My dog is 8 and was 25 bucks from the pound. Never had a health or behavior issue. Gotta get the ones scared to go back.
I paid 150 for a "registeryourdog.com" papered Staffordshire Terrier that didnt have issues until old age took over. I think some backyard breeders' dogs have better genetics because they don't interbreed as much and there is more genetic diversity. I do enjoy pound puppy mutts and will probably get one of those and a hunting dog.
We have mutts, although the adoption fees these days are more like $300 for a vetted animal (which I'm fine for, that shit is legitimate and expensive). Our second girl (I got her from a friend who found her as an older puppy along the highway) is a half breed genetically. The wisdom panel says one parent was a full blood American Staffordshire terrier. She has zero health problems. I think it cost more than $300 once the cost of all the flea treatments, spay, and follow up care of problematic sutures was all said and done. Both my dogs are beyond excellent. I would only consider a pure breed if I had a specific job for it, and I'd probably want to get one from a farm around here, from parents who are doing the job already. But, I simply cannot fathom paying 4k for a dog. My needs just aren't there.
I just want to point out that the majority of puppies in the pet stores are from puppy mills. Horrible breeding, no health testing, and typically complete disasters. There is absolutely no way those puppies are from anything but a bottom of the barrel breeder. There are a few states where it is starting to become illegal for "breeders" (AKA puppy mills) to sell to pet stores. In those cases the puppies will typically be from shelters or rescues, but would be clearly labeled as such, with the price to reflect that.
I had always heard this. I don’t see how it couldn’t be as much they only sell puppies in a small age frame 8-10 weeks old. I asked my supervisor how much she paid for hers since she got a full breed German shepherd a few years back through petland. She got a 50% discount because the dog was 14 weeks old. They had been getting a lot of shit for it and I wondered if they changed their business model or something given the increased prices (a kernel of truth in the top 5% claim). I remember as a kid dogs were 4-800 bucks. Still top pedigree breeders can still be puppy mills. Selling direct top breeders could make 40-60 thousand a litter on frenchies.
The smaller the dog, the longer you can keep them there and claim they are younger than they are. Also, just because it costs more, doesn't mean the quality matches. Unethical breeders and puppy mills are currently looking at the rejects, doubling or tripling their prices, and calling them "rare" or "special", because people are stupid enough to pay for it. As far as Frenchies go, making 40-60k a litter would mean they are selling pups for 15-20k each, minimum. Typical litter for them is 2-4 puppies, if they all survive. You have to account for the fact that the vast majority are incapable of breeding on their own, and incapable of giving birth on their own - now you have to factor in artificial insemination costs as well as C-section costs. Also, no breeder worth anything is gonna churn and burn litters and drop them into mass retail. You as a buyer lose the chance to talk to the breeder, meet the parent(s), and choose a dog that may be a correct fit for you. You also have no chance to obtain ancestry health info in regards to common issues with the breed (i.e. hip dysplasia in German Shepherds). They as a breeder lose the chance to pick an appropriate home for pet v. show v. working prospects, and lose out on recommending on whether or not said pup is a breeding prospect. Pet stores with this set up are selling you the K-Mart blue light special at designer label pricing.
Why is it so hard to adopt animals now a days? When we got our dog in 2010 we just showed up to look at dogs. Now you have to fill out an application to see one dog, well there is a litter of 4 puppies. The online application only lets you see one.
I okay with it, there needs to be a barrier for people to overcome that will show they actually have what it takes to be a pet owner. Being a good pet owner is part work, it's not all smiles and cuddles. I volunteered, then employed, at an SPCA shelter, then went back to volunteering. Too many animals come back because people actually don't want an animal that is going to be any kind of burden. Some come back quickly, particularly Christmas adoptions. Some come back with signs of abuse and behavior issues from trauma. Some cats get thrown over the fence at night, dogs tied to the fence at night. We all begged the manager to make front desk ladies to actually check references, never happened. We begged them to raise the adoption fee, which they finally did, and it actually helped bring the number of returned animals down.
Makes sense. Just a pain if you want to look at more then one. Plus we have gotten all of our pets, from them and still have them, 1 dog, 2 cats. Just annoying.
Yea to just look. That is all i want before i decide i want to adopt. I kind of know by playing with the dog if it will fit me. That is how we got our last one 12.5 years ago. We had just gotten married and the wife wanted a dog. I had her repeat to me "we are just looking, we aren't getting a dog today". We start walking down the kennel and this dog jumped up on her door, with her paws on a cross bar just staring at us almost eye level. I turned to her and asked, can we get her? best decision ever.
Absolutely you need to meet and play with the animals until you find a fit, especially in older animals. The extreme of having to fill out an application just to look has me wondering what happened to bring that policy up. Maybe you can ask and see what their reasoning is? Now, we didn't let people handle as many puppies as they wanted, that was for the health of the dogs. You could look and ask to handle one you were very interested in, you had to wash your hands and arms before and again if you went to look at another litter.
When I was on the fence about getting a dog, the SPCA near me had me fill out an application but it was more of a questioniere about my activity level, home and yard size, other pets etc to make sure I picked a dog that matched my lifestyle.
TiB meet Clementine, this picture was taken from the SPCA website, wife just got home, and i am back to work. More picture to follow i am sure.