Pet Store Puppy

PUPPYMILLS!!!

Oh yes. Very very bad....but they are **so** cute! Shelter pets need homes too!

I bought 1 dog from a petstore in my lifetime.  I learned afterwards that Codycoe (Chocolate Lab)  was a product of a puppymill.  She was a great addition to our family and very sweet and very intelligent.  Her only downfall was that she was petrified of being sprayed with water.  I'm sure this was a direct result of how she spent her first few weeks of life.  She lived to be 13 years of age with no health issues at all.

If you can't get the little guy out of your head...maybe he should be part of your family.  I dunno.

Yup...just remember those cute puppies' cute mommies and daddies living in misery in a puppy mill.  Me, I wouldn't spend one penny in any store that sold puppies, not even on food.

Good enough reason?

I totally refuse to support puppy mills directly (buying a pup) or indirectly (buying food, leashes, toys, etc from a store that sells puppies).

BlackLabbie

Good enough reason?

I totally refuse to support puppy mills directly (buying a pup) or indirectly (buying food, leashes, toys, etc from a store that sells puppies).

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Those adorable puppies in the pet store have a mama dog somewhere who lives in horrible conditions and will be bred till she no longer produces and then dumped.

3girls

Please remind me why I don't want to get a pup from a pet store!!! 

Before dog training class w/o dog last night, we stopped at a pet store to get some dog food. They had the absolute most precious pups in there. So please oh please tell me why its bad to get a pet store pup. I can't get the little guy out of my head... 

If this puppy is really special to you, then there is one thing you can do - wait, after a time the puppy won't be a puppy anymore. The pup may be sold to some other person, or it may stay in the store. Have someone who isn't you or a family member go in and ask about another of the pups, not the one you're interested in and ask what happens to the pups if they aren't sold by a specific time. You may get an answer of, "Oh they're always sold!" but tell the person not to take that as an answer, come up with a b/s story that's convinceable and give this not to a shop worker but to someone who has authority/manages the store and do so at a slow time of the day - something like, "well, my daughters dog, who looked very much like that pup died of (insert illness or tradgedy) and she really wants another dog for (insert upcoming holiday or other heartbreaking  reason) but I can't afford to pay that price and I was wondering if you would mark the pup down when it was older." You'll either get a confirm, or find out that all the dogs that don't sell are re-sold probably at initial cost or a slight loss back to whoever the pup came from, so offer either what the store paid for the pup or maybe a few dollars more - NO MORE! DO NOT pay full price for the puppy and try to have your accomplice dig to find out what "bottom line" on the puppies stocked(horrible phrase, I know) at the store is. If the store is loosing then the store is loosing and that's no reason to keep stocking puppies, you've just got to be smart about these things.

 What I just described isn't something I've ever done, or had to do thank goodness because I don't go in pet stores that sell animals - ever. It's devious and unethical but it sort of is a way to "save face" and still save a life and not support puppy mills.

Because this is the puppy's mom.

And the people who brought that puppy into the world and the ones selling it couldn't give a whit less.  There one thing they care about -- $$$$$.  Don't you dare buy that puppy! 

 If the place sells puppies, why do you shop there?

I would write a pointed letter to the manager detailing just why you won't be giving them your custom.

3girls

please oh please tell me why its bad to get a pet store pup.

You asked for it. And plenty of people have already given the right reasons, including graphic pics of the conditions. Every time someone buys a pup from a pet store, they legitimize the puppy mill process that goes on to supply those pups. That's just the nature of the beast in retail. Produce mass quantities as fast as possible to stock the store, just as if they were cobs of corn or heads of lettuce. Retail makes their money in product flow which can only be supported by mass production.

Yes, I know that your heart goes out to that little pup who may end up being PTS because he didn't get sold. What about the 10 other pups at the shelter that are just as good that also, in some shelters, get PTS for room consideration? Some may argue that getting a dog from a shelter also supports the mills indirectly, if enough of the shelter dogs were initially from puppy mills. But I'd like to think it's the principle of the matter. Maybe the shelter dogs were surrendered by a pet store that couldn't sell the dogs. At least I would have the satisfaction of knowing that the owner of the pet store could not re-coup his consigment investment on the litter. That is, he may have bought the litter from a mill or a byb and didn't make his money back and that, indeed, makes me happy. I revel in his economic floundering. Serves him right.

Sadly enough, or fortunately, depending on your perspective, you can get purebreds at the shelter. I live in a rural county with one shelter. Formerly the meth capital of north Texas. Anyway, there's a lot of rednecks around here. I say this to point out how rare it would be to see a truly rare dog here. But one day, I saw a Shiba Inu at our local shelter and I can't explain enough how amazing that is. Maybe she came from Dallas. Spitz dogs and northern breeds can average 30 miles an hour and she could have gotten up here in a few hours, stopping for pee and water breaks.

I guess what I am saying is that, while puppy mill dogs may still end up in a shelter, you can help stop that by not buying from the unethical retailer. Hit is pocketbook first and it may work back up the chain.

Also, you don't get to know the history of the dog's lineage and just how purebred. My dog was bought by friends at a pet store and the breeder's name is listed on his purchase papers. Good luck finding the guy, just to ask some simple questions about the parents. I have merely wanted to confirm my suspicion that the dam was a Red, Brown, and White Sibe and the Sire was a Black Lab. But I can't find the guy on any list and the store where he was sold will not give my that info, if they even have it. Likely as not, it was some ignorant byb that sold the litter on consignment. So, you have retailers misleading the public and you don't always know what you are getting. Therefore, you don't know medical history. And more than likely, you will have overpaid for the dog.

Do not buy from the petstore. I know you will have feelings of grief. Take those feelings and adopt a dog from a shelter or rescue. Right here in this forum, all the time, we have people linking up rescues. Our own DPU is heavily involved in rescue and so are many others. I know one lady that rescues the big dogs like German Shepherds and Huskies. But there are others who handle small and medium breeds. There are better options that the pet store, but that's not saying a whole lot. It doesn't take much to do better than them.

I understand what everyone is saying but the dog is already here.  So, now on top of coming into this world in a terrible way it should not have a nice home?

I just, I have trouble with this issue I guess.

willowchow

I understand what everyone is saying but the dog is already here.  So, now on top of coming into this world in a terrible way it should not have a nice home?

I just, I have trouble with this issue I guess.

It's a valid question.

What gets me is people justifying the purchase saying they are "rescuing" the puppy, as if their initial motive was to rescue a dog, not see a cute puppy in the window and buy basically on impulse.  In this situation, if someone wants to truly rescue a dog, go to the mill and buy the brood bitch.

Otherwise, it is what it is - a brokered/puppy mill puppy.  I'm not about to tell people where to get their dogs but I will call it like I see it.

willowchow

I understand what everyone is saying but the dog is already here.  So, now on top of coming into this world in a terrible way it should not have a nice home?

I just, I have trouble with this issue I guess.

I know exactly what you mean.  It's not this pup's fault - why make an example out of him - I totally understand but I would not do it!  Take the money you would spend and donate it to a shelter.  By time for another dog to live until it can find it's forever home. 

To the OP.  Compare this to buying drugs from a dealer so he doesn't sell it to someone else.  You are still supporting that dealer.  If no one buys the puppies then the store will stop selling them, stop buying them and one more dog won't have to live in filth in their own poop, be basically abused by being bred everytime she goes into heat.  I know one person can't change the system, but one person and have an affect on another person.

The practical reason, undoing what the heartless puppymill and store did to this dog might cost you a fortune and that's only the stuff you can fix.  Not to mention the medical issues that could presist for the life of the pup.