How much is that doggy in the window?

Back in April, I wrote a post about babysitting a dog named Wrigley and my wife's and my own excitement about getting a puppy.

In the past couple months we've done a lot of research and learned a lot about how to get a puppy. Now purchasing a dog isn’t like picking a shirt out at the Gap. Getting a dog is a long-term investment of time and money that warrants much consideration and research. One of the most important things I've learned is that where you get your dog has significant effects that go beyond the quality of life of the dog.

There’s a couple different ways to acquire a dog. Shelters across America are an excellent way to get a pet. Many have depressing images of shelters with animals crammed in small cages who are not well cared for but that is necessarily the reality. My wife recently visited PAWS Chicago to help a friend pick out a cat.

Diana and her friend had the opportunity to play with cats in clean rooms with plenty of windows providing natural light. They found the people working there friendly and genuinely concerned about the animals.

Another place that people often get puppies is from pet stores. Pet stores get puppies two different ways, from breeders or from puppy mills. Our favorite pet store is called Thee Fish Bowl. They usually have about five or six dogs from sale that they get from local breeders. The puppies in the store are happy and well-cared for and the staff is knowledgeable and don't seem to mind that Diana goes in there on a weekly basis to play with the puppies.

I’ve heard from many different people that many pet stores get their dogs from puppy mills. I don’t know which stores get their dogs from puppy mills, but I do know that puppy mills exist. Puppy mills are commercial puppy breeding operations that produce puppies in substandard conditions. Puppies from puppy mills more often then not look cute but often develop health issues and because of a lack of proper socialization often are difficult pets. It’s important that when you go into a store and that you ask them where they get their dogs that they are able to give you the name of a breeder that you can call yourself and speak to about the conditions in which the dog is raised.

When Diana asked an employee at Thee Fish Bowl about the whether or not they would have any Shetland Sheepdog (Sheltie) any time soon, they told us that they wouldn’t but were happy to give us the name and contact information of a breeder that they have gotten Shelties from in the past. This is a great sign of a responsible store that is looking out for the best interest of not only the puppy but also the owner.

The way that many people get their dogs and the avenue that Diana and I decided to most vigorously pursue was getting a dog through a breeder. Diana’s late great aunt was a Sheltie and Collie breeder and provided dogs for Diana’s immediate and extended families. Great breeders, like Diana's great aunt, not only produce healthy dogs with great temperaments but contribute to the community as a whole raising the standard of ethics within the breeding community.

Unfortunately not all breeders are created equal. One of my co-workers in a recent trip to Michigan visited a Pomeranian breeder and found puppies crammed into a small pen in a basement of a house. These puppies were malnourished and their their fur was caked with feces. The disturbing part was that the woman who was showing these puppies didn’t seem to think anything was wrong with this. We have yet to encounter any breeders this immoral but this story shows that it is important to check on the way that breeders raise their puppies before buying a dog from them. I don't care how cute a dog may look, I would never give money to someone who was that cruel to their animals.

Diana and I have contacted breeders all over Illinois, Indiana and Ohio and have found many great breeders but only a few that have puppies that work in our time frame. I’m on summer break right now and we had some traveling to do in late June, so it makes the most sense to get our puppy in July. Things are beginning to pan out and the reality that we are actually going to get a puppy after months of talking about it is beginning to set in.

When we first began thinking about getting a dog, I though you just went into a store, picked the one that looked the most cute and you were set. Now I know that when you buy a puppy you are sending a message to the shelter, pet store or breeder that you support the way they treat their animals and the philosophy in which they run their business.

I'm not becoming an animals rights advocate any time soon but I do believe that people should be held to a standard in the way they treat animals. Far too often capitalistic gain is used to rationalize immoral behavior and it is our responsibility as consumers to vote with our dollar, support not only products that we believe in but also people behind the products.

We know that purchasing one puppy from a great breeders is not going to shut down a puppy mill. However, it's one vote, and every vote counts. And I'm sure getting the dog from someone that we believe in is going to make our dog that much easier to train to go get me a "beverage" from the refrigerator.