Recommendations For A Great Buying Decision (Puppy)

Buying A Puppy ^ | April 9, 2009 | Onelifetogive

[Onelifetogive]

I have built a website for providing information to people about the purchase of a puppy. (buyingapuppy.com.)I'd love some feedback from all the dog lovers out there who comment regularly on FR on all things dog related. This is a personal site, so I think this is the appropriate place to post this. Thanks in advance.

[DJ MacWoW]

I don’t buy puppies from breeders. I get shelter dogs. They have been excellent pets and companions.

[Tamar1973]

I agree with you. If all you want from a dog is companionship, get a dog from the shelter. If you want to breed them or use them for a task (hunting, protection) then you need to look into purebred dogs.

[OneWingedShark]

Mutts are good dogs, in general. You usually don’t have to worry about the [genetic] problems of a purebred.

[FlJoePa]

Don’t some “pet stores” house rescue animals for adoption? I know that Pet Supermarket does. I think you should recognize that fact and make a distinction between pet stores that are selling toys and food for profit and pet stores that are selling puppies and kittens for profit. Just a thought.

[SamiGirl]

Same here. All of my dogs are from the shelter.

Save a life — get a dog from the shelter.

[DJ MacWoW]

I had 2 shelter dogs that were very good at protecting. And I have seen hunting dogs turned into shelters. It isn’t just mutts that get dumped.

[DJ MacWoW]

I have had 2 purebred dogs and 2 mutts. All 4 were loved. ;-)

[peeps36]

I donated a $100 to get a mixed breed puppy for the first time in my life. He has been great for the two years we've had him. His mother was pure red nose pitbull and his father was half rottweiller, half great Pyrenees. It's like having 125 pound lapdog who leans on you and can't fall asleep unless he's laying against a part of your body.

[1066AD]

Our local vet keeps a doggie "Schindler's List"; we were also at the shelter just today, lots of stressed dogs just dumped out, one with ten puppies. Sad.
Also read horses & ponies are cheap now too as they are getting dumped.

[Onelifetogive]

Don’t some “pet stores” house rescue animals for adoption?

I think you are right. Thanks.

[DJ MacWoW]

LOL!!! Being a small person, I limited my dogs size to not over 55lbs. "Tiny" could still drag me along if she saw something interesting and I wasn't moving fast enough. :-)

Tiny had 3 owners by the time I found her in a shelter. She was only 2 years old. Her second owners had turned her in so they could get a purebred dog. They found out that I owned her and wanted her back so they suggested a trade. They said the kids had never managed to break her legs and the vet bills for the purebred were piling up. I told them to pound sand.

[Veto!]

You can just as easily save a life, get your dog from a breed rescue organization. Then you’ll know what you are getting.

I was lucky enough to get my purebred Keeshond from the animal shelter. The delight of my life for 15 years, never had a sick day in her life.

I don’t see any advantage in mutts. Many are really great little dogs but they are not in any way superior to purebreds.

[DJ MacWoW]

I don’t see any advantage in mutts

They usually lose some genetic defects of purebreds.

[AJ504]

Here’s a breed you’ll love:

http://www.youtube.com/v/mMxGQhEYQSQ

[DJ MacWoW]

I have a friend that has rescued 3 greyhounds. HUGE couch potatoes! ;-)

[AJ504]

I've made 25 versions of that video for greyhound adoption groups around the country. It's been very effective. We've adopted out 8 greyhounds in 20 days from our small group. I've fostered 5 greys to leash train them and they have all been adopted this year. I'm working with a very timid, shy girl right now.

I have two of my own for the past 4 years. Greyt dogs!

[Veto!]

My friend has a sort of a mutt that could not be considered the pick of the gene pool. Part corgi, part terrier, he’s a nice little guy but his body is too heavy for his slender long legs. Pity, he’s not going to have a long lif, as he’s in pain a lot of the time. A corgi, as you know, is a very sturdy little dog, very low to the ground with a heavy body balanced on quite sturdy short legs. A very old breed, they go back more than a thousand years.

I’ll probably stick with rescuing purebreds, Keeshonds and Corgis to be specific. My Kees lived for 17 years, my Cardigan Corgi for 15 and died in an accident. Neither ever had a sick day.

My daughter rescues mutts from the pound and many if not most turn up with terrible problems and don’t have long long lives. We all still mourn one marvelous little pup they rescued who grew and grew and grew to be a huge doggie, probably a collie/afghan mix. Gorgeous wonderful dog, suddenly got extremely awful cancer and died within two weeks of diagnosis. She was perhaps seven. With mutts, you just don’t know what nutritional support the mother dogs got; with purebreds, chances are the breeders did the very best they knew how to insure healthy pups.

[DJ MacWoW]

Judy is very involved too and works with adoption organizations. Two of her dogs are therapy dogs. One is very good at it as he has lost a leg to cancer. As big as he is he still gets around fine. They really are great dogs.

[DJ MacWoW]

One of my shelter dogs was allergic to fleas. The vet gave me something for her without telling me that it did heart and liver damage. She died at 8 yrs old. There are quite a few factors in longevity. The vet lived. (the jerk)