Where Get A Dog

There are a lot of different places to go to get a dog. There are pet stores, puppy stores, professional breeders, back yard breeders, shelters, and rescue operations, to name a few. Here are some of the pros and cons of each of these.

Professional Breeders
Professional breeders specialize in one, or some times two, breeds of dogs. They are the best place to get a dog that is show quality. They usually sell puppies, but sometimes have older dogs. They will have the most expensive puppies, but they usually have the highest quality. A reputable breeder will be able to show you the mother, and at least show you the pedigree of the father, if not the father himself. In addition, you will be able to take the puppy back if your vet finds anything wrong with the puppy within at least 30 days.

Back Yard Breeders

There are two different kinds of back yard breeders where you can get a dog. There are those who have bred their pedigreed bitch to a pedigreed stud, either of the same breed or a crossbreed. (An example of a cross breed is a cocker spaniel bred to a poodle, with the offspring referred to as a cockapoo). And there are those whose bitch, pedigreed or not, was accidentally impregnated by a known or an unknown stud. You may or may not know what the puppies are going to look like when they grow up.  

The first type of back yard breeder will be able to show you the mother and show you the pedigree of the father, or at least let you know what kind of dog he is. The breeder will also be able to show you what the puppies will grow up to be like.

The second type of back yard breeder can show you the mother, but may not know anything about the father. Since the puppies are not pure bred, they will be significantly less expensive than pure bred or pedigreed puppies. The breeder usually just wants to get the puppies into a good home. Some times the breeder just wants to get rid of the puppies.

Both types of back yard breeders should allow you to bring the puppy back if your vet finds something physically or medically wrong with it.

Shelters and rescue operations

Shelters and rescue operations are great places to get a dog because they have dogs that have been abandoned, mistreated, abused, strayed from their original homes and gotten lost, or were given up because their owners didn't want them any more.  Greyhound rescue operations take racing greyhounds whose racing careers are over and would be euthanized if they weren't rescued for adoption.  There are many other breed specific rescue operations.

In both the shelters and the rescue operations, the dogs are vet checked and retrained if they show aggressive tendencies. They are neutered if they weren't neutered when they were brought in. Their shots are brought up to date also. What is usually not known is what kind of environment they were brought up in and what kind of life they had. In some cases their age is an estimate.

It must be said that there are shelters and so-called no-kill shelters. The no-kill shelters do everything in their power to not have to euthanize the dog. The regular shelters will keep the dogs only for a certain time, and euthanize them if they are not adopted by that time. Some rescue operations and shelters have a detailed form that has to be filled out by the prospective adopting person or family, to try to ensure that the right type of dog goes to the right family.

Pet store and puppy stores

Since the puppies sold in pet stores and puppy stores almost always come from puppy mills, my first suggestion is to not to get a dog or a puppy from them. Puppy mills breed and inbreed their dogs to get as many litters as possible. The quality of the puppies is poor as a result. They are in business to make a profit, but can't charge as much as a breeder, because both they and the pet store have to make a profit. With the overhead of keeping puppies which have to be fed, cleaned, and groomed to look attractive to the buyer, the pet store has to have a 3X or 4X markup. That puts the price of a quality puppy out of the range of the average buyer. So the pet store has to buy the cheapest puppy they can, and that means that they have to go to puppy mills for them. The puppies get no socialization and usually little or no exercise until they are bought.  Enough said.

I have gotten dogs from all of the above except for the shelters and have had one bad experience out of eight dogs. The bad experience was from a poodle rescue. The dog showed some aggressive tendencies after I got him home, and died within six from pancreatic cancer. My present dog is a rescued greyhound. She is almost perfect.

You can find more information on where to get your dog or puppy on page 8 of the downloadable book "Secrets To Dog Training". Its a complete guide for getting a dog or puppy, how to care for it, and how to train it.

 A trained dog is a happy dog and has a happy owner.