Monday, Monday!

Good Monday morning all. I had a pretty uneventful weekend, my dogs are past out on the bed from their trail running and I'm ready to start a new week. As you know I've been thinking about adding another dog to my pack so I've been online reasearching like crazy which leads me to sites that I'm going to discuss this morning. These sites that I ended up on are breeder sites, standard poodles breeder sites to be exact. And I am appauled by what I saw and read.

There are a few tip offs that let you know right away that you should move on. 1. When a puppy is posed in the cutest of positions surrounded by an adorable background like teddy bears, soft baby blankets etc. 2. "We have all colors availablel at all times." 3. Numerous litters to choose from and 4. Just pick the puppy you want and we'll ship it to you.

All of these things should cause you to click on the X but it doesn't, these hard sell tactics work. I know because I have worked with many dogs that come from these types of sites and had to sit helplessly while these people dealt with really bad fallout behaviors and sickly puppies. Most of these breeders wouldn't class themselves as "millers" heavens no, but that's what they are. It doesn't matter what size of a miller you are if you are producing dogs strictly for money, that's what you are.

I stumbled onto a site that really hit home just how bad the "pump out the puppies" lifestyle is and how it is growing. This one site said that they had too many dogs, they weren't stopping completely just thinning. Thinning? They did not disclose how many females they had but wanted to get rid of lots of them and the kicker? THEY DIDN'T CARE WHICH ONES WENT OR WHICH ONES STAYED! How sad is that? The statement alone says "we breed dogs," that's it, that's all. We don't particularly care for any one of them more than the others.

People, please do not buy from these type of sites. There are so many good breeders out there to go to. Yes you may have to wait to get your puppy but it will be well worth the wait. I like small breeders, I know there are good large breeders out there concerned with health and temperament but if you have grown so big that your many of your dogs now must live in dog runs then you have too many dogs in my eyes. I want to know that my breeder loves their dogs and the dogs live in the house as family members.

Puppies should not be chosen online because they have that cute spot on their ear. A puppy should be chosen after being temperament tested and knowing that this puppy is the best suited for your family and lifestyle. No matter if it is a purebred dog or a mix, each puppy is an individual and not all puppies will mesh with your family.

So do your homework, don't be taken in by cute images on the web.