IW still at petstore

[Anky]

Petstores that sell pups kill me. Not too long ago I had tears falling down my cheeks because of a poor border collie puppy that was five months old and looked pathetic. It killed me. As much as it kills us to see these little guys we have to remember that even though it isn't the fault of the pup, if we do buy one it WILL be replaced and another poor pup will take up its spot behind the glass wall. The only way to stop it is to stop buying the puppies.

Do you know what happens if they don't sell a puppy?  They go back to the mill.  The brokers or whatever either then turn them into puppy making machines or sell them to testing facilities.  I don't know which is worse.

[ZooCrew]

Supposedly, the pet shop in our area has a deal with a shelter, and if they dont' get sold, they are given to a no kill shelter for adoption.

[brigid67]

i may just stop by the mall and see that cute little muppet face.....

one more dog and I will have to get a dog fanciers license   

[Saintgirl]

I didn't mean to step on your toes Anky. I know that they often get sent back and then end up as breeding machines aswell. It is a horrible life for the dogs that end up with these puppy brokers. My only point was that if people would stop buying petstore puppies, the demand for them would cease to exist and them these mills would not continue supplying the pups. These places only produce puppies because there is such a demand for them. But I understand how sometimes you just can't resist the little faces peeking out at you, it breaks hearts and soemtimes you just can't resist. For this reason I won't even go in to look at their sweet innocent faces. Puppy millers are horrid disgusting people and I hope that they someday get what they have coming to them.

[Nicole]

Just a little chiming in here....

Yesterday, I stopped in at a locally-owned pet store. I was looking for one of those collapsable water bowls...I think they're made by Ruff Wear or something....a nyway....the store is called Delilah's, and Delilah is a HUGE Saint that belongs to the owner and hangs out at the store. There is also D.D. (The D.D. Stands for Delilah's Dog) a young Saint. She hangs out there, too.

Anyway....this is the first time I've ever been there. I go in, I'm lookin' around, lovin' on the two Saints...and I see that there is a puppy room in the back! AGH! So, I go back there, and there are TONS of litters back there. Two boxer pups, two rottie pups (OMG THEY WERE CUTE!), and a whole gang of "Puggles", "Malti-Poos"...all kindsa weird mixes...little Mojos...It was crazy. I loved on the boxer puppies for awhile and then had to run outta there, cuz I could feel it bubbling up..."Where do these puppies come from?" And, I knew I'd end up arrested.

I HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE puppy millers, and I hate the fact that dumb people can go to the pet store and see a cute puppy for relatively cheap and just BUY it, and I hate that a locally owned pet store would sell puppies. GRRRR.

[Kirsten]

my problem with the puppies i see at petstores is much different.  See pet stores here don't sell dogs.  instead there are resues that bring their dogs out to the stores so people can meet them.  I can't resist them.  everytime i go to the store and see a rescued dog in need i want to take them home!!!  Luckily they mostly come on weekends, so i jsut try to go during the week, but there is a resue that brings different dogs to our PETCO EVERYDAY!!!  just a couple dogs a day, but i can't go there because i always want at least one of the 2 that is there.....

[ZooCrew]

I'm with you on that one.

Most pet stores now display which ciy and state the dogs come from.  They claim to not purchase from puppy mills, yet 80% of the dogs (all different breeds) there seem to not only come from the same state, but the same vicinity in the state.  Hmmmm......... ..raise some eyebrows?  Plus, I've never been in a store yet where the dogs look healthy.  They may to the average person, but having worked in vet clinics before, I can always pick out at least 2-3 problem pups each time.  And where there is one sick pup, there are bound to be others.

[Nicole]

I wish that were my only problem!

I seriously almost bought the boxer and rottie pups yesterday (ALL FOUR OF THEM!) I was freaking out.

[greek4]

there is an IW mix on petfinder. 
http://www.petfinder.com/pet.cgi?action=2&pet=5047021&adTarget=&SessionID=4321e32b08113997-app1&display=&preview=1&row=75&tmpl=&stat=

[Nicole]

OOOH! He's TOO CUTE! I want him!

[brigid67]

oh god - nicole..I don't know how you can resist..  I wuld have surley put one in my pocket and walked out....I hate petstores and puppy mills.  And I have never bought from a petstore. and I know it is wrong. And I know that by buying them that just allows the horrible thing to continue....I know all of this....But in my heart I know if I can give just one pup, who came from such a horrible place and maybe going back, a safe loving home that it just makes the world a tiny bit nicer....

That Iw on petfinder is so cute....  I really need a female though..my male pom is to alpha for another male - I think...any thoughts/suggestions on that?

[ZooCrew]

What a cute puppy that is.  I'm curious though.  Since it was "dropped off" as they say, how do they know it's an IW mix?  I guess the owner could have left a note or something.

I was looking the other day on petfinder.  There was a dog found as a STRAY, and they said it was a briard/spinone italiano mix.  Sometimes I wonder........

[Anky]

What a cute puppy that is.  I'm curious though.  Since it was "dropped off" as they say, how do they know it's an IW mix?  I guess the owner could have left a note or something.

I was looking the other day on petfinder.  There was a dog found as a STRAY, and they said it was a briard/spinone italiano mix.  Sometimes I wonder........

Lots of times shelters have no idea what a puppy/dog is, so they try to make an "educated" guess as to what best describes it, so that adopters who know what they want can do a search and that dog will come up there.  It's a big leggy wiry haird puppy?  Sounds like a IW.  I have to laugh though (Moni isn't it freaky that everything we talk about on the phone ends up on BPO?) because the other day we were talking about how some shelter staff know nothing about breeds and it causes issues often.  Sanity would be posted as a pitbull mix, Hobo as a shepherd mix of some sort and Araby as a Dalmation mix.  Forget the fact that all 3 of them are purebreds, alot of animal shelters don't know much about dog breeds, and as such usually use the same list of dogs and jsut add mix to the end: Lab,shepherd, collie, terrier, poodle, dalmation (If it has spots it's going to be a dalmation something), husky and retreiver.

[brigid67]

I wonder more then sometimes about who is classifying the dogs...not sure but sometimes I think someone needs glasses

[ZooCrew]

wonder more then sometimes about who is classifying the dogs...not sure but sometimes I think someone needs glasses

I agree.  I guess I'm just naive in thinking that people who work with animals on a daily basis would actually know something about them.

You're right though Anky about the breed listings.  Around here, every dog is a pit/lab/rottie/aussie mix.  Don't matter what it looks like, that is what it's listed as.  I once saw what was obviously a corgi mix, maybe even a purebred, that was listed as a pit mix.  Who are these people?

I just think it's funny when they put fairly rare breeds down for a stray dog.  I just had to raise my eyebrows at the briard/spinone italiano mix.  What are the chances of not only there being that mix of dog, but finding it wandering around?  I know it's to help adopt out the dog, as alot of people like it when their dog is a rare or little known breed, I just have to shake my head when I see their new "rare" breed and tell them politely it's probably not what they think it is.

And yes, I do burst people's bubbles.  I don't care.......... .it just irritates me to no end when dogs are mislabeled.  Of course you can't ever be sure of a dog's mixed heritage, but you can be fairly sure it ain't no dingo dog.