Read This Before You Purchase A Dog

The pet store in the mall is always calling. When you’re shopping for clothes, for Christmas presents, or for everyday items, just a quick glance in its direction is enough to elicit a chorus of coos. You go inside, just to look, of course. You look at the animals, and, hey! One of them is looking back at you. You pet it. It’s becoming attached to you, or maybe vice versa. It would be wrong to leave it, you think.

So you purchase it and take it home with you. Maybe it will turn out perfect in every way—easy to house train, easy to get along with, playful but not too aggressive. Or maybe it will turn out the opposite. Although many people come home from pet stores with great pets, it’s very like that the puppy you bring home with you will have a few problems caused by poor breeding practices and the pet store won’t be informed enough to help you overcome them—or to help you decide which puppies are more likely to have fewer problems.

Pet stores are often accused of acquiring their wares from “puppy mills”, but this is usually not the case with reputable chain and independent pet stores. All the same, such stores tend to get their pets from brokers or kennels who are more interested in making money than in providing their customers with information about the animals they’re purchasing, to help them select the right one.

Commercial kennels, which produce many breeds of dog and are required by the USDA to conform to Animal Welfare Act guidelines and provide veterinary care, are allowed to become lax due to a shortage of inspection officers and the difficulty of prosecuting for not following the AWA guidelines.

Brokers, on the other hand, buy from different breeders who must also meet AWA guidelines and be licensed by the USDA. To brokers, puppies are commodities. They advertise for them, promise breeder programs, top prices, breeder education, and so on.

Puppies from sources such as these probably haven’t been tested for genetic diseases that can be found in their particular breeds. Tests cost money, and passing that cost along to stores can create a disincentive from buying animals from that particular provider.

The breeders of the dog often lack knowledge of breeding standards, and as such, the integrity of the breed can be lost without the customer who’s paying top dollar for a pure breed dog realizing it. This problem is made even worse when pet stores purchase pets locally from breeders who know even less—breeders who are just selling their puppies to pet stores so that they don’t have any left over which they must keep.

When buying a puppy, these are all things that you should think about. Before taking the dog out of the store, make inquiries about it. Where did it come from? What training has it had? Has it been tested for diseases? What is its behavior like? The puppy may be cute enough, but you must remember that the threads of your drapes are at stake, your carpet as well, and most of all, the members of your household. If the dog you purchase had been poorly dealt with, it can become rough later on and unsuitable to be around children.

Need help locating a Pet Store near you? Simple steps for easy Dog Training and information about Dog Rescue options.