How Bad are Pet Stores?

Buying from Pet Stores or Responsible Breeders?

Buying an Irish Terrier from a pet store may be convenient, but one never knows the background of that puppy. There could be serious health problems, unsound temperament, or socialization problems.

Let’s take a look at the Breeders:

It is estimated that 90% of pet store puppies come from puppy mills. High Production breeders produce puppies with only the bottom line dollar figure as the guiding factor. They do not regard health, temperament, or conformation when breeding for profit. The puppies can be taken from their dam at any time after 4 to 6 weeks of age and sold to a puppy broker/wholesaler. They are then packed into a van or truck and distributed to various pet stores across the country. When puppies die en route, it is considered part of the cost of doing business. I regularly receive phone calls about Irish Terriers ending up in Pet Stores in the Atlanta area. One puppy in Atlanta was so sick, its hair was falling out and it cowered miserably in the back corner of its cage. The Pet Store raised the price, and then offered a discount of 40% on the overpriced puppy so that it wouldn’t lose out on its costs!

Responsible breeders keep their puppies with the dams much longer because there are things only the mommy dog can teach a puppy. One of those is respect for an older dog. The puppies are raised in a clean environment with lots of exercise and positive human contact. The first 8 weeks of a puppy’s life contribute greatly to its “world view point” for the rest of its life. In order to have a happy, well-adjusted adult dog, one must start out with a healthy, well-adjusted puppy. Please see my article on “Puppy Socialization during the first 8 weeks of life”.

Dam and Sire: their pedigrees

It is a commonly held belief that Puppy Mill puppies do not come from champion stock. However, I have discussed this topic with a USDA Puppy Mill owner. They have never had a problem buying a “retired” champion bitch or sire that has the possibility of producing one or two more litters. All they have to do is offer more money, and the retired champion is theirs. Show Ring owners do not keep “used up” dogs on their premises as a rule. It would be impossible to house and feed that many dogs that are finished with their breeding years. After all, a good Irish Terrier is supposed to live 15 to 17 years. It is generally believed that “champion stock dogs” are healthier than animals that have been out of the breeding ring for a generation or two. This is also not true since Puppy Mills can and do buy “retired” champions. I talked to a Long Term Dog Show Judge in South Carolina and the inside gossip is astounding. He flipped through the pages of a Dog Judges’ Magazine and showed me the advertisements and the judges and which judges had cut deals and why, in his breed. Judges regularly award championships to dogs in exchange for being allowed to stand next to the dog in the publicity photo and having their name printed as the judge. Judges also have personal preferences and have people that follow them around because they grade their dogs more highly. Judges have awarded championships in exchange for puppies. The Show Ring is a very political place and what goes on behind closed doors is rarely discussed. Deals are made all the time.

On the flip side of the coin, I watched a Documentary on TV that discussed puppy mills and their ability to “acquire” lovely pedigrees for their dogs. One woman had her AKC registration revoked and yet was able to acquire new pedigrees and names for her dogs a short time later.

So the lack of, or presence of, “champion stock” on a pedigree is not proof positive that the puppy will be of better health or better quality. Pedigrees are just the names of the parent dogs going back a number of generations. Unless one knows the DNA structure of each dog, and the health of EACH of the puppies produced by each of the dogs on the pedigree, it is really just a list of pretty names. In addition, it is impossible for every puppy in every litter to be perfect for the show ring. If the breeder is responsible and buying the best breeding stock that they can find then the odds of puppies looking good increase. Show Ring breeders are always selling puppies that are not show ring quality. That means that even they produce a lot of “pet quality” puppies that would never make it in the show ring and yet they are not considered puppy mills. What people fail to realize is that one doesn’t know how many puppies never make it to the show ring. All the Public sees is the perfect looking dog in the Dog Breed Book or Magazine. Of course, the absolute prettiest dog is going to be in those photos and doesn’t show the thousands of puppies that didn’t make it. So, to sum it up, the words “Champion Stock” might or might not mean anything on a pedigree.

A Responsible Breeder usually keeps their dogs in the house as part of the family, rather than maintaining them in kennels. Again, it is necessary to do the math. If a breeder has a number of breeding animals, and their puppies, then it is rather difficult to keep them all in the house at the same time. A true Puppy Mill would have a difficult time housing hundreds of dogs in the house. So it is necessary to visit the premises of the breeder to see how the dogs are treated and how the puppies are raised. It is important to see the dam and the sire. One can not do this when purchasing a puppy from a Pet Store.

Registration:

The American Kennel Club (AKC) is one of the oldest registries in the country. It now requires all frequently bred stud dogs to be DNA-tested. However, as mentioned above, fraudulent pedigrees are rampant within the AKC and puppy mills. Unfortunately, the AKC pedigree does not ensure that the dogs are healthy or pure bred.