I doubt I will purchase a puppy from a breeder unless the canine will be used for some particular kind of work. I am interested in purchasing a protection dog, for example, and it will not come from a shelter.
People will criticize this decision.
But I have made the choice never to judge anybody by how he or she wants to obtain a canine – the process is a personal choice.
“Rescuing” is not the only humane way to get a dog.
Pretty much any canine or cat can be considered a “rescue” these days. I know one man who “rescued” his purebred canine from a pet shop for $500. He all the best believes his canine is a “rescue.”
I know much more than one person who adopted a second canine just so he could call it a “rescue” and fit in better with his local canine community. people can be verbally hostile to the owners of dogs from pet shops or breeders.
This is unfortunate.
But the trendy way (and some would say the only acceptable way) to get a canine best now is to “rescue” that dog.
I used to consider my mutt Ace a rescue until I became irritated by the whole concept of rescuing.
I don’t call him a rescue anymore.
I did not rescue Ace from a pound or an abusive home. I did not rescue him from the streets of Fargo-Moorhead or some rundown farm.
I just wanted a amazing dog, and some lady in Ada, Minn., happened to have a free, housebroken black lab mix.
All of my animals are “hand-me-down” pets. This is a much more suitable term to describe how I acquired my mutt Ace as well as my cats – Beamer and Scout.
Beamer’s first family dropped him off at the humane society when he was a year old. They probably couldn’t deal with his odd food obsessions! Scout came from an “accidental” litter. No surprise I ended up with one of the totally free kittens – the last one to go ?
I don’t consider any of my three to be rescues, really. Beamer was the only one to spend some time in a shelter, but his life was never in danger. It was a no-kill shelter, and he was never in the pound like some of my foster animals were.
This rescuing concept is out of control, and it’s not necessarily helping the animals (although it seems to be helping the humans).
There is something unexplainable about adopting a canine that someone else doesn’t want – it’s something I’m certainly drawn to. but I have to be conscious of what I’m doing. It’s too easy for me to get caught up in the emotions of animal adoption.
Reasons to purchase a puppy from a breeder
I can think of plenty of good reasons to purchase a puppy from a breeder. Although I’ll probably keep adopting these “hand-me-down” rejects, I can see the benefits to purchasing a canine from a good breeder.
The main draw to purchasing a puppy is to help raise that pup correctly from the beginning. Unfortunately, the opposite can also happen. I think we all know plenty of people who have helped screw that puppy up from the very beginning. but that’s for another post …
Some puppies are kept in wire cages for the first six weeks of their lives. Some are isolated in sterile environments. Some are never handled. Some are never separated from their moms. I wouldn’t want to purchase any of those puppies.
On the other hand, some puppies are allowed to explore their environments naturally. They are allowed to play in the grass, wrestle, learn to be away from Mom, to interact with all kinds of beings. This is the kind of puppy I would be interested in buying.
I would like to use all my knowledge on canine training, canine behavior and canine nutrition to raise a puppy from the start in the way I perceive as correct.
I would love to begin socializing my puppy from early on, taking her all over and training her immediately. think of the possibilities!
But can’t I just adopt a puppy from a shelter and get the same benefits?
Vel nei.
I would like to know that my puppy has no known health risks. I would like to meet her parents and view how well tempered, socialized, trained and groomed they are. I would like to meet my puppy’s grandparents.
I would like to know that my puppy’s parents were raised on the highest quality canine food, not over-vaccinated and never covered in toxic products like Frontline.
None of the above would guarantee a ideal dog, but I do believe it would increase my odds.
Notice I’m not advocating purchasing a pet shop puppy or purchasing from the nearest breeder just to get a purebred dog. I know plenty of people who have done this and ended up with perfectly average and acceptable dogs.
It worked for them. It would not work for me.
But seeking out the top breeder of a particular breed and waiting for a pup from a future litter, playing a role in the entire process – yes, I can see the appeal toat.
Purebred hunder for bestemt arbeid
Folk kjøper i noen tilfeller renrasede hunder for å utføre bestemte oppgaver. Det er i noen tilfeller for fantastisk risiko for disse trenerne å bruke redningshunder når jobben for hånden er noe stort arbeid som service for en funksjonshemmet person, gjeter, søk og redning eller beskyttelse.
Disse hundene er i noen tilfeller valgt grundig fra oppdrettere av arbeidslinjehunder. En ekte arbeids hund er veldig forskjellig fra en gjennomsnittlig ledsagerhund. Ikke bedre. bare annerledes.
Jeg sier ikke at en ly hund ikke kan lage en god arbeidscerin – det kan han. Og jeg sier ikke at hver hjørnetann avlet for arbeid faktisk vil kunne utføre godt – det vil han ikke.
Hva med rasespesifikke redninger?
Rasespesifikke redninger er fantastiske organisasjoner. Det er sannsynligvis en redning der ute for hver hjørnetann. Dette er det første jeg ville se om jeg ville ha en bestemt rase (det gjør jeg ikke).
Imidlertid, hvis jeg ønsket en sjelden rase som en større sveitsisk fjellhund, kan jeg bli satt på en venteliste i flere måneder eller år før en hjørnetann kommer opp som trenger et hjem. Mange mennesker kommer ikke til å vente så lenge på en tenkt hjørnetann som kanskje ikke passer godt. Og hvis de vil ha en bestemt rase, er det andre alternativet å finne en oppdretter.
Ikke misforstå, å adoptere et dyr er noe av det største en hundelsker kan gjøre. Det er bare ikke for alle, og jeg har det bra.
De fleste bestemmer seg for å få sine egne barn i stedet for å adoptere eller fremme et hjemløst barn. Jeg hører ikke noen klage på det.
Det er sosialt akseptabelt best nå å kritisere hverandre om hvordan vi skaffer oss dyrene våre. Jeg tror det er for ille.
Og så spør jeg deg:
Hva synes du om denne besettelsen med dyre redning?
Har du noen gang kjøpt en følgesvenn hund eller jobbet hjørnetann fra en oppdretter?
Avbildet nedenfor er Mutt esset mitt og moren til mamma, Elsie – kort tid etter å ha svømt i sjøen! Woo!
Få den mutts nyhetsbrev i innboksen din: