household has allergy issues so it lead us to a Standard Poodle. Great dogs come from rescues and from the humand society, but when you have allergies to consider you also have to consider that many dogs may have more than 1 bloodline in them and that may trigger allergies. I would only trust breed specific rescue groups in the case of allergies. One thing to be cautious about is the breed mixes. Many will have a different type of coat as a puppy than they do as an adult, even Poodles. If allergies are sever in your household you will only know if a family member is allergic to the dog if you get a dog that has its adult coat. For Standard Poodles that could be anywhere from 9 months to 2 years and they will shed at least once when they go through the coat change.

 

[Debbiebee68]

My sister got a Maltipoo from Justmaltipoos. They had to fly him across the country. He is non-shedding and hypoallergenic. They love him more than life!!!

 

[JOEYDIS]

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

I bought both of my Yorkies from puppyfind.com and got fantastics dogs. You must be careful because there are some scams out there even on that site. I spoke with the breeders quite a bit before I agreed on the purchase of the pet. I too wanted a non-shedding dog. I got my dogs from different breeders and had no problems. I did not have my dogs shipped, I met up with both breeders so that they weren't shipped on an airplane. Try to find one near to where you live and then you can drive to pick it up and if something is not right then you will know.

 

[luvmy3]

What happens to all those puppies in the pet stores or the ones online that people don't buy?

 

[marie1203]

What happens to all those puppies in the pet stores or the ones online that people don't buy?

Hopefully pet stores that sell puppies stop selling them because is not profitable anymore. There is always someone that doesn't have enough information to get them.

 

[marie1203]

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.

Please do not let yourself be guided by the AKC. Our only dog that came from a "breeder" (aka puppy mill) has registration. they didn't care or wanted to help as long as they got the money. And yes I went and checked the place out when we got them and everything look fine. They usually breed them somewhere else.

 

[marie1203]

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

There is breed specific rescues I am sure you will be able to find at least one poodle rescue per state.

 

[kkacar]

Just as another dog other than a poodle for severe allergies look into a chinese crested. we have one and he is the best little dog. Living in Florida they tend to be high maintenance but he is the best dog. And yes before you ask he is that little hairless dog. But he is considered a hairy hairless, he has a little more hair than a complete hairless. He is great for allergies as he has hair not fur.

My Presley is a wonderful little lap dog, bed warmer and he loves to run and play. Just another breed to look into. You can google chinese crested rescue and come up with all kinds of great chinese crested that need homes. we lucked up with ours, he was a rescue dog but he was very young. The family that had him got stationed in Germany and could not keep him. Just my 2 cents.

kelli

 

[robinb]

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.

I just want to point out that Puppy Mills also masquerade on Petfinder as "rescues". We had a big one here in Wisconsin called the Thyme and Sage Ranch: http://www.nowisconsinpuppymills.com/thyme-and-sage-overview.html

You need to be careful no matter where you get your pet.

 

[stasijane]

There are many reputable breeders who have websites that are not involved in puppy mills, just make sure you ineract with the breeder and the dog as well, I got my dog off line, we were looking for an English Bull Terrier puppy but I came accrossed a full grown one overpriced from someone trying to make a quick sale on the ebay classifieds and fell in love with her instantly!! Drove two states away to pick her up! and she is the the best dog ever! I dont want to think about how she would have ended up had I not see her.

 

[kacaju]

Please do not let yourself be guided by the AKC. Our only dog that came from a "breeder" (aka puppy mill) has registration. they didn't care or wanted to help as long as they got the money. And yes I went and checked the place out when we got them and everything look fine. They usually breed them somewhere else.

well, sorry that happened to you. Bit there are plenty of great breeders out there. Another thing you can do is search infodog.com and find a dog show in your area.
Go to a show is a great way of meeting people who are into their breeds and only want what is best for their dogs.

 

[cbg1027]

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.

Thank you Kermit, you saved me a lot of typing.

I concur with everything Kermit said. But should you decide you need to buy a dog after not being able to find a non-shedding dog to rescue, then be careful where you buy from. I am adding another chapter to what Kermit said with this:

Do not buy a dog that you cannot first meet in person or see the conditions in which it was raised!
Any reputable breeder will most likely be grilling and interviewing you before they agree to sell you a puppy. They care about where the dog is going and what kind of home it will have. A reputable breeder does not sell dogs for a profit, they do it for love of the breed and maintenance of the breed standard. If anything it is a hobby and they are losing money from it!

Certain breeds are prone to certain health problems. Do your research about the breeds you are interested in and what sort of genetic diseases are a worry. For example, larger breeds like Labs are prone to hip dysplasia. A good lab breeder will have an OFA (orthopedic foundation for animals) certification grade on the puppies' parents. This means the parents, and their parents were carefully bred to other dogs with no, or very little, hip dysplasia so that each future generation has a smaller chance of developing the problem.

Research is the key word here. Go to dogs shows, talk with breeders and owners. You also need to find out about a breeds usual personality. Just because an dog is small does not mean that is going to be a calm lap dog or have minimal exercise needs. (Terriers are a good example of this - they are hunters in a small body. Thus they are active and stubborn!)

As far as non shedding breeds go, there is no such thing. However there are many who shed very minimally. I would look for the following:

Poodles - come in 3 sizes: Standard, Miniature, and Toy. Anything called a 'Teacup' is probably going to be the product of a puppy mill as it is not an AKC accepted size variety. This goes for any breed that the seller calls 'Teacup'. They will be more prone to health issues since they were just bred for size rather than health and hardiness.

Bichon Frisé

Bedlington Terrier

Chinese Crested

Schnauzer - come in 3 sizes: Giant, Standard and Mini

Portuguese Water Dog - caution these are extremely high energy!

Wire-coat breeds such as the Wirehaired Dachshund or Norwich Terrier (although hounds and terriers can be difficult to train and are usually quite stubborn. They are not usually good breeds for 1st time dog owners.)

Remember that like people, all dogs are different! Research breed characteristics to find the right fit for your family and lifestyle.

And perhaps try going to the local shelter one day and browsing. You never know what you will find. My sister-in-law and nephew have a lot of allergies so they took a long time to find a dog. But a Bichon Frisé mix showed up the shelter one day and he's now a part of their annual family photos.

 

[ChattaAlley]

I would really think about getting your dog from a shelter. There are some great dogs in shelters that need your love. I would never buy my dog online or from a puppy mill. I have heard too many horrer stories.

 

[robinb]

well, sorry that happened to you. Bit there are plenty of great breeders out there. Another thing you can do is search infodog.com and find a dog show in your area.
Go to a show is a great way of meeting people who are into their breeds and only want what is best for their dogs.

I have a standard poodle and I found my breeder through my state's breed club.

Poodles - come in 3 sizes: Standard, Miniature, and Toy. Anything called a 'Teacup' is probably going to be the product of a puppy mill as it is not an AKC accepted size variety. This goes for any breed that the seller calls 'Teacup'. They will be more prone to health issues since they were just bred for size rather than health and hardiness.

'Royal' poodles and 'Parti' poodles are also more likely than not to be from Puppy Mills. There is no such thing as a 'Royal' poodle. Like a 'Teacup' it's a poodle that has been bread for size ... in the case of a 'Royal' quite large. 'Parti' poodles are bred for their coats of a darker color and white (like a pinto pony). They are very cute, but white is not allowed in the breed standard.

 

[nancycg56]

There are lots of pure bred dogs in shelters so if you are looking for a certain breed, I would start at a shelter and go from there. We got our Jack Russell in a shelter and today we pick up his new JRT mix sister.

Read, read, and read some more about the breed to make sure you are getting the right breed for your family. Our JRT is HIGH energy which means we go to the dog park EVERY day and we walk at least a mile every night ~ rain, shine, snow, holiday or not. It makes for a much better JRT. So keep those things in mind!

Good luck on finding your new furbaby!

 

[MomtoGKC]

I agree with not going online. Also, I would caution to not go with a poodle mix, like golden doodle. The breeders say they are non- shedding, but there is no way to know that. Just like you don't know which of your/your hsband's traits will come out in your kids, you can have no real way of knowing in the dogs, either. I know of lots of doodles who have inherited the golden fur- and trust me, they are not non-shedding!! .

There are lots of other reasons to not use these back yard breeders, but I won't go on about it here. If you really need low shedding you should research specific breeds and look at real breeders (referee by your local breed groups) and breed rescue. Also, pure bred breeders should not be chargng $3,000 as a previous poster said. We did a ton of research last year and the average was more like $1,500.

 

[jodifla]

I know it's the whole PC thing to do, but I got an older dog from a shelter, and it did NOT work out that well. The dog was older than the said, was abused and quiite nippy with anyone but me, and had a hot of very expensive health problems.

Next time I will get a puppy from a breeder, which I very well will likely find online, then do my research about them.