Nicer than usual pet shop story

[Delisay]

Many people are uncomfortable with pet shops selling puppies, because the puppies sometimes come from careless breeders or mills, and/or because too many shops are irresponsible about how they sell to, and advise, customers. There's a huge pet shop just like that some distance from where I live. However...

Now that I'm more tuned into these things, I took a closer look around my local store, which is quite large and sells quite a few animals. I was very pleased to see things like...

• There are pictures of puppies' mums and dads posted, with details of any health checks etc that have been done.
• There's a sign warning all about the temptation of buying cute puppies on a whim, but that owning a dog is a responsibility, etc etc.
• There's a sign about choosing the right breed or individual puppy, urging customers not to feel offended if staff recommend against a particular one.
• The puppies have a play room where they can run around sometimes during the day.
• In the middle of the afternoon, customers or no customers, puppies go off to their puppy-sitter families for the evening and over night, where they get socialised and loved.

Even better, I met a lady with such a gorgeous bright-eyed Maltese cross puppy that I had to ask her where she got him...and it was this pet shop. She said there was something about the place - that her family always bought their animals there because the dogs all seem to have such great temperaments. This little guy was so healthy, confident, friendly and cheerful...a really lovely little dog, so much nicer than pups I've seen elsewhere.

In short, it's nice to see a relatively large business doing such a good job in the pet market niche. Like almost everything in life, these things usually come down to decisions made by just one or two individuals - the owner/manager of this store is clearly imposing certain standards on how they do things.

Delisay

[Important: Please DO NOT turn this thread into another 'doggy racism' rant about which doggy races (breeds) you may personally believe are more 'worthy' of existing than others!! This is STRICTLY a 'better than usual pet shop' thread only! Thanks!!]

 

[~Jessie~]

No responsible breeder will sell their puppies to a petshop, plain and simple.

 

[iheartsammy]

no one here is doggy rasist, all dogs deserve to live as much as any other..now people who breed these dogs..well, thats a whole other story..

 

[Gillian]

While I am also uncomfortable with puppies (or kittens, for that matter) being sold from a pet store, it is really a good feeling to know that there is at least one pet shop out there who cares for the animals they are selling. It doesn't sound as if they are treating them like 'stock'. It is very easy for us to judge, but if someone has already made the mistake of breeding without ensuring responsible homes beforehand, I'd rather they are sold out of a loving, caring environment than out of one which leaves them in a cage, day and night, to get sold or die. When you get down to basics, it's a life we are discussing, not an object, and it sounds like they are trying hard to do the right thing.

Gillian

 

[~Jessie~]

"Doing the right thing" is not selling puppies and kittens in a pet store. If they wanted to "do the right thing," they would open a rescue instead.
99% percent of the puppies sold in pet stores come from puppy mills, the other 1% come from backyard breeders. A responsible, good breeder would never sell their puppies in a store. A responsible, good human being would not own/operate a puppy store.

 

[otch1]

Delisay... you found a good one. They are few and far between. The situation you describe is rare and therefore the negative aspects of selling puppies in pet stores will always outweight the positive. It's also a matter of the quality of puppy, kind of breeder that sells to the stores that's an issue. The petstore you frequent should be commended for their practices, scheduled exercise, socialization and overnight fostering!!

 

[Delisay]

"Doing the right thing" is not selling puppies and kittens in a pet store. If they wanted to "do the right thing," they would open a rescue instead.
99% percent of the puppies sold in pet stores come from puppy mills, the other 1% come from backyard breeders. A responsible, good breeder would never sell their puppies in a store. A responsible, good human being would not own/operate a puppy store.

AaaaaaaaaaAAAARRRGGGHHHHH! I wish I hadn't spoken. Except Gillian - thank you for such thoughtful and balanced input ... and Otch too.

Jessie, you may find this hard to believe (clearly!), but there are good people out there who have an occasional litter, from healthy dogs, take good and responsible care of them, and because they are not doing it for the money, they pass them on to the nice people at their local pet store for half of the sum that they would get if they sold them themselves. It isn't exactly the crime of the century, even if you're not a fan of it.

Or, perhaps you are right, and we should:

• Shut down the post office because some people mail illegal things. All people who mail things are therefore dishonest.
• Ban air flight because some people fly 'planes into building. All pilots are therefore bad human beings.
• Ban cars because they are the leading cause of accidental death. Drivers are therefore all irresponsible careless idiots.
• Ban doctors because they are the third leading cause of death. All doctors are morons.
• Shut down supermarkets because they sell a high percentage of rubbish. All supermarket shift supervisors must be bad people.

Ay-yay-yay.... [sigh] It's the same 'logic'.

As for 99%...I don't know if that's true in the US (it might be, due to the hugely profitable market there), but it certainly isn't everywhere. This pet store gets most of their animals from local small scale breeders who they personally know, and not from large scale, cold, impersonal 'mills'.

D.

 

[J's crew]

No responsible breeder will sell their puppies to a petshop, plain and simple.

Exactly.

Certainly not someone who really cares about their breed. I couldn't imagine handing off a puppy having no idea where it went and what happened with it.

A responsible breeder also has a contract that prevents the dog from being bred unless it has been proved worthy.

There is a difference in those type of breeders versus a responsible breeder. I guess until you meet a few its hard to fathom the type of passion they have. But once you do, you will never think of buying from a pet shop.

 

[corsomom]

No responsible breeder would ever sell their pups to a pet store.Of course they are doing it for the money.Do you think they are concerned where their puppies go?

 

[Delisay]

J, I know what you mean. I'm not sure if I could deal with not knowing exactly where my pups went either. But, if I had to delegate the task, I'd give it to these particular people.

Also some people (breeders, owners, etc) are just way more relaxed about life and its imperfections - a bit more que sera - and I find that hard to fault too. So long as their heart is in the right place and they take reasonable care, then I calculate that my personal 'rant quota' is far better spent on the true crimes of the world at large!

Del.

 

[corsomom]

I guess I see puppy mills and pet stores as one of the true crimes of the world.

 

[Delisay]

Corsomom, I've heard the 'profit' idea before, but it doesn't quite compute for me. Think about this...

- Large volume 'products' can be sold for lower margins, to large numbers of people. It therefore makes sense, for profit reasons, to sell to retailers if one is a 'puppy mill'.

- Low volume 'products' one might as well sell direct, because one makes twice as much money as when selling via a retailer. This applies to occasional breeders of any kind. They would only sacrifice that profit by selling to a retailer if they were not (primarily) doing it for the money.

I know that I do this myself with my (inexpensive) birds. If I have time and the inclination I will sell them privately because I make twice as much money this way. If I'm not bothered about the money because that's not why I bred them, I just give them to the bird store to sell.

So, where occasional breeders are concerned it makes little sense to sell to a pet store "for the money" when they would make so much more if they sold privately. However, for large scale breeders it makes much more sense to sell wholesale so they can focus on breeding high numbers.

Del.

 

[Lizmo]

No responsible breeder will sell their puppies to a petshop, plain and simple.

Exactly!!!!! Well said Jessie!!!

 

[Bobsk8]

J, I know what you mean. I'm not sure if I could deal with not knowing exactly where my pups went either. But, if I had to delegate the task, I'd give it to these particular people.

Also some people (breeders, owners, etc) are just way more relaxed about life and its imperfections - a bit more que sera - and I find that hard to fault too. So long as their heart is in the right place and they take reasonable care, then I calculate that my personal 'rant quota' is far better spent on the true crimes of the world at large!

Del.

To me it's like saying there are nice crooks in the world. Possibly true I guess.......

 

[corsomom]

I know a disgusting person that lives around here who bred her chi and pug I think they were, and sold the pups to a pet store for $350. I think she had 4 pups dont remember, so $1400, I guess it was just easier to sell them to a pet store than find homes herself.

 

[iheartsammy]

just because the puppies are good in temperment and health, doesn't mean they didn't come from a BYB or puppy mill.

 

[Zoom]

Ok, so you found a petstore that treats the puppies like the cute commodities they are. Great. Why do they sell those particular breeds? Why do they sell poodle and toy crosses versus say, Airdales? Because those breeds they have sell better. It's still about profit and ok yeah, so the people supplying are more in the "puppies are so darn cute, and my dog makes a great mum" category versus "This here dog's gonna earn me a passel of cash this year" sort.

They're still a petstore, I still bet they don't care a whit if someone's pup comes down a genetic defect like HD.

 

[Delisay]

Why do they sell poodle and toy crosses versus say, Airdales? Because those breeds they have sell better.

Um....yeah?!! Because, er, people like them more???! Or here's an idea...breeders and pet stores could try to sell animals which people don't really like...and then figure out what to do with them when no-one wants them. It just doesn't make the simplest kind of sense. Every animal, everywhere, is traded - bought and sold in some way. What in heaven's name difference could it make if the premises are a cosy petstore or someone's kitchen? You might like to think about the fact than every cent anyone has ever given you in wages or salary comes from the profit of a business, most of them in this world far more dubious than the corner pet store!

Honestly, some of you lot are just the most miserable, negative... Suck the joy out of simple things like it's snake venom. Must have attended Misty Point Junior College...

So I give in!!!!! I'm going home!!! Oh, I am at home...OK, well, I'm going to find some nice, calm, balanced, cheerful individuals to chat with, here or elsewhere! (I swear, it's a sickness! OCPD!)

Sammy's bud you may be (at least slightly) pleased to know that this pet shop owner visits local breeders in their homes and selects the puppies herself. She doesn't even stock them unless she can find ones that are good enough, including pedigrees.)

D.

 

[~Jessie~]

Here is the difference between buying a pup from a responsible breeder and buying one from a petstore:
Before I could reserve Rylie, her breeder thoroughly interviewed me... I was sent litter pictures and puppy pictures- I have pictures from the day she was born until she was able to come home with me. I still stay in contact with her breeder, I have a great health guarantee, and Rylie is a great looking, wonderfully socialized chihuahua.
I have pictures of Chloe from the time she was 3-4 weeks old... same thing... after lots of phone conversations and questioning, I reserved Chloe.
Now, the thing about buying from responsible breeders is the waiting- it is hard. I sat and painstakingly waited for my puppies... and it was worth it when they could come home! You know why? Because their breeders cared about where they went, took the time to socialize them, and cared about bettering the breed.

Now, no responsible breeder would EVER want their pups that they spend years- yes years- preparing for to go just anywhere. That is what is wrong with breeders selling to petstores! I could NEVER ever not know where the story ended on a puppy if I were a breeder.

Our local puppy store gets most of their puppies from puppymills, but he handpicks some from the newspaper, and others he brings from south america. All of these puppies are advertised as "from local and professional breeders." All of these puppies are sold for $1000 plus, but no, his business is completely ethical. Give me a break!

 

[~Jessie~]

BTW, I know that on average, apart from busy season, the puppy store near me goes through about 15-20 pups a week... I'd imagine it would be pretty tough to handpick that many puppies a week from local breeders.

And, just because a dog has papers doesn't mean it is breed standard, or should be bred. I have seen many AKC chihuahuas that do not even look like chihuahuas.