I am not agreeing or disagreeing with anyone here, just sharing my own personal experience...
There are PLENTY of people out there that see a picture of a dog, or see a dog in a movie and then want a dog "just like that". I saw tons of people like this when I worked as an obedience trainer. It occurred with dogs of all different breeds.Â
They see the movie "Beethoven" and want a cool dog like that. They have some idea that the dog will get big, but not that it will cause puddles of drinking water to flood the kitchen floor, sling drool onto the ceiling, and knock the kids over without meaning to. Since they generally got the dog from a pet store, (95% of the puppies in our puppy class came from one particular pet store...), no one bothered to tell them about these things. At the time I taught, Jack Russell Terriers were especially popular, because people were seeing them on Frasier. Â
The people that made it to the obedience classes were at least the ones that were trying to do their best, even when they admitted they had not gotten what they bargained for, whatever the breed. I heard plenty of stories of "Oh, my brother used to have one of those (insert whatever breed here), but he had to get rid of it..."Â
In my volunteer work with mobile pet adoption, I saw so many people that you wouldn't believe try to adopt a dog on an impulse, especially the puppies. People would actually say things like "Oh, they are so cute. We should get a puppy today.", with no foresight whatsoever into the matter. They would be angry when we told them that the ENTIRE family had to be present, or that we would be calling their landlord to see if it was ok, or even that they had to fill out an application... It would just break my heart to see the casualness with which people would make such a big decision...
Again, this isn't to offer an opinion on what people should or shouldn't be told when they are interested in a particular breed. I certainly don't agree with any kind of attitude that seems to convey "I know more than you do", or is condesending when a person who is wise enough to seek out a reputable breeder or rescue makes an inquiry. And I do think that folks need to know about the "warts" of any particular breed...
This is just to say that, in my personal opinion, there are lots of folks out there who don't do their research, have no clue what they are getting into, and treat the decision to bring home a pet with no more consideration than they use choosing a pack of gum at the supermarket...