[yorkietalkjilly]

So tough to watch but something all should do, even if not looking for your own dog. That way you can tell family and friends when you think they are maybe dealing with one. It's going to be a tough thread to see a lot of things but hopefully it will help the unaware.

And those personal stories we can post here about any experiences we've had with looking for dogs can show how we finally came to know we were looking at a puppymiller sitting across the room showing us a dog. I now know that my sister and I bought dogs from a puppymiller. Her tiny Poodle, Jot, who almost died of hypoglycemia when he was 6 mos. old was from a puppymiller. Little Jot was so tiny and he was the first tiny dog my sister had ever seen. She was told he was a runt. She bought him from a man named Van and brought him home and he had one physical problem after the other. He had some type seizures and seemed cognitively impaired. But her vet was excellent and got them out of each crisis and she nursed him along until he was 6 mos. old. One day at age 6 mos., he was playing in the den and just went down to the floor, unresponsive, before my sister's eyes. She rushed him into the vet and he was started on treatment, said to be in a hypoglycemic coma. He was unable to come out of it for quite a while due to other medical problems but eventually he came home and had to be fed frequently, his diet changed and watched continually. He lived to the age of 4 when he lost his battle with one of his many genetic problems.

The seemingly nice guy who sold her this dog had a small but neat home and grounds and everything seemed normal with a litter of puppies in one end of the den in a clean pen. But later you think about the big barn far out on his property and how there were no horses or cattle around or anything. And how he advertised all kinds of breeds in the newspaper back then. Yet you didn't see all these different breeds of dogs running around the house or yard! Now when I think back, it's crystal clear his mill was in that barn and and he lived far enough from it that you couldn't hear or smell anything. I remember at the time vaguely wondering when I saw one of his ads, "Hmm, I didn't see any French bulldogs when I was there - just the little poodle and her puppies and his Cocker and Bulldog" And maybe a few months later, I'd check the dog ads section and see his ads for Poms or Chi's or Maltese and think, "Well, I think Van got some new dogs. He must be ramping up his business". Now I know he was a puppymiller and was for years. Now I know what was in that barn.

So don't be fooled by a nice, neat house and litter of dogs, even a mom on the scene. You still have to find out about that BYB/miller and follow them a while, ask around, do some Googling and see if they sell all kinds of breeds or don't happen to have mom or dad around when you meet with them, doesn't health test the parents or grands going back, doesn't check you out as a potential owner of their puppy, the dogs seem unhealthy, congested, toenails are long, the dogs smell, eyes are dull or the pups are not playful, act scared, try to hide from you, etc. Do your homework and find out all about that breeder or later, you too could find out you dealt with and supported someone who is a BYB/puppymiller who breeds for many reasons but none of them involve improving the breed or caring about the welfare of the puppies. It just seemed to be about selling puppies very young for money with that guy we dealt with. He had no mission statement or ever called once to check on the puppy, had no answers if you called him.