my friend wants a PETSTORE puppy!

[QueenScoopalot]

Many purebred dogs are surrendered to animal shelters all over the country, and often shelters will allow you to have your name put on a list should a desired breed come in. The pluses of adopting a shelter dog is they are altered, heartworm checked, likely housebroken, and you know the dogs disposition toward kids and other pets. Vets often have "purebred rescue" lists as well. Petfinder.com is a great place to find any type of dog you want, and you're saving a life as well. MILLIONS are euthanised every year across the country, and by adopting a shelter pet, you could be saving a life!

[cocker_luva]

Originally posted by lute
sorry if i upset you.
she had a fish for a while and got bored with it and just flushed it cause she didnt want it anymore.

its ok, im not upset anymore.

poor fish, i hate the 'flushing' situations!

[QueenScoopalot]

"Dateline N.B.C" did a story on so called "AKC registered" puppies, and once again the almighty dollar $$$ talks. You can actually for a fee register your stuffed toy. No one does health checks (or any) from the AKC. They take your money, and send you a certificate. So just because you have papers, it means little or nothing.

[isis]

Originally posted by RobiLee
What really bothers me about petland and Alden is the one who pointed it out to me....Is that they will sell any dog to anyone without asking about their lifestyle or if they have any knowledge about that breed of dog. They did not ask us one question about if we knew anything about Akitas..not one! Alden has always loved the breed and had done some research on them so we did know what we were getting into. They did not know what kind of home Katie was going to or if we could handle this breed and didn't give us any info about the breed except for maybe what size she would be. I find this just as appalling as where they get the pups from. I just thank God that Alden knew a little bit about them and that I found a good friend here to help me out and still does (you know who you are, Karen..aka...KYS ...big hugs for Rocky and Sheba). Whatever your friend does just convince her to do plenty of research before she makes up her mind.

Robin

This is probably where most of the shelter dogs come from. People get these dogs and think there to hard to train so they throw them outside and never get them spayed or anything.




I hope your friend gives this extremely good thought befor she just goes out and buys a puppy.

[guster girl]

Originally posted by RobiLee
From what I hear that is not a good place! What really bothers me about petland and Alden is the one who pointed it out to me....Is that they will sell any dog to anyone without asking about their lifestyle or if they have any knowledge about that breed of dog. They did not ask us one question about if we knew anything about Akitas..not one!

I'm not condoning Petland at all, or the selling of puppy mill puppies. I will say this, though, that Petlands are individually owned and managed. Meaning that you can't judge one by another (excepting where they obtain most of their puppies). I worked at Petland in Lewisville, Texas for a month, and, I didn't know at the time about puppy mills. But, I will say that, at least at the time, all the furry animals there were ALL well taken care of. All of the cages were cleaned out every morning and spot cleaned throughout the day. the animals all had fresh water available 24/7 and usually there was a mat or towel in the cages with the dogs, along with a breed appropriate chew toy. I was specifically told to ask tons of questions when people showed interest in a puppy. I can't even tell you how many potential owners were turned away because the employee deemed them inappropriate for the particular breed they were showing interest in. The puppies were kept in cages, but, no different than keeping a dog in a crate (which I do at night and when I'm gone to work). Every dog had a checklist for when they were played with by a customer. And, employees were instructed, based on the breed, to turn away requests to play with a puppy if it had been taken out a lot already, and, if there was a puppy that hadn't been played with enough, they would take it out themselves for a romp around the store or in the back or whatever. The cages were spotless, the puppies ears were cleaned daily, baths were given when necessary, etc. I have to say that the puppies at the store I worked at were probably given more attention than a lot of puppies in homes that have two working adults and children that go to school. I'm not at all saying that it's a better place for them to be, but, I'm also not saying it's the worst. Again, I'm covering my butt here in saying that I'm completely against puppy mills. I also will agree that I've been in some Petlands that were absolutely rancid. But, I just wanted to put it out there that they're not all stupid people. Some of them really feel like they're doing the right thing, and, I know a lot of the employees I worked with have no idea where the puppies come from and just do their best to keep them clean and healthy once they're at the store and will do their best to make sure the puppy gets the right home. But, even the really young people always asked lots of questions and rarely left people unsupervised with the puppies. I will also say that ALL of the people I worked with for the month I was there LOVE animals and treated all of the puppies like their own kids, and, that most of the people are still working at the same store. I loved working there, to be honest with you. I'd never do it again, after finding out what a puppy mill is, but, I wanted to share that.