Why you should never buy a puppy from a pet shop
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Although it might be very tempting to buy that
adorable looking puppy in the pet store window we strongly recommended that you think very carefully before doing so. Yes buying from the pet store is convenient with so many puppies to choose from and buying one there will provide instant gratification because pet stores will sell to anyone. All you have to do is pay and you can take that puppy home today, there will be no screening, questions to be answered or forms to fill out, but... You will be supporting a very bad industry. |
When you pay money for a pet shop puppy, you're encouraging the commercial breeding
industry / puppy mills to keep doing what it's doing. So please take a moment before buying that
puppy on impulse and consider the disadvantages of buying a puppy from a pet store.
industry / puppy mills to keep doing what it's doing. So please take a moment before buying that
puppy on impulse and consider the disadvantages of buying a puppy from a pet store.
The Disadvantages of pet shops
Pet shop puppies may have "sham" registration papers and pedigrees.
More and more pet shops are avoiding the stricter documentation requirements of the AKC and
registering their puppies with an "alternative" registry like the Continental Kennel Club, APR, APRI,
NKC, and others. Now, the AKC definitely has its problems with people falsifying registration papers
and pedigrees, but the alternative registries are even worse.
If a puppy has registration papers from any of these registries, I wouldn't believe that the parents listed
on the papers are necessarily the true parents, that the ancestors listed on the pedigree are the
true ancestors, or that the puppy is even purebred.
registering their puppies with an "alternative" registry like the Continental Kennel Club, APR, APRI,
NKC, and others. Now, the AKC definitely has its problems with people falsifying registration papers
and pedigrees, but the alternative registries are even worse.
If a puppy has registration papers from any of these registries, I wouldn't believe that the parents listed
on the papers are necessarily the true parents, that the ancestors listed on the pedigree are the
true ancestors, or that the puppy is even purebred.
You can't see the puppy's parents.
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You can't see the puppy's parents.
This is a BIG negative because the parents' genes can have so much influence on how your puppy turns out. If you can't see the parents, how can you tell whether they might have passed on genes for unhealthy structure, bad teeth, or a bad temperament? Virtually ALL puppies look normal and healthy and are friendly and playful. But as the puppies mature, the genes they inherited WILL begin to assert themselves, and that's when all the problems will start! |
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You can't see where the puppies were raised.
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Another BIG negative. The majority of pet
shop puppies are raised in small wire-bottomed cages in outbuildings. They've never seen the inside of a house. Many of them don't even know how to drink water from a bowl because they've been drinking from hamster bottles since they were born |
Many pet shop puppies are hyperactive and noisy.
Raised in a small cage, they haven't been able to run and play and explore like normal puppies,
so they've developed frenetic habits like running in small circles and excessive barking.
so they've developed frenetic habits like running in small circles and excessive barking.
Many pet shop puppies are nippy.
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Some puppies were removed from their mother before
7-Weeks of age. You'll remember that puppies need a full seven weeks with their mother so she can teach them "bite inhibition". If they haven't learned this lesson, their nippiness can be hard to correct. Other pet shop puppies have learned to nip from all the people who take them out of their cages and play wrestling games with them. This encourages the puppy to growl and nip and mouth people's hands – bad lessons that can be hard to correct. |
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Most pet shop puppies are hard to housebreak.
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Where does a pet shop puppy go the bathroom?
Right there in his cage. It's hard to take such a puppy home and teach him NOT to go to the bathroom in his crate or bed when that's what he's been trained to do! |
Pet shop puppies often come with illnesses.
You bring the puppy home and a few days later he develops a cough, or diarrhea, or vomiting, or
listlessness, or he starts scratching or losing hair.... this happens over and over with pet shop puppies.
Kennel cough, parvovirus, coronavirus, giardia, coccidia, mange, ringworm – these illnesses
are commonly found in commercial breeding kennels and pet stores.
listlessness, or he starts scratching or losing hair.... this happens over and over with pet shop puppies.
Kennel cough, parvovirus, coronavirus, giardia, coccidia, mange, ringworm – these illnesses
are commonly found in commercial breeding kennels and pet stores.
Pet shops often overload their puppies with vaccinations and chemicals.
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Because the puppies are exposed to so many
illnesses, pet stores often overdo the vaccines, dewormers, and chemical baths and dips. Overloading the poor puppy's immune system like this is very damaging for his long-term health. |
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But my local pet shop says...
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"We buy all our puppies from responsible local breeders. "Yes, the employees are taught to
say that. Yet saying it doesn't make it so. Virtually all pet shop puppies come from commercial breeders and puppy mills, no matter what the employees say. If the commercial breeder or puppy mill is local rather than 300 miles away, what difference does that make? Irresponsible breeding practices are irresponsible whether the breeder lives in Timbuktu or just around the corner. The location makes no difference. |
"Our puppies' health is guaranteed!"
"Our puppies' health is guaranteed!" Ah, yes. The "wonderful" pet store guarantee.
The pet shop offers to REPLACE unhealthy puppies.
The pet shop offers to REPLACE unhealthy puppies.
Pet shops aren't too worried about having to honor their guarantees, by the way.
First, they count on your becoming attached to the puppy and being reluctant to return it.
They know that most of us have soft hearts and would keep a sick puppy even if we're forced to
spend a thousand dollars and heartbreaking months or years trying to nurse it back to health.
Second, the guarantees are carefully written so that whatever your particular puppy develops probably
isn't covered or you won't have all the "proper" documentation to prove it.
They know that most of us have soft hearts and would keep a sick puppy even if we're forced to
spend a thousand dollars and heartbreaking months or years trying to nurse it back to health.
Second, the guarantees are carefully written so that whatever your particular puppy develops probably
isn't covered or you won't have all the "proper" documentation to prove it.
Our advice to you is to IGNORE everything pet shop people tell you. The pet store industry
has sophisticated marketing manuals that teach pet shop owners and employees exactly
what to say to persuade you to part with your money. Don't be gullible.
has sophisticated marketing manuals that teach pet shop owners and employees exactly
what to say to persuade you to part with your money. Don't be gullible.
So what seems like a simple, isolated purchase actually contributes to:
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The misery of female dogs who spend their lives in a cage, being bred again and again so people will have a "quick and convenient" source from which to buy. The misery of future puppies born with health and temperament problems. The misery of families who will buy these puppies and then struggle to cope with all the health and temperament problems. |
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The misery of animal rescue groups who have to deal with all the pet shop puppies dumped on their
doorstep when frustrated families give up on the health and temperament problems.
doorstep when frustrated families give up on the health and temperament problems.
When you buy one of those cute puppies in the pet shop, you buy more than the puppy. You
buy the budding physical, behavioral, and health problems created by the bad genes passed on
by untested parents whom you never get to see or evaluate. And you feed a profit-hungry
industry that's doing a lot of harm to innocent creatures.
buy the budding physical, behavioral, and health problems created by the bad genes passed on
by untested parents whom you never get to see or evaluate. And you feed a profit-hungry
industry that's doing a lot of harm to innocent creatures.
The biggest disadvantage of acquiring a pet shop puppy is this...
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You're supporting a bad industry. When you pay money for a pet shop puppy, you're encouraging the industry to keep doing what it's doing. You've emptied one cage, yes – which creates demand for another puppy to be born to fill that cage. Even if YOU are lucky and your puppy turns out "okay", a large percentage of the others will not, and YOU helped provide the incentive for them to be born by buying the one who came before them. |
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Every pet shop will assure you, solemnly, that their puppies are different. Their puppies don't come
from puppy mills, but from wonderful local breeders. Pillars of the community, in fact.
It's hogwash. No responsible breeder would ever place one of their puppies in a pet shop. In our opinion, any breeder that places puppies in pet shops, has just
disqualified themselves as being responsible breeders.
from puppy mills, but from wonderful local breeders. Pillars of the community, in fact.
It's hogwash. No responsible breeder would ever place one of their puppies in a pet shop. In our opinion, any breeder that places puppies in pet shops, has just
disqualified themselves as being responsible breeders.
Breeders who sell to pet shops are irresponsible period!
Because they're condemning their puppies to cramped cages, exposing them to illnesses, and not caring
what kind of home they eventually end up in. A responsible breeder wouldn't be able to sleep at night wondering which of their beloved puppies might have been sold to an unsuitable home by some pet store sales clerk.
what kind of home they eventually end up in. A responsible breeder wouldn't be able to sleep at night wondering which of their beloved puppies might have been sold to an unsuitable home by some pet store sales clerk.
Part of this article is from: http://www.yourpurebredpuppy.com/