The Argument Against Pet Stores

We mentioned the other day that at Thompson Park Day we bumped into a very sweet baby newf named Maximus. His owner told our mama and papa that he had 'rescued' him from a pet store where he had been kept in a cage too small for him, and not properly cared for or exercised. He said their eyes met and he couldn't leave him there.

We understand. For Maximus that moment was the beginning of his life, and believe us, if our mama had been there it's a toss up about whether or not she too would have been bringing home a new baby.

But 'rescuing' Maximus gave that pet store money. Money the pet store will use to purchase more puppies from puppy mills where dogs that have no business being bred are kept in even worse conditions than those of the pet store, and forced to give birth over and over and over again to puppies who will be sent to fill the cage that Maximus escaped from. In rescuing one, his owner supported a system that will doom millions more.

Our mama and papa recently went to Spain. They were told there that the government had just passed laws against pet stores to protect the animals, like in France where prospective owners are shown pictures of puppies they can purchase, but do not see the actual dog when they go to a shop. It prevents impulse buying, which helps cut down on the demand for puppies, which helps prevent puppy milling, AND in preventing impulse buying it helps give the puppy a chance for a home that REALLY wants and is ready for a puppy - cutting down on the number of puppies given to rescue. It's not an ideal solution, but it is a start.

But, quite apart from the appalling conditions of puppy mills and the squalid life that puppy store puppies experience there are other reasons to avoid getting a puppy from a pet store.

1. No Help From Pet Store: We can't tell you how often our mama talks to our breeder Evelyn. She sends her emails all the time, asking her about some odd personality trait or for dieting tips for me...exercise tips, coat care tips...she says there is no replacement for knowing our lineage, and for having someone be available who can say, "oh, he sounds JUST like his mother...STUBBORN" and then offers advice. And for the record I, Nanook, am NOT stubborn. I just like things my way. Ahem.

2. Potty Training: How do you crate train a puppy that has been TRAINED to defecate in a crate? Potty Training most pet store puppies is a much more complicated affair than training a puppy who has been raised by a breeder in a healthy, open environment. Of course every dog is different, but getting a breeder-bred puppy definitely gives one a leg up in the potty training department. Pooka only took about a week to be potty trained!!! He learned to ring the potty bells hanging on the doorknob the very first night he was home. I'm not trying to brag but I totally taught him everything he knows.

3. Disease: Any time a large number of any sort of creature is kept in close proximity to one another, diseases are likely to spread. Many pet store puppies come home with some variation of kennel cough or other ailment. Now, ANY dog can get sick no matter where they come from - Pooka had kennel cough when he was a puppy - one of the girls came home from a show and the kennel caught it. The difference between a pet store puppy and a breeder-bred puppy is that Pooka and his siblings were treated and cured of it before they were sent home, and all the puppy owners were told that it had happened. Knowing he had been sick as a puppy enabled our mama and papa to make choices for Pooka's early care and vaccination schedule. He came home a healthy, roly-poly puppy and he stayed that way!

4. Hereditary Issues: Many pet stores offer health guarantees on their puppies that they cannot back up. Puppy Millers just don't do the legwork that a reputable breeder will do on their breeding stock. If they did, they wouldn't be making much money, (like most breeders who do it for the love of the breed and not for monetary gain).

Go to a pet store and ask the owner if you can see the OFA results on the hips and elbows of a German Shepherd puppy's dam and sire and see what response you get. Ask for the cardiac screening results of a newf puppy's parents or for the Cystinuria profile of both dam and sire. *rolls eyes* A good, knowledgeable breeder of any breed of dog will be aware of the hereditary diseases inherent in their breed, and will screen their breeding animals for those problems. They won't breed animals who are affected by a hereditary disease, which helps remove the disease from the breed.


It seems to us that there are two reasons why people go to pet stores - the convenience, and the cost.

For the first, we have no argument - it is true that if you decide to get a puppy from a breeder you may have to wait months or in some cases years although many of the breed clubs now are organizing 'litters on the ground' lists that enable them to provide interested parties with the names and contact information of all breeders belonging to the national club that have puppies available at that time. While it goes against many of the things that the breed clubs believe in, (a wait for a litter helps ensure that the interested potential owner is really serious about owning a puppy and being vetted by the breeder will make sure that the new owner has done the research necessary to determine that this breed is a good fit for their family), they consider this to be a better option than pet stores and puppy millers and they are right.

If anyone reading this right now is looking for a newf puppy, please send an email to the NCA Breeder Referral Contact at: Newlitter@newfdogclub.org

For the second, we have the oldest argument in the world. You get what you pay for. We don't know how much Maximus' new papa gave the pet store. We didn't ask. We do know that most reputable breeders charge between $1500 and $2500 for a newf puppy of good breeding and lineage, and while that is a considerable amount of money, it is a pittance when compared to how much it costs to do a hip replacement or shockwave and/or percutaneous nephrolithotripsy treatments to remove stones from a cystinuria-affected dog. We don't know what health concerns Maximus might develop in the future, and how much the vet bills will cost his new papa. But the chances of him developing a serious health complication are much higher than they are for a newf that comes from parents who have passed their health clearances. There is NO WAY, for example, that either Pooka or I can develop cystinuria. The disease requires that both parents be either affected or carriers and our breeder will not breed two affected dogs. We're pretty sure puppy millers don't even bother to do the tests.

Our final argument is presented in photograph form. Maximus is a very cute puppy, but he did not look like a typical newf. His head was shaped like a Labrador's, with a very narrow muzzle and a very gradual stop, and very shallow flews. His feet were very small, and his bones very light. His papa at one point when they first walked up said, "that's what you're going to look like when you grow up!" to Maximus, while pointing at Pooka.

Our mama laughed and said Pooka was still a baby, and then asked how old Maximus was. Here is a picture of Maximus and Pooka together. Pooka is the one with the white stripe down his back, (he was a skunk in the halloween parade). Please excuse Pooka's crazy stance - he is not cow-hocked, he was just standing funny.

It turns out, they are exactly the same age.

We very much hope that Maximus turns out to be healthy as a horse, and that his new papa doesn't mind that he will probably be a smaller newf. His papa was very surprised that Maximus and Pooka were the same age - it might have been the first time he realized that he hadn't gotten a newf that fit the standard completely. Our mama tried to make him feel better by pointing out that thanks to the lab-style head, Maximus wouldn't drool that much when he got older. But we hope the contrast between these two 7 month old newf puppies illustrates the very clear difference between dogs obtained from pet stores, and dogs obtained from a breeder.