We are getting a puppy!

[Mickey'snewestfan]

I totally agree about the horrors of puppy mills. But NOT buying a puppy from a pet store is sort of a catch 22, isn't it? Here's a person willing and able to bring this puppy into a loving home.....if she didn't, and took the "I'm not going to buy a puppy from a pet store route", what if everyone thought that---what would happen to the puppy then.

Like I said, I agree puppy mills are awful...but if the puppy is already there to be sold, I can't see how not buying those dogs would help.

OP---your new family member is precious!!!!! Best of luck, I love labs!! Mine has given us 12 years of complete love.

If noone bought puppies from pet stores, then the puppy mills wouldn't have the incentive to continue to breed puppies under horrific conditions, and would stop or at least slow down. The numbers of puppies suffering would go down.

Puppies that aren't sold often end up in rescue, or at shelters.

 

[ohiomom28]

Polite congratulations on your new puppy. He looks very sweet. All puppies are sweet and I wish you joy.

I am a little confused as to the source. Did you buy a pet store pup? If so, please get that little guy to a vet ASAP. The chances are that he is a puppy mill product.

I post this solely in concern for you. A puppy from a pet store may be harboring diseases that may threaten your cats, parasites that may effect your family, and genetic diseases that may break your heart a few months or years from now.

Please do not support pet stores that traffic in animals, buy from puppy mills or backyard breeders. Please buy pets from "reputable" breeders or adopt from good rescues where you have a good record of vaccinations given and /or attention given to genetic testing.

No, we bought him from a breeder. The one I wanted to buy was actually at a local pet store that mainly specializes in fish. It sometimes gets cats and dogs, but does not normally carry them. I doubt that they have anything to do with puppy mills. I could be wrong though. We actually bought one of our cats from that place too. Her whole litter had been abandoned behind a vets office. They donated them to the store after they were old enough and they fixed them all and gave them their shots.
The puppy is great. Only on day 2, but he seems to be doing ok with the crate and potty training. He whines a lot in the crate but ends up quieting down after 45 minutes or so. Has some accidents in the crate and on the carpet but we take him out as soon as he does that and he is good. He is very playful! Seems to be listening pretty well.
Thanks for all the compliments! He is a beautiful dog

 

[Mickey's Minion]

No, we bought him from a breeder. The one I wanted to buy was actually at a local pet store that mainly specializes in fish. It sometimes gets cats and dogs, but does not normally carry them. I doubt that they have anything to do with puppy mills. I could be wrong though. We actually bought one of our cats from that place too. Her whole litter had been abandoned behind a vets office. They donated them to the store after they were old enough and they fixed them all and gave them their shots.
The puppy is great. Only on day 2, but he seems to be doing ok with the crate and potty training. He whines a lot in the crate but ends up quieting down after 45 minutes or so. Has some accidents in the crate and on the carpet but we take him out as soon as he does that and he is good. He is very playful! Seems to be listening pretty well.
Thanks for all the compliments! He is a beautiful dog

That is great you got him from a breeder. He is a cutie.

Just out of curiosity, as I am always wondering which system breeders think is better, did your breeders use OFA or Penn Hip for the health clearances?

 

[amg35]

That is great you got him from a breeder. He is a cutie.

Just out of curiosity, as I am always wondering which system breeders think is better, did your breeders use OFA or Penn Hip for the health clearances?

hmm, would this be a trick question?

 

[Mickey's Minion]

hmm, would this be a trick question?

Actually, I am interested. We have two breeds in our home from two pretty well recognized breeders. One swears by OFA, the other swears by Penn Hip. So, I am always interested, just out of pure curiosity, what other breeders use.

 

[mjkacmom]

I totally agree about the horrors of puppy mills. But NOT buying a puppy from a pet store is sort of a catch 22, isn't it? Here's a person willing and able to bring this puppy into a loving home.....if she didn't, and took the "I'm not going to buy a puppy from a pet store route", what if everyone thought that---what would happen to the puppy then.

Like I said, I agree puppy mills are awful...but if the puppy is already there to be sold, I can't see how not buying those dogs would help.

OP---your new family member is precious!!!!! Best of luck, I love labs!! Mine has given us 12 years of complete love.

If no one would buy puppies from petstores, they would no longer sell puppies. The ONLY way to stop them is to stop supporting them financially.

 

[mjkacmom]

No, we bought him from a breeder. The one I wanted to buy was actually at a local pet store that mainly specializes in fish. It sometimes gets cats and dogs, but does not normally carry them. I doubt that they have anything to do with puppy mills. I could be wrong though. We actually bought one of our cats from that place too. Her whole litter had been abandoned behind a vets office. They donated them to the store after they were old enough and they fixed them all and gave them their shots.
The puppy is great. Only on day 2, but he seems to be doing ok with the crate and potty training. He whines a lot in the crate but ends up quieting down after 45 minutes or so. Has some accidents in the crate and on the carpet but we take him out as soon as he does that and he is good. He is very playful! Seems to be listening pretty well.
Thanks for all the compliments! He is a beautiful dog

There is no way a reputable breeder would allow his/her dog to be sold at a petstore! Most will have you sign a contract that you will have the dog fixed, and will return the dog if you need to. You probably got your puppy from a backyard breeder - a step above a mill if they treat the dogs as pets, and don't have them stored in cages - but they are not reputable breeders.

 

[CathrynRose]

OK so I'm partial to the Mastiffs.

I loooove your pups! Mastiffs!!!

OK, here he is!!! His name is Sailor

Ohhhh! I wanna gobble him up!!! Love his name, too!!

Like I said, I agree puppy mills are awful...but if the puppy is already there to be sold, I can't see how not buying those dogs would help.

Because ::::

If you buy that puppy, it is immediately going to be replaced with another one, and another one and another one - fueling the demand for puppy mill puppies.

And because:::::

If no one would buy puppies from petstores, they would no longer sell puppies. The ONLY way to stop them is to stop supporting them financially.

 

[walden]

If you buy that puppy, it is immediately going to be replaced with another one, and another one and another one - fueling the demand for puppy mill puppies.

If you don't buy that puppy, it starts getting bigger and bigger. The pet shop / backyard breeder is spending more and more money feeding the puppy, its profit margin shrinking by the day.

Finally the puppy gets so large, the pet shop sells it at a loss to free up cage space or has rescue come in and get it. There is one particular rescue out there that specializes in store puppies that have not sold. The puppy will still find a home, but in the meantime, it has caused the pet shop / backyard breeder to lose money on it by 1) loss of moving inventory by not freeing up the cage space for the next puppy 2) having to sell it at a loss 3) extended food costs cut into profit margin due to less than quick turnaround.

If the demand for petshop / backyard breeder puppies falls and they start losing money on them, then the amount produced will start dwindling. It is basic Supply and Demand Economics.

But it is going to take education of the masses on how poorly bred and how much money after the initial purchase the unknowing buyer is going to have to shell out for genetic diseases, diseases like parvo, bad temperaments, etc to get people to resist that cute face in the window.

It is common to think "oh, he is there, I should rescue him." But that just creates an endless cycle and when the next Puppy Mill truck pulls up, the pet shop will pick through the still alive puppies (common for puppies to die in transit) and just replace him for the next naive buyer to take home.

OP, your puppy is adorable.

Hopefully you did go ahead and check to make sure the parents had all their health screenings before you purchased the puppy.

If not, my sincerest wishes (I mean this, not being sarcastic) that you are one of the lucky ones who will not be faced with huge vet bills in the near future to treat health issues or surgery to put those hips back together.

Absolutely! Buying from a pet store just perpetuates puppy mills. Now some decent pet stores do not sell puppies or kittens but do support and promote Rescue. If your pet store hosts rescue organisations that is good. I'm one of the people there with my already adopted pooches (modeling lovely behavior but not available for adoption) handing out literature and doing reality checks with potential adopters of my preferred breed.

Remember that in pet adoption it is always buyer beware. Do your research on the specific breed (CERF, OFFA or whatever for genetic stuff with a reputable breeder, I'm opting out of explaining the technicalities) or go for a reputable rescue mutt with vax and some behavioral stuff already screened. Lovable mutts, mixes or Heintz 57 aside a surprising number of pure bred pups end up in rescue.

OP your pup is lovely. I wish you joy.

I hope you don't object to my hijacking your thread to promote education on the subject.