But my pet shop says...
"All our puppies are health guaranteed!"
This "reassuring" platitude is how pet shops and irresponsible breeders seek to get around the expenses of genetic testing.
They offer to replace defective puppies rather than avoiding them in the first place by requiring their "wonderful" breeders to do genetic health tests on any parent dog used for breeding.
Don't support any breeder or pet shop who cares so little about the future life of their puppies that they do not require genetic health testing of the parents, in breeds where such health problems are virtually an epidemic.
Pet shops aren't too worried about their "guarantees", by the way. They don't have to honor many of them because most genetic health problems don't show up for six months or a year or two years. Either the guarantee has expired by then, or most people won't return a dog they've had for that long.
If your pup is healthy now, you can spend lots of money in the future for treatment your pet because of genetic health problems. For instance, luxating patella surgery will cost you up to $5,000.
Not just HEALTH problems
Obedience instructors and canine behavioral consultants will be happy to tell you about the temperament and behavior problems that develop in many pet shop puppies as they grow up.
Most pet shop puppies start out playful and friendly, but as they mature, their genes begin to assert themselves. If their parents or grandparents had shy or aggressive or hyperactive temperaments, those genes will show up during adolescence and adulthood.
Many pet shop puppies are nippy. Some were removed from their mother before 7 weeks of age, a critical period of time where she teaches them "bite inhibition." Some have learned to nip from interacting with so many potential owners wandering through the pet shop, including kids who tug and play roughly. Most of these potential owners thought the nipping was cute, didn't correct the puppy for it, and so the habit becomes entrenched.
Finally, raised in a small cage in which they're encouraged to eliminate freely, pet shop puppies are notoriously difficult to housebreak. |