How do u know if a pet store is a puppy mill?? U heard of Petland?

A pure-bred dog already, by definition, comes from a limited genetic pool. That's why they're generally more susceptible to a variety of heart-related problems.

 

get a kelpie!

 

Abort! Eject!

When I've gotten purebred Labs, the most I ever spent was $750. I made sure to check carefully into the breeder and his kennel. Does the mom and other pups look healthy and nourished? Is the kennel clean or full of poop? What are you feeding them? Can you show me the hip and eye certs on the parents? Can you show me the AKC papers? Any other health issues going on? I would never buy one sight unseen.

I'm going to use a vet I trust, not one in bed with the pet shop.

Unless the pup's parents just won best in show at Westminster, there's no way I'm dropping $1200-$1300 on such a common breed.

Labs are the most popular dog in the US, there are breeders all over. There's bound to be a retriever club in you city/state. They can refer you to someone reputable.

 

Yeah, I assume that all dogs sold in pet shops are from puppy mill suppliers. We got ourselves a black lab mix rescue way back in 1995. She was 6 1/2 months old, had been starved, left in the streets, and she became ours and we became hers. She lived until 2010 (she was two months shy of her 16th birthday). She had a long, happy, healthy life, and I know my life, in particular, benefited greatly from having her around. Rescue pets are the best.

 

^^
This.
Shelters are full of lives that need saving.

I work for a vet and have seen horror stories by the dozen from pet store puppies with all sorts of problems. x

 

Shelters are an offensive, invasive joke. I will never visit one again.

 

I found the rescue group that I recently adopted my lab mix Wilma from through Petfinders. You can not only narrow the search by location and breed, but by size, gender, age and several other criteria. I was amazed by the number of rescue groups in my area. A lot of them are foster-based groups and many of them are for specific breeds. I've only had Wilma for 2 1/2 weeks, but she's fitting in great.

I've never heard of Petland, but just reading about their warranty sets off alarm bells. I would strongly discourage anyone from buying from a pet store (as others have said, their stock almost always come from puppy mills)- there must be reputable lab breeders in your area.

 

Just curious, what do you mean when you say invasive? At my local shelter, anyone who was willing to fork over the $25 fee was free to take an animal home. I don't think we hardly filled out any paperwork. I know there are some rescue organizations that go overboard in wanting to do home visits and interrogate you to make sure you've never killed a fly, but in my experience shelters (especially county run facilities) are a much different story.

 

She means that her family prefers to have purebred dogs, rather than mixed breed dogs or mutts.

 

Thirty years ago, back when my family and I knew nothing about puppy mills, we purchased a Shetland Sheepdog puppy from a pet store. She came with a 5-day money back guarantee, and seven days after we purchased her she came down with parvovirus. By some miracle this little 8-week-old puppy survived (yeah, we bought her at 7 weeks old. As I said, we knew nothing about puppy mills back then), and Reggie was a very much loved, spoiled rotten family member for 14 years. Her surviving parvo was sheer dumb luck, and we learned our lesson well.

Currently we have a purebred Golden Retriever we purchased from a breeder. We had rescue dogs before, and they were wonderful, but after months of constant internet searches of all the shelters in our area we couldn't find a dog that fit into our family of cats and younger children. Marley is now 5 years old, and we love him to bits. All our cats are rescues, and we hope to have rescue dogs again in the future, but sometimes a dog from a reputable breeder is the way to go. Oh, we paid £700 for Marley, which was then on the steep side for a Golden puppy.

 

Just have to go along with the general sentiment: ditch the pet store. Not only do you not know where the dog came from, but at that price you are being had!

If you're concerned about the dog's health it's best to go with a mutt. A others have said, purebred dogs are far more susceptible to a host of health problems; depending on the breed you see blindness, hip problems, heart and breathing problems, etc. Mutts are not only cheaper, but tend to be healthier animals overall.

If you desperately need a purebred, there are breed rescues (my mom's beagle came from one), or you can go directly to a breeder, research the breeder thoroughly to ensure healthful practices, and buy there. I have a friend who breeds and trains retrievers and takes great care not to overbreed her dogs -- after all, her goal is healthy sporting animals. They are very well treated and raised on a gorgeous farm. If you are interested I can pm you her info.

 

The last dog my parents got (back in the 80s) was from private breeders who had the parents right there, provided papers, etc. The parents were very happy and healthy animals. Rather large, as they were black standard poodles.

"Sam" was about 12 weeks and already 25 pounds. He lived 14 years, house dog, and was a very good dog. Great disposition, aside from throwing up on my now-husband's shoe. Twice. Dad loved that.

If going with private breeders, see the parents. At least one of them.

 

I bought my cats buy one, get one free from the Houston SPCA.

Course, that "free cat" has been nothing but a money pit.

 

Seeing how there's so much popular support for animal shelters (and you can add my voice to that mix), it kinda makes you wonder how the pet stores manage to stay in business. Nobody would buy from them if this topic is anything to go by.

 

I think that comes down to new pet owners. I have met people who are totally unaware of any way to acquire a pet other than a store. These people have all been first time pet owners and they simply didn't know that there was any other option. When I explained shelters the usual responce was "but those are all problem animals, why else would thet have been surrendered". Grrrr.