Puppy - from 'breeder' or regular home?

[bedogged]

Yes!



I agree. I think the best example is two of our dogs we got them from a shelter they were pulled for free because he had to put them down that afternoon due to finding lice on them. We took them in total cost of their lice treatment was about $400 for both. Even the more costly treatments like heart worm usually run less than $1000. So cost wise usually ends up being the same or much less than puppy that you buy.

I think many people do not consider the real expense of a pet. Vet bills are not cheap and when you decide to take a life in you have to be prepare for everything that comes with it. Being prepare financially for a pet is a very important part that should not be taken lightly.

Very true! This is also an example of why breed rescue adoption fees are generally larger than that of most shelters. A breed rescue would have treated the dogs for lice prior to offering them for adoption.

 

[fakereadhed]

Statistically, cats require less medical expense during their lifetimes than dogs do.

Please show me those statistics. Maybe you can find some on apples and oranges while you're at it.

 

[bedogged]

Please show me those statistics. Maybe you can find some on apples and oranges while you're at it.

No need to be sarcastic, this is information is very well known and accurate. Most budget gurus recommend getting a cat over a dog for just this reason. If you doubt my veracity, knock yourself out doing a web search.

 

[fakereadhed]

No need to be sarcastic, this is information is very well known and accurate. Most budget gurus recommend getting a cat over a dog for just this reason. If you doubt my veracity, knock yourself out doing a web search.

My point was I was talking about paying for health problems of an aging cat and you gave me statistics on dogs vs cats. Apples to oranges.

 

[bedogged]

My point was I was talking about paying for health problems of an aging cat and you gave me statistics on dogs vs cats. Apples to oranges.

I guess I must be confused? The words "special needs" which you used in a previous post through me off. It is not used to describe an otherwise healthy older animal that might or might not experience medical problems as it ages. You can adopt a puppy or kitten and have expensive heath problems. There is no way to predict what will happen as any pet ages.

Special needs is a term used to describe an animal that has an existing medical problem such as being diabetic or blind. Naturally, those animals do not fit into everyone's household, but there ARE people out there who are willing to adopt such a special needs pet.

So, just to be clear, is what you are saying is that you think the price of the adoption fee should be based on the age of the pet?

 

[donald&daisy]

I agree that pets are worth investing in!

As far as the animal control, I really think they are sentencing cats to a sure death in our community when times are tough by charging too much for adoption. When I visited recently looking for a friend's lost dog I was sickened at the amount of older cats they had. It breaks my heart!

As you pointed out, cats live a long time, and they can have lots of expensive medical problems. Charging that much at the outset is not an incentive to adopt a special needs pet.

Just a suggestion that if you truly feel things should change at your local animal control/shelter in regards to adoption fees you should talk to your City Council members. Animal Control is almost always part of the local government and if enough citizens voice their concerns, then it will become a priority for those in power to make changes.

That said, our shelter charges $20 for all cats regardless of age and that includes the spay/neuter surgery, feline leukemia test, microchip, rabies and booster vac, and deworming. We still have a hard time adopting out all of our cats.

 

[angwill]

I felt this way when we adopted our cat. We didn't have any other pets at the time and they really wanted to talk to a vet and they wouldn't let us take the cat. I was very calm there and I can understand that they want to make sure the animal will be taken care of and not returned, but when I got home I was really upset. All sorts of horrible people have animals. I'm a responsible and decent person. I own my home and am capable of taking care of 3 children, but I'm not worthy to adopt a freaking cat?

Over the summer we were thinking of adopting another dog. We decided to wait a bit longer until we found a dog that we really love and would be the perfect fit for our family. We did wind up hosting an exchange student. We were joking because it seemed like it was much easier to demonstrate that we were capable of taking care of someone elses 15yo child for the next year than most of the screening processes and rules for the shelters/rescues we were looking at.

I know exactly where you are coming from with. We did foster care for many years and adopted a foster child. We had all kinds of training, licensing, inspections, and interviews etc and passed with flying colors. After we stopped doing foster care we decided to save a dog. When we went to try and recue a dog the first rescue person I talked to asked a couple questions and due to us not having a fence we were not acceptable. No amount of we will always walk the dog or could put up a run for them was acceptable to them. Our heart was set on adopting a dog in need so we decided to volunteer at a shelter when they had a hording situation. We helped them out for months till the animals were ready to adopt. They interviewed anyone who wanted to adopt the animals with preference given to the volunteers. Well all the recues showed up and we were pushed aside and told so sorry the recue was given the dog you and your family fell in love with and took care of the last couple months. Those experiences chased us right to the breeders for sure. This way we were in charge and could interview the breeder and go look at the mother and father and where they were raised. We got to decide on color and sex and enjoy the puppy year. It really left us scratching our heads as to why rescues would basically push people into buying from breeders. I came to the conclusion that sometimes things happen for a reason and saving a dog in need doesn't always work for everyone, sadly.

 

[elleherself]

I have done both, rescue and buying from a reputable breeder, as well as "fostering" a mama dog and a litter of puppies, of which we kept none. So maybe I have done it all?

I can say that each situation has it's pros and cons. I will say that I would never buy a dog from a backyard breeder. If I am going to put out the effort (and upfront cost) for a purebred dog, then I want to see something concrete from the breeder. I want to see that the breeding stock are titled in AKC events (which is the peer-reviewed ring for evaluating purebred dogs). Not only do I want those but also health testing, with results viewed for ALL of their dogs on the OFA website (breeders can choose NOT to have results posted for animals who fail-- so be very wary of dogs over the age of two without these results who are being bred!)

A dog is an animal who will live in your home close to you, with your children. An animal who will become a part of your family to a certain degree. You will have this dog for many, many years if all goes to plan. Longer than you might have the car purchase you research so thoroughly.

I purchased a Great Dane from a wonderful breeder whom I love. Both of her parents were champions and health tested and we kept in touch for the life of my dog, even attending a reunion on her property to play with a new litter and visit with her littermate when my girl was eight. The support I received over the years from her was invaluable to me.

Rescue is a wonderful thing to do, to be sure, but don't believe that it is always the easiest option. I fostered a litter of puppies and, on the other side of this issue, I was AGHAST when the rescue was considering homes without fenced in yards. These pups looked like adorable little labs, but had the hyperactivity of the most poorly bred retriever combined with the tenacity of a terrier. They could scale little gates that my pedigreed mannered Dane never crossed-- and she was a DANE. These were just six-week-old pups. But boy were they rowdy. I was nearly sure every single one would be returned. Luckily in the end their new owners did have fences, and I knew they would need them! Conversely I think we would have been fine with my Dane without a fence. It's all about personalities.

That's not to say all rescues are created equally, they aren't. After working from the inside you begin to see the nuances in everything-- and having raised a litter of puppies I am even more shrewd when it comes to what it takes to properly raise and socialize a litter of pups to live amongst humans compatibly. Everyone thinks this is a simple process, but when you think about the fact that dogs are just domesticated wolves, early socialization is everything to create a dog that you will be happy with, and happy with you. I was a slave to our litter, with them constantly, everything from taking them on small to longer car rides and playing fireworks noises to them to introducing food slowly as their digestive systems matured to starting the process of house-training. It was nine weeks of intense work and at the end of it all I still think I could have done better!

Sometimes finding the perfect pet is a little intuition, a little luck. I must say that I was just as happy with an American Eskimo girl we found on the street as my Great Dane.

 

[hugApug]

For the original OP - since this discussion seems to have gotten a bit off topic. (Side note, everyone with Netflix instant should watch DogTown)

We *adore* our 4.5 year old female pug, Monkey. I would ignore a previous comment that stated that pugs tend to have bad temperaments due to over-breeding/in-breeding. I don't think that you could meet a more loveable breed (of course, I'm biased), but these are not aggressive dogs. Sure, you will encounter some pugs with poor temperament, but this is almost always due to poor training, abuse, lack of socialization, or neglect from the owner. One has to work hard to corrupt a pug. In general, they are great with children.

That being said, this adorable breed (with their cute smushed-in faces) can come with a lot of health problems. Monkey started going blind in one eye from pigmentary keratitis & dry eye at age 1(three eye drops daily for life), suffered from food allergies at age 2, non stop itchy skin at age 3, and we just had a mast cell tumor(benign, thankfully) removed after Christmas.

This isn't meant to discourage you from getting a pug, only to let you know that these cute pups grow up and can sometimes take us on a rollercoaster of vet visits.

I would highly recommend adopting a pug from a rescue. The benefit to getting a pug that's a bit older(4-6), is that you'll be able to get a good sense of their personality(especially if they have been in foster homes, where a home-environment can bring out their true personality). Also, you'll have a sense of their general health. Not to mention the fact that you would be giving a dog a second lease on life.

I wouldn't trade my Monkey for anything. I do wish, though, that someone would have let me know in the beginning that we would have faced this many obstacles (a doggy savings account & a thicker skin would have helped this mom!).

Anyway, best of luck in your search! Just remember that the right dog is worth the wait.

 

[adventure_woman]

We *adore* our 4.5 year old female pug, Monkey.

That being said, this adorable breed (with their cute smushed-in faces) can come with a lot of health problems. Monkey started going blind in one eye from pigmentary keratitis & dry eye at age 1(three eye drops daily for life), suffered from food allergies at age 2, non stop itchy skin at age 3, and we just had a mast cell tumor(benign, thankfully) removed after Christmas.

This isn't meant to discourage you from getting a pug, only to let you know that these cute pups grow up and can sometimes take us on a rollercoaster of vet visits.

Thank you for your thoughts/advice! If you don't mine me asking - where did you get Monkey from? (shelter/professional breeder/etc.)


I think we have decided to go with a professional show breeder for our puppy. Mainly because at least we know the medical background and if they have had issues/etc. I know pugs have health problems and hopefully there will be less issues having a well bred dog (obviously that is not guaranteed). I have already spoken to 2 that I really like and am in the process of hearing back from the references. It was helpful to have some type of idea what kinds of questions to ask from people's different suggestions on here! So, hopefully in mid-May we will be bringing home a new member to our family!! We are all super excited and are already trying to come up with a name (which I must say it is harder to come up with a puppy name consensus than to decide the names for my 2 daughters!! )

 

[hugApug]

Monkey was the "runt" from a professional breeders litter here in Northern CA. We loved her because she had a petite frame from a young age and her snout was longer (not too noticeable, but she has a lot less problems with breathing because of it). Monkey's been able to maintain a petite frame & healthy weight, which has been nice for our active lifestyle.

I would say that getting a dog from a professional breeder is not necessarily going to give you a dog without health problems. With any pug, you will most likely face obstacles. Show dogs tend to have their own set of problems, caused by breeders who want certain characteristics to be even more defined(short snout, deep wrinkles prone to infection). It's good that you're now armed with some great questions to ask. If you haven't already, I'd check out the pugvillage.com forums, it has been a great resource for us. Also, once you do get your pug, ask your breeder for Vet recommendations. It's a huge benefit (and much safer for the pug), to get a vet who is familiar with short-muzzled breeds.

Good luck!

 

[adventure_woman]

If you haven't already, I'd check out the pugvillage.com forums, it has been a great resource for us. Also, once you do get your pug, ask your breeder for Vet recommendations. It's a huge benefit (and much safer for the pug), to get a vet who is familiar with short-muzzled breeds.

Yes - I have been on pugvillage.com - thanks for the tip. I also have a vet appt. for our cats tomorrow, so I am now armed with a bunch of questions to ask him re: pugs and if he is familiar with short-nosed dogs. (I had no idea that there would be a big difference btw a 'regular' dog and a 'short-nosed' dog. Thankfully I am researching well before we get the puppy!).