Well, today my wife and I, with kids in tow, went to a local pet shop. We ended up buying a Jack Russel/ Corgi mix. She's 8 weeks old, and her name is Angel. Awww...ain't she cute?
I wish my dog was that small
Ugh... pet shop dogs are usually bad news. Good luck with it though, looks like a sweet dog. Be prepared for super mega happy crazy energetic dog with that Jack Russel in there.
cute! i hate that word but it fits lol
It is so cute!
LOL. The litter she came from had only been there a day or two, so I don't think she had a chance to be corrupted.:D I think were ready for the hyper-dog, we had a pit bull, and a border collie before. The border collie was kibbles for brains. Hyper as fvck, dumb as a brick. Almost set our house on fire. :beatyoass: The pit was cool as hell, I miss her.
Agreed - pet stores are usually outlets for shoddy breeders and puppy mills. My brother's big into show dogs (bullmastiffs) and is always telling me that when I get a dog to stay away from pet stores. He needn't worry, though - a lab puppy at the pet store for $1000 is available at local breeders for $500, and the breeder's dogs will actually be CKC registered
wow...lot of money for a black lab when they're so common in pounds/shelters...
not knockin' the dealers/breeders, but there are a LOT of deserving dogs in the shelters that need a good caring home, while the breeders churn out the puppies as fast as they are born..
2 of the best 3 dogs i've had in the last 5 years came from a shelter.
But then again, a piece of paper telling the lineage of a dog isn't worth the ink printed on it to me.
One would be better off to get a dog from a private breeder than from a pet store/puppy mill. But even better is to give a home to a sad, lonely dog from a shelter.
The above is one of the things a woman should NEVAR say to a naked man.....
Cool Dog!
Well one thing to consider is some pure breds can had hereditary problems such as hip displasia or what have you. With mutts you don't tend to see it as much for some reason, and my vet also said this to be true. My first dog was sheppard, retreiver and lab mix, my current one is rottie and sheppard mix. Both I rescued by the way.
Actually, I fully agree 100% with the getting dogs from shelters thing.
BUT...
The Nova Scotia SPCA, which runs the shelters, has made it so ed hard to adopt an animal that it's just not worth it. You have to provide three references, photographs of your living area (house, apt, etc), if you rent you need written permission from your landlord - it's crazy. It's easier to get a ed driver's license. Then they charge an adoption fee (not sure what it is for dogs, but for cats it's somewhere near $80). I went through all that several years ago, shortly after I was in my car accident and had a relationship end and needed company, so I figured adopting a dog would be the way to go. I gave up halfway through the frustrating process and got a cat out of the paper instead.
Before anyone says it: My giving up was in no way an indication of my lack of commitment to getting a dog. It was an indication of my distaste for red tape. I had even written, and had published, a letter to the editor of the paper about the hypocracy of the SPCA, begging for people to adopt animals, then throwing up so many road blocks that people give up, so the animals get put to sleep. I didn't bother getting a dog afterwards because I moved back in with my parents, who had a brand new golden retriever puppy anyway.
As for breeders - I know, through my brother, several couples that breed dogs. I wouldn't get one from a stranger. I've even been offered free dogs from these breeders as a "Co-ownership" - I own the dog, but they retain breeding rights and show rights to the animal. I don't like that idea though - any dog I have will be altered, and with co-ownership you're not allowed to (can't breed a dog with no seeds).
Truthfully, I don't care about papers either, and if I could find a mutt that looked and acted like a lab I'd gladly take it. Labs are my favourite dogs because I grew up with them. I like other dogs too (love bullmastiffs, boxers, german shepherds, wiener dogs) but labs have a very large sentimental value to me.