Puppy - from 'breeder' or regular home?

[Pigeon]

Rescue dogs make wonderful pets and I strongly recommend that you check that possibility out. If your heart is set on a puppy, you will have to purchase that from a breeder.

I volunteer with a rescue and we get puppies all the time, usually after pregnant females are dumped off. We often have small dog mixes, puppies included. Of course, you don't know who the father is, so the dogs may end up being larger than the mothers.

We also have small young adult dogs with some frequency.

 

[pamelasu1]

We have 2 Havanese dogs, each from a "show" breeder, but they were sold as pets only. We really could not look at shelters, as I have allergies and we needed to know for sure that we had a non-shedding breed. It would have broken my heart if I was allergic to a dog we brought home and then we had to return it. We looked into the Havanese Rescue in our area (HALO), but our daughter was too young at the time, so we would not be considered to adopt from them. The dogs are from 2 different breeders, and we found both breeders to be very involved, concerned, supportive, and responsible about their puppies. The breeders we used seemed very invested in protecting the breed from becoming part of backyard breeding or puppy mill operations, and they both vigilantly researched potential owners and required that the pups are neutered. We even had home visits, where the breeders checked out our house, family, yard, etc. to see if we had a good environment for the dogs. Our dogs are now 5 & 6 years old and I have never regretted getting them from a breeder. Yes, it was costly up front. But we ended up with dogs who were obviously loved and trained from birth, and they have the temperament and behavior to prove it.

 

[bedogged]

I volunteer with a rescue and we get puppies all the time, usually after pregnant females are dumped off. We often have small dog mixes, puppies included. Of course, you don't know who the father is, so the dogs may end up being larger than the mothers.

We also have small young adult dogs with some frequency.

Small, expensive purebred toy puppies rarely make their way into rescue programs unless there is a serious heath problem involved.

 

[design_mom]

I see by your sig you have 2 small children. Have you actually been able to find a shelter willing to place a small breed dog with you? DD was 6 when we began looking for our dog, and NO shelter was willing to place a small dog with a family with children under 10. Not a single one. They said it was too big of a risk.

I am sorry that was your experience with rescues, but I don't think it's an across-the-board rule for all rescues. We have adopted two dogs from rescues with young children.

We adopted our older dog from a breed-specific rescue when DD was 3 and DS was 7. They insisted on evaluating the whole family interacting with the puppy before approving us, but we were approved. (Our previous dog had passed away, but the kids were used to being around dogs.)

Our younger dog was from an organization that trains service animals (our dog flunked out ). They also insisted on meeting the whole family and watching us with the dog (he wasn't a puppy anymore), but approved us. The kids were 5 and 9.

 

[nilseks]

Small, expensive purebred toy puppies rarely make their way into rescue programs unless there is a serious heath problem involved.

This is completely untrue. I volunteer for 2 breed rescues--I have for many years. One of the breeds is the Shiba Inu, which many people in this country are still unaware of. They are a very expensive dog to 'buy' from a breeder. We have so many pups come in each year, we end up turning many away because there are not enough foster homes for all of them. We take in many dogs that 'respectable' breeders with contracts refuse to take back. We take in mill dogs. We take in strays from kill shelters. We took in a whole litter of puppies that was dumped in a bag on the side of the road. Sadly, I have seen it all--and if you are willing to wait a bit, there are definitely puppies to be adopted.

OP, please consider adoption. Most adoption groups LOSE money on every animal, by the time vetting is done (as opposed to breeders making a profit on animals), but they make sure the animal comes to you healthy. Petfinder is a great way to find a specific breed. As a foster home, I have placed many dogs in homes with small children, without reservation. One of our own dogs was adopted when our son was an infant. True, some rescues do not want to adopt out to people with young kids. But many do. The benefit of adopting a dog in foster care is the foster home knows their temperament, often knows how they do with other animals, with kids, etc.

One thing to keep in mind is that rescues all operate on shoestring budgets with 100% unpaid volunteers. So if it takes a while to get a response to an application, or you don't hear back from someone, just keep trying. Most of these people are giving of their time but also have full time jobs, families, etc. Yes it can take a while to schedule home visits and get paperwork done--but anything worthwhile is worth waiting for. And it saves people from making impulsive decisions about a lifelong family member. I could tell you so many horrible, horrible stories about the things I have seen in rescue, the horrors that some dogs have had to endure. But I will just spare you the details and say please, please...DON'T SHOP, ADOPT!

 

[goofyredraider]

I am sorry that was your experience with rescues, but I don't think it's an across-the-board rule for all rescues. We have adopted two dogs from rescues with young children.

We adopted our older dog from a breed-specific rescue when DD was 3 and DS was 7. They insisted on evaluating the whole family interacting with the puppy before approving us, but we were approved. (Our previous dog had passed away, but the kids were used to being around dogs.)

So true! This was our experience as well. Our kids were 5,8, and 9 at the time of our first adoption, and today, they met another dog. They were wonderful with him and he will be coming home with us this week!

 

[calypso726]

This is completely untrue. I volunteer for 2 breed rescues--I have for many years. One of the breeds is the Shiba Inu, which many people in this country are still unaware of. They are a very expensive dog to 'buy' from a breeder. We have so many pups come in each year, we end up turning many away because there are not enough foster homes for all of them. We take in many dogs that 'respectable' breeders with contracts refuse to take back. We take in mill dogs. We take in strays from kill shelters. We took in a whole litter of puppies that was dumped in a bag on the side of the road. Sadly, I have seen it all--and if you are willing to wait a bit, there are definitely puppies to be adopted.

OP, please consider adoption. Most adoption groups LOSE money on every animal, by the time vetting is done (as opposed to breeders making a profit on animals), but they make sure the animal comes to you healthy. Petfinder is a great way to find a specific breed. As a foster home, I have placed many dogs in homes with small children, without reservation. One of our own dogs was adopted when our son was an infant. True, some rescues do not want to adopt out to people with young kids. But many do. The benefit of adopting a dog in foster care is the foster home knows their temperament, often knows how they do with other animals, with kids, etc.

One thing to keep in mind is that rescues all operate on shoestring budgets with 100% unpaid volunteers. So if it takes a while to get a response to an application, or you don't hear back from someone, just keep trying. Most of these people are giving of their time but also have full time jobs, families, etc. Yes it can take a while to schedule home visits and get paperwork done--but anything worthwhile is worth waiting for. And it saves people from making impulsive decisions about a lifelong family member. I could tell you so many horrible, horrible stories about the things I have seen in rescue, the horrors that some dogs have had to endure. But I will just spare you the details and say please, please...DON'T SHOP, ADOPT!

You quoted a PP back that stated expensive toy breeds do not wind up in rescue and said that was untrue giving the Shina Inu as an example Shibas are not in the toy group they are in the non sporting group. They are small dogs but not toy sized. The largest breed in the toy group is the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel of which I have also shown and still have one in the family. She's 9 years old sitting by me as I type Cavaliers are still smaller than the average Shiba which weighs in at near 23 pounds and stands 15" high at the withers. Most of the toy group breeds weigh 10 pounds or less.

The bolded parts above are what I'd like to comment upon here. By definition a breeder who will NOT take back one of their own is NOT respectable or reputable. Part of what defines a respectable/reputable breeder IS that the fact that they will take responsibility for the lives they have brought into this world ALWAYS.

I am sure that there are rescue groups out there that operate on a tiny budget. Many breed specific rescue groups are supported by the parent club and also by reputable breeders. The National Shiba club states on it's own website that if funds are needed over and above for expenses from the rescue groups to contact them and send the vet bills.

Reputable breeders rarely make a profit. They are lucky to break even. The puppy millers make a profit, the back yard breeder usually makes a profit, the brokers make a profit. The reputable breeders I know have always supported rescue in many ways. Helping whelp a litter, donating equipment, participating in fund raisers, doing home evaluations, transporting rescues etc.

For the record I encourage adoption of shelter dogs and from breed specific rescues. Part of my interview process was to educate and that included informing the prospective families about rescue dogs as an option to consider. What I didn't tell then is that they would get a healthy dog. That is simply untrue. Most of the rescues had health problems some problems could be treated, like heartworm. That did not guarantee that the dogs would not develop something else down the line. What I DID tell them was that they would get a good idea on the rescue dog's temperament as he/she would have been fostered and properly evaluated.

 

[hsmamato2]

to the OP I don't know how much time/money effort you want to put into this....but if you like the idea of rescueing a dog vs. buying, I'd advise being less breed specific,and look at general,size/age/types on petfinder- the local humane societies in every state have lots of dogs coming through,and you can search any state..... some states have more than others- in the Northeast,we don't have as many 'cute' lil' puppies waiting at the shelter....but look at states like Ohio or Missouri or Georiga and it's a whole different ballgame(thanks to the puppymills and byb's)
we've always just looked at all the shelters till we found something that looked right, our kids 1st dog was the gentlest 'heinz 57' mutt ever....we got her from a litter for $50 at the shelter,and for over 14 years she was the best dog in the world for kids to grow up with...our search criteria was 'female,small,and pretty young'-
our 2nd dog I insisted on a tiny 'cutesy' breed (or mix) We found a mix litter at some random rescue place nearby,and it turns out our little darling displays all the negative aspects of her various breeds we love her anyway....
just remember...each dog is it's own personality,and more important than breed,it's temperament you're looking for(and pugs are so cute! but they seem to have health issues too)

 

[MichiganKris]

I would like to recommend that you wait a little while and drive to Detroit for the Detroit Kennel Club Show the beginning of March. They have a website that you can look at for more information. It is a benched show, so all of the dogs have to be there from around 10 or 11 in the morning until 4 or 5 in the afternoon. You will be able to talk to quite a few breeders, as well as meet a lot of dogs. If you are going to purchase a dog from a breeder, you need to find one you feel comfortable working with that does the proper health checks on the parents before they are bred. You may need to get put on a waiting list to get a puppy from a breeder that you like. Also, a good dog breeder, whether they have a kennel, or show dogs and puppies in their home, does not make money on puppies. It costs a lot to do the proper health checks, and take a litter of puppies to the vet for shots and wellness visits before they are sold. You are paying for the history that breeder has, and the knowledge they have in their pedigrees to breed a healthy dog. I do breed and show my dogs, and my priorities in breeding are 1. health, 2. temperment and 3. conformation. A dog can be shown for a couple years of their life, they need to be pets for hopefully 12 or 14 years (at least in my breed)

 

[adventure_woman]

I would like to recommend that you wait a little while and drive to Detroit for the Detroit Kennel Club Show the beginning of March. They have a website that you can look at for more information. It is a benched show, so all of the dogs have to be there from around 10 or 11 in the morning until 4 or 5 in the afternoon. You will be able to talk to quite a few breeders, as well as meet a lot of dogs. If you are going to purchase a dog from a breeder, you need to find one you feel comfortable working with that does the proper health checks on the parents before they are bred. You may need to get put on a waiting list to get a puppy from a breeder that you like. Also, a good dog breeder, whether they have a kennel, or show dogs and puppies in their home, does not make money on puppies. It costs a lot to do the proper health checks, and take a litter of puppies to the vet for shots and wellness visits before they are sold. You are paying for the history that breeder has, and the knowledge they have in their pedigrees to breed a healthy dog. I do breed and show my dogs, and my priorities in breeding are 1. health, 2. temperment and 3. conformation. A dog can be shown for a couple years of their life, they need to be pets for hopefully 12 or 14 years (at least in my breed)

That is a great idea!

 

[nilseks]

You quoted a PP back that stated expensive toy breeds do not wind up in rescue and said that was untrue giving the Shina Inu as an example Shibas are not in the toy group they are in the non sporting group. They are small dogs but not toy sized. The largest breed in the toy group is the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel of which I have also shown and still have one in the family. She's 9 years old sitting by me as I type Cavaliers are still smaller than the average Shiba which weighs in at near 23 pounds and stands 15" high at the withers. Most of the toy group breeds weigh 10 pounds or less.
.

I'm aware that the Shiba is in the non-sporting group. I have been going to IKC shows for years, trying to adopt out rescue dogs. I was merely stating an example from personal experience. I just adopted out a Chihuahua puppy in the past few months. Right now there are 1,776 Chihuahua (toy breed) and Chi mix puppies on petfinder. There are 175 pug and pug mix puppies on Petfinder. I'm not here to argue, I merely asked the OP to explore adoption. Regardless of where they come from, too many dogs are put to death each day/month/year because of over-breeding, over-population. In my humble opinion, as long as there are dogs in shelters and rescues, there is no need to breed.

 

[rascooby]

If you decide to get a dog from a breeder, I really encourage to do your homework and be patient. Going to a dog show and meeting breeders there is a great idea. We have had two Great Danes. Our first we got 12 years ago from a backyard breeder (we didn't really know better at the time) and our second we got 2 years ago. We chose not to get a rescue this time, for several reasons. Our first Great Dane died suddenly of a genetic condition and this time we wanted to do everything we could to avoid that, if possible. We also have very young children and wanted to make sure we had a dog with no previous behavior issues.

Anyway, we went to a show about a year before we got our puppy. We met several breeders, got names and recommendations. We spent about a year filling out applications and waiting for someone to have a puppy available. Reputable breeders don't have puppies very often. We finally got our puppy. He is almost 2 years old and our breeder is working with me to get him ready to show.

I know that a lot of people think it's awful to get a dog from a breeder and not a rescue. Our breeder supports rescue and so do all the Great Dane people we know. I love the Great Dane breed and I think we will always want to have a well-bred Great Dane in our house. If we decide to get a second dog (we recently lost our 14 year old Sheltie) then we will consider a rescue Dane, a different breed or a mutt.

There's no shame in buying a dog from a good breeder. From our breeder's website..."Who do you want to be producing the next generation of our pets? The fact is, the irresponsible breeders will always be with us as long as there are people buying their puppies. No amount of legislation or slogans or even peer pressure will stop that.But the responsible breeders ARE sensitive to both peer/popular pressure and to legislation. If people convince them to stop breeding then the only pets available will have to come from the other kind of breeder. I, for one, love this breed MUCH too much to leave its future in the hands of people who breed only for profit or out of carelessness. Our ONLY hope of improving the overall health and longevity of this beautiful breed - while keeping their sweet nature - is to let the responsible breeders work at it."

 

[Gnomegirl]

I haven't waded through all of the replies but wanted to say we got our last dog from petfinder.com

You can search by breed (which I did) and once you find the dog you are interested in can contact the rescue. I am in CT and my dog was in Missouri. I paid for her to transported here ($125) by a pet transporter that works with rescues. It was quite easy.

And, when I got in line to get my dog from the transport they accidentally brought out the dog that was sharing Chloe's cage instead - a little black pug!

Good luck!

 

[OutOfSpace]

I've also previously bought from a reputable breeder in my area and had no regrets. I previously owned two dogs from a rescue shelter ( in my experience I only had one bad exeprience with one dog from the shelter - it was very ill). I guess you have to research, weigh your options and go with the decision you feel most comfortable with

 

[TiggerTails57]

I'd like to speak to this....

We have a Beagle, she is AKC registered, Pure-Breed, with an AKC full lienage certificate 5 lines up Dam and Sire.

We decided to breed her for the first time, just this week.

We took months and months to find a suitable stud who had the same credentials that we were comfortable with. We put a lot of time and research into checking out info, references and verifiying the stud's lineage.

Our dog is a pet, she is def not a show dog, or a feild champion, yet we are not backyard breeders. We would never ever consider mating our pet with anything other than another AKC lineage proven mate.

We are not a breeding kennel, nor are we backyard breeders, we are a family that has a vested interest in keeping our pets breed pure.

More often than not, if a dog has puppies, it's planned. IMO saying backyard breeder is more like a stray cat having kitties, no telling where or what she mated with.

I went to our local Petco yesterday and there were eight adult Beagles waiting for a home......so sad

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

I'd like to speak to this....

We have a Beagle, she is AKC registered, Pure-Breed, with an AKC full lienage certificate 5 lines up Dam and Sire.

We decided to breed her for the first time, just this week.

We took months and months to find a suitable stud who had the same credentials that we were comfortable with. We put a lot of time and research into checking out info, references and verifiying the stud's lineage.

Our dog is a pet, she is def not a show dog, or a feild champion, yet we are not backyard breeders. We would never ever consider mating our pet with anything other than another AKC lineage proven mate.

We are not a breeding kennel, nor are we backyard breeders, we are a family that has a vested interest in keeping our pets breed pure.

More often than not, if a dog has puppies, it's planned. IMO saying backyard breeder is more like a stray cat having kitties, no telling where or what she mated with.

I have to disagree with you. Breeding your purebred dog with another purebred dog does not help keep the breed pure, nor does it make you a responsible pet owner. There are enough purebred dogs already. There are zero reasons for a casual pet owner of a purebred dog to breed their dog except to try and make some money. If you bought your dog with no intent to show it, then your breeder was irresponsible. He or she should have insisted that you spay your pet as a condition of the sale.

Breeding purebred dogs should be done only by owners with a detailed knowledge of breed standards and a dedication towards improving the breed. This includs showing dogs, belonging to professional organizations and selling pets which are not show quality only to owners who agree to spay or neuter.

Your intentions make me

OP - I have two purebred dogs which I adopted from a rescue group and they couldn't be nicer or smarter dogs (both found on petfinder.com).

 

[bedogged]

I'm aware that the Shiba is in the non-sporting group. I have been going to IKC shows for years, trying to adopt out rescue dogs. I was merely stating an example from personal experience. I just adopted out a Chihuahua puppy in the past few months. Right now there are 1,776 Chihuahua (toy breed) and Chi mix puppies on petfinder. There are 175 pug and pug mix puppies on Petfinder. I'm not here to argue, I merely asked the OP to explore adoption. Regardless of where they come from, too many dogs are put to death each day/month/year because of over-breeding, over-population. In my humble opinion, as long as there are dogs in shelters and rescues, there is no need to breed.

I just checked Petfinder using a zip code for the state the OP lives in. I went through seven pages of "babies" and all but a couple were PUG MIXES. The only purebred Pug puppies listed had a major health problem requiring surgery. If the OP is willing to adopt an adult Pug or a MIX puppy, she should not have any problem finding one to adopt. As I have mentioned before, if her heart is set on a healthy PUREBRED Pug puppy, she is probably going to have to purchase one from a breeder. I would prefer that she found a reputable one.

Gosh knows that after operating a very busy rescue for over 15 years, no one supports rescue more than I do. I do not, however, think it does the cause of rescue any good to mislead people.

 

[princessmom29]

I am sorry that was your experience with rescues, but I don't think it's an across-the-board rule for all rescues. We have adopted two dogs from rescues with young children.

We adopted our older dog from a breed-specific rescue when DD was 3 and DS was 7. They insisted on evaluating the whole family interacting with the puppy before approving us, but we were approved. (Our previous dog had passed away, but the kids were used to being around dogs.)

Our younger dog was from an organization that trains service animals (our dog flunked out ). They also insisted on meeting the whole family and watching us with the dog (he wasn't a puppy anymore), but approved us. The kids were 5 and 9.

So true! This was our experience as well. Our kids were 5,8, and 9 at the time of our first adoption, and today, they met another dog. They were wonderful with him and he will be coming home with us this week!

But were you adopting SMALL BREED dogs? The shelters were perfectly willing to give us a shepard or lab mix, in fact they were pleading with us to just take one, but large breed outdoor dogs are just not a good fit with our lifestyle. NO ONE was willing to adopt out a SMALL BREED(which is what the OP is looking for) to a house with kids under 10. The small breed part was always the problem.

 

[LoriKutchey]

Please, Please, Please, consider a dog rescue for your little pug. Be a HERO
to some little guy, I obtained my little girl from the Humane society 12 years ago and she has given me soooo much love in return!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NC-iYKKe_pM

This isn't my dog in the video, just showing you many, many heroes are needed

 

[NMW]

I know some people may disagree with me on this but I would ONLY get a pure-bred dog from a reputable show breeder that belongs to that breeds national and local clubs in good standing and does genetic testing, period.

We owned an Alakan Malamute that was from a great show breeder and we now own a Bullmastiff from another great show breeder. In fact, we plan to get a second bullmastiff this summer.

A good breeder will sell their dogs most likely on a limited registration (meaning your dog is AKC registered, but if you fail to fix the dogs, the pups would not be AKC and thus harder to sell). Also, your contract will stipulate that if you can not keep the dog for any reason, you will ONLY give the dog back to the breeder. This makes it unlikely that many dogs of good show breeders would ever end up in a shelter or rescue. Most importanly, they will do extensive genetic testing (hips, elbows, eyes, cardiac, etc.) and you should be able to see the testing back for multiple generations.

I have seen countless people I know get a dog from a rescue, back yard breeder, or pet store and end up with expensive, sometimes heartbreaking health problems.

I don't think anyone should be ashamed to get a pure bred dog from a show breeder that breeds to further the breed. I know it's a great thing to rescue a dog, but you need to be willing to take a gamble to do so. I'm sure for every sad story there is an equally happy one. I'm just not that kind of risk taker, but I'm glad there are people in this world that are.