Miniature Pinscher
There is one obvious reason to work with a breeder rather than adopt – to get a PUPPY of the breed of your choice. If you are focused on a breed but are open-minded about the age of the dog, consider rescue. Don’t forget, rescues sometimes have puppies too.
Rescuing a dog is “the right thing to do” on many levels – for you, for the dog, for society. There are staggering amounts of dogs put down every day; it will take a long time for us to catch up with this problem.
But… having said that, think of the bigger picture, too. Let’s say we do catch up with all of these rescues in the next 100 years. (Hopefully the next 10!) True story: on March 31, 2012, the Bangor, Maine Humane Society ran out of adoptable animals and closed early! WOW, nice job, folks! There was no shortage of animals; rather, a surplus of adopters (90 applicants in one day) after a huge PR effort. Nothing short of fantastic!
So, let’s imagine, the available dogs all get adopted, and they are all spayed and neutered. Well… I hope we still have some good breeders around at that point! I don’t personally care if dogs are purebred or not, but I do care that good dogs continue to be born and raised responsibly to share the world with us!
So, let’s support the good breeders out there, who also work tirelessly for the good of dogs. And let’s NOT support the others (commonly referred to as puppy mills) who neglect their animals and even kill those that don’t get purchased in puppyhood.
We put together a couple of pieces about selecting, and dealing with, a good breeder.
