LOL Brooke - I liked your post - but realistically - we ALL look at price. Saying 'ain't it the truth' is nice - but when 99.9% of us are looking for a puppy - looks and price is usually the main criteria that needs to be met -

it doesn't mean we love them less as a family member - it just means we care enough to try to pay a fair price and hope we get a very healthy happy dog....and in most pet shops - We are paying TRIPLE or more what they paid for that's just the business. Anyone can say "Sure all puppies can get sick".... - that's true - but realistically - MORE pet store puppies come from UNKNOWN PLACES and DO get sick more often than buying direct from a breeder.

I really hate seeing so many people saying it's ok to shop pet stores. That's the thinking that keeps them AND THE MILLS in business. I appreciate the opinions and feelings - but encouraging it isn't going to help dogs in the long run.

Carol Jean,

You had a very god experience!!!! However you did spend a lot of time finding out all the details of that puppy, and that is not your everyday pet store, I think any one who read your post would love to buy a puppy from that pet store, they gave you so much information, they were clean, and they made you wash your hands before touching the puppies, all those little babies were thriving!!!!!! She knew the owner of the puppies and she knew that she showed and raised quality of puppies or they would never have been in their store.

All I am saying is do your homework, know where you puppy came from, and with you Carol Jean you were even able to contact the breeders of your puppy, you had a WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL experience and got a wonderful little pet, at a place you would do business again and again.

YOU know I am not saying all Pet Stores are Bad, All Brokers are not bad, but all Puppy Mills are bad or they would not be called a puppy mill.

Their are many expections to the rule, to me when you get all the information you need to purchase a well adjusted puppy from the place of your choosing, don't make it a spur of the moment thing. It is not like shopping for a dress, or TV, you need to plan for your new puppy so you can start your search, you should study the breed to know if that breed will fit into your lifestyle, and the puppy you choose you need to be committed to come hail or high water.

Carol Jean, I love your posts, you and I are about the same age, everything was very different 40 years ago, even 30 years ago, people were honest to a fault, your children could ride their bikes till supper time and usually did, you did not have to lock your doors much less have an alarm system, and I know when I was growing up we would go to a farm where they raised puppies, out in the country, and get the best little ones anyone could ask for.

My only thing that I want to say in this post is know where your puppy came from. Do your homework about the breed, and compare, all and I mean all puppies are the cutest things on the face of this earth, and I also feel all puppies need a loving home to live in. Please just try to make sure you have the puppy you have done your research on and you know where that puppy came from. If you do the above you could still have a problem, the very best breeders out their sometimes have less than the perfect puppy, but your risk is greatly reduced when you do the homework on the puppy that will be a member of your family for the next 10 to 18 years. All puppy's grow up to be dogs, and it breaks my heart when I see all those dogs that end up in pounds and have lost their owners because they were not a good match for that person when the puppy became a dog.

Their is nothing wrong in being more aware, you have a lot of places to choose from when purchasing a puppy, and of course not all Pet Stores are bad, but their are some bad ones just like their are some bad BYB and Bad Brokers, it just helps to get all the information you can before you get that little new addition to your family.

I am the kind of person that would always choose the most needy puppy in the pet store, as I knew I could give it all the love it would need to thrive, and I knew everyone else would probably pass that one buy, and I just could not stand to think of that cute little baby not having a good home. I was young then, I am much older now and I would hope that I am making better choices. Sometimes I wonder, as I have paid really good money for very quality puppies for my breeding program, and out of purchasing 12 puppies, 3 were champions, and cost over 5,000.00 each, I only have 4 that worked out for my breeding program I spent 34,600.00 for the best dogs that I thought money could buy, I thought I could trust the Breeders I bought them from, I thought because they were champions, Great they must be really something! Well i was very naive, 8 of the dogs I purchased have been fixed and are not a part of my breeding program but are now my pets, I have spent a lot of money fixing the problems of these dogs, do I love them any less, of course not. They are my babies, I could have sent them back, but I was already attached and would be too worried about their future. It did however wise me up. I have wonderful dogs now in my breeding program that did not cost an arm and a leg, more expensive is not always better. I did not see the dogs I bought, or the conditions of where they came from, and I did not know the breeders like I should have, I did not check ref. I just thought if they were champions, and they were expensive and they had a great pedigree,they must be really great dogs, they are great dogs and I would not give one up for all the money in the world, they are a permeant part of my family, they are just not in my breeding program. I have learned all my lessons the hard way, and now I make better choices.

I am sorry to have made this so long, this is a hot topic, and the choices are yours to make. All I am saying is do your homework, and you will save yourself a lot of heart ache. I have learned that I can not go near a pet store, I would want to get them all and do my best to better their lives. I have all these little ones in my prayers, someone needs to take them home and help them and give them the love they so deserve. I just personally choose not to put myself in that position as I have gone through it way to many times. To the point I think I am sometimes think I must be retarded. I DID FLUNK KINDERGARDEN, SOOOOOOOO THEIR COULD BE THAT CHANCE, AS I HAVE REALLY HAD TO LEARN ALL MY LEASSONS THE HARD WAY. Good luck with your next little furbaby, I pray you all get beautiful thriving, healthy and sound little puppies that will be a blessing in your lives!

I know what your saying about puppies and the price, i am not saying pay any price at all. Chewy was exspensive and I was shocked my hubby went for it!!! I didn't go into the pet shop thinking I was going to get a puppy... I thought I could show my hubby a yorkie and he might WARM UP to the idea!!!! he wound up saying ok lets get the little guy!!!!!!!!! I was in love with Chewy but thought there is no way my hubby will go from no dog to lets get him!!! But he did and I of course jumped at the chance!

Pet shops are not the the best place to get a puppy... I know this NOW! I'm not trying to tell people they should go out and buy from a pet shop. But if they fall in love with a pup, that pup deserves love also. I think most people have no idea about puppy mills... kennels... breeders... I had never bought a puppy before. Always had free dogs that were not breed on purpose! Or dogs from the resque!

I don't disagree with any one here... I understand where your all coming from. I even tell people all the time about puppy mills, pet shops, the worry you ahve when getting a puppy from a pet shop. There is tons of concerns i have from pet shop babies...But I look at my baby and can't be sorry I have him... I will always worry, I will always wonder where he came from, where his mother and father are, and I will always tell people about puppy mills to make them more aware. But I love this little guy with all my heart...and deal with come what may. I look at him as an exspensive resque!!! I look at all pet shop pups that way!!!

I'm not trying to encourage any one to buy from Petstores. Im just saying how I feel about it. And I have done my homework. And I still would buy one. I dont have that kind of money but before I got my two thats where I looked, The only thing stopped me was the price. Just because you dont know the breeders dont mean this puppy is going to die. Thats crazy...Im sure there are alot that get sick but the same thing can happen else where.
Some people dont care about papers they want their puppy as a pet, something to love . Yeah some are very heartbreaking stories. some are not. If I had the money yes Id get one. If it got sick Id do what I can for it, If it died thats would be terrible, But Id know that I gave it love the little time it had with me. Thats all Id care about Id be broken hearted but Id still have that time with it.Im sorry If my thinking is different from some of yours. But Thats how I feel. I dont even care if it was a mix dog or the uglyest dog if Thats what I want and I had the money for it. Then thats what id have.By me buy this one puppy sure in the heck is not going to chang any thing. But Im sure not going to hide in a corner and be afraid to speak my mind. This is how I feel I dont care what anyone thinks of me. I love all animals and those puppys are already here so why look the other way? noone has to answer that. Im not coming back to this thread.

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: Brookef18 - that was wonderfully worded and I think you have a good grasp of what people are trying to get across -

I appreciate everything you said - ...i can easily see falling in love with a puppy and wanting to save them - ( which is why I just cannot step foot in a pet store) and hats off for trying to educate people...if we all do our own tiny part in spreading the word...maybe one day there WILL be tougher laws....

YorkieShadow - no one is arguing with you and you can speak your mind !!! Please Don't get upset .....Everything is ok.....my comment was a general comment but that doesn't mean you aren't entitled to your opinions and I hope you didn't take it that way .....

I like reading everyones feelings - I guess I just wish some didnt sound so PRO pet store - but that's your feelings and you're entitled to them !! it's just a friendly discussion & each person is free to say anything they choose -

I don't expect people to agree with everything I say & I'm sure many don't -but I still speak up. I didn't mean for you to get offended though

I agree,

We all all just sharing experiences, we have all had different ones, and we have all learned from them.

I would hope no one is mad at any one, encluding me, that is not the point, the point I think everyone is trying to make is just be more aware. And when we share, good or bad, it does make us more aware.

This has been a great thread, and I still have the same opinion and I still respect everyone else that has posted theirs. It is interesting to know what other people have gone through and what they have learned from their experiences. Good and Bad.

Very well said, couldn't have said it better myself :thumbup:

Oh I didnt think anyone was arguing with me. I know everyone was just saying what they feel. Im not upset with anyone. I just said I wasnt coming back to this thread because I had already said my opinion on it. and believe me I do wish we could stop puppy mills. It would be crazy of me to be upset because of other peoples opinions .If I was mad at anyone its the puppymills that make me mad. No hard feelings here.

I started this thread -- and have enjoyed reading all the answers and opinions.

The truth is that we have a lot of people who would buy a puppy from a pet store and a lot of people who wouldn't............

I think it's important to notice though that whether we would buy these puppies or not -- we all love puppies and we all hate puppy mills.

I would (and have) bought a puppy from a pet store - but I sure respect those of you who wouldn't. I totally understand why many people feel this way.

Sometimes we just have to decide for ourselves what we will do - on a lot of different issues in life - not just this one.

Thanks again for all your posts.

Carol Jean

Gosh this is so much information in this thread that I am not sure how to respond LOL

I have never purchased a puppy from a store, but I did meet the breeder I am purchasing my Maddie from at a Pet Store that is locally owned by the breeders best friend. I have met Maddie's parents, I have seen the conditions she is raised in, and the breeder works at a Pet Boutique in a North Canton mall selling cute pet products. SHE DOES NOT SELL HER PUPPIES FROM THE PET STORE. We just MET there and she had Maddie with her and I fell in love. I have talked to the store owner and asked if she sells puppies there and she said no for several reasons. Her first reason was a lot of pet store puppies are mill puppies and she will not support mills to get puppies to sell. Her second reason she doesn't want puppies in her store locked in cages day in and out. She mostly deals in fish and small rodents and reptiles, which live in cages/tanks day in and out as pets anyhow.

Now, I do not think that we are making much of a difference in shutting down mills by NOT buying from a pet store when there are so many rescue groups who go directly to the auctions and buy mill dogs from dog auctions who are being sold by millers. That auction money goes directly to the millers hands!! Dogs at auctions go for hundreds to thousands of dollars!!!

I know all the arguments too...if a rescue group hadn't bought them they would have ended up in another mill and bred more...etc etc Ok so if that is a valid reason for a rescue group to purchase directly from the millers, then why isn't that also a valid reason for an INDIVIDUAL to purchase from a pet store???? If we, the ones who claim to love them more than anyone else, do not purchase them from pet stores, and we leave them to be purchased from elsewhere, then who's to say those pet store puppies aren't going to end up in another mill, or in a mill for their first time! to be bred over and over???? I would rather a loving individual who wants them for a pet only purchase that pet store puppy than a miller purchase it for breeding.

No matter the conditions the parents of that puppy are in, the puppy doesn't deserve to be punished for the greedy actions of millers. By refusing to free these babies from the pet stores we are punishing them for crimes that they are the innocent victims of.

Oh good....I thought you were upset and that wasn't my intention at all ....We all get passionate about this but that doesn't mean I think everyone has to feel the same - but I sure wish we ALL could help...talking about it is great but I wish we had solutions....

I guess the bottom line is we all need to try to change the LAWS first.

IF these mass breeding facilities were limited on the amounts of dogs they can have & breed ...AND ...Be forced to provide them with indoor housing & CONSTANT Medical checkups - it would be such an improvement. I get so sad in the winter and hot parts of summer thinking of all the poor dogs out there suffering on WIRE Cages - with no protection from the elements. :( :( :(

The Mill Dogs are doomed to a life on DEATH ROW ...and they never committed a crime - I know it's only part of the problem - but many of these dogs ARE being bred just so a pet store can sell puppies. It sucks.

i haven't read through all these posts but i personally believe that most people who DO buy from pet stores don't know the horrors of where they actually come from ! there are just way too many unwanted pets cats dogs i don't think any stores should sale them at all. if they want to have cats & dogs they should be rescues for adoptions ONLY!

Thanks willow, I agree with what you say here...I was not aware that rescue groups bought puppies from puppy mills... but if that is true it opens a whole can of worms doesn't it now??? very vaild points you make!!!

One concern I have on this thread is that some posts seem to be telling people NOT TO BUY AT PET STORES.... I understand how you all feel. But to tell some one what they should do is wrong. To think that your view is the only way to think is wrong.

IF you read back through some of these posts, people who would save a pet store pup are made to feel like they are WRONG. I don't know if I believe there is a right or wrong answer here... I think different people have different views and they should all be respected. At 46 years old I am tired of people trying to tell me what to think, how to act, and who I am. I know how I feel and I am fine with the person I am. I'm not a bad person if I buy from a pet store. I'm not a better person if I by from a breeder.

As I tell my students... There a whole big old world out there and it takes all kinds to make it interesting. So be your self and alow others to be them selves... other wise we would all be the same and it would be a bit boring!!!!
I would buy a pup from where ever if i saw one I wanted to save...a good breeder is ideal but I would do what ever to save a little one and make a loving home for it. I'm sorry if this ofends any one... it's not ment to. But I will not change my thoughts or feelings. I'm not mad or anything. I just wish there was a freedom to let people be who they are on this issue! Peace to all of you!:)