This is one of the best articles I've read on why not to buy a pet store puppy:
Little Shop of Horrors
Time after time, people who care about dogs will try to convince you not to buy your puppy (or supplies) from a pet shop which sells puppies.
They'll tell of the horrible conditions
in which the dogs are bred.
They'll show you pictures of the cramped, filthy pens in which the breeding stock is housed.
You'll be shocked and you'll be horrified.
But you'll forget all that when you see that little bundle of love wagging it's tail at you through the glass and begging you to take it home. A quick pass of the credit card, and you're walking out the door a dog owner.
No waiting
No travel
No pesky contracts
No spay/neuter agreements
No probing questions about you and your family to find out whether this is the right breed for you.
No problems.
Don't kid yourself, there will be problems. Forget the horrible conditions that this puppy came into when he entered this world. Forget that you're buying a complete mystery puppy. Sure, the breed standard for the breed says it's a calm, gentle family dog, but the owner of the puppy mill who produced your little bundle of love has probably never seen the breed standard, let alone bred to achieve it.
Puppies will grow up to be
like their parents.
Many a family has bought a darling little Cocker Spaniel puppy at the pet store only to have it grow into a psychotic, screaming, urinating, biting terror. Cocker Spaniels are a wonderful breed, especially suited to families, when purchased from a reputable breeder. Cocker Spaniels are notoriously awful dogs when purchased from pet stores and poor breeders. This is true not only of Cocker Spaniels, but many, many other popular breeds.
Puppies will grow up to be
like their parents.
Repeat this to yourself as you walk through the mall and past the pet store. Make it your mantra. That puppy in the window has parents living in cages hundreds of miles away.
You have no idea whether the sire is an aggressive terror .
You have no idea whether the dam is a timid, nervous fear biter.
You have no idea what genetic time bomb is ticking inside that cute little bundle of fur.
Like playing the lottery? That's exactly what you're doing when you buy a puppy from a pet shop. However, when you don't win in the lottery, you throw your ticket away. What will you do with a sick, ill-tempered member of your family if you don't get lucky and pick a winner?
Of course there are sweet natured, wonderful dogs who end up in the hands of puppy millers. These incredible dogs produce sweet natured, wonderful puppies despite the deplorable conditions in which they survive.
Your problem, should you decide to buy from a pet store, is there is no way of knowing whether the puppy in the window is the product of a sweet, wonderful dog or a psychotic, screaming, urinating, biting terror.
Feeling lucky? Go buy a lottery ticket. Don't buy a puppy from a pet store.
Puppies will grow up to be
like their parents.
Even if your locally owned pet store gets their puppies from local breeders, beware. Again, you can't meet the sire and dam of the litter and one must question the ethics of a breeder who will sell their puppies to someone they never have nor ever will meet. Ask the local pet store what their guarantee is. You'll find answers ranging from "48 hours" to "none". Remember, many diseases don't show up for years. The only acceptable answer is "a lifetime guarantee against genetic defects". Get it in writing.
Puppies will grow up to be
like their parents.
One day I overheard a teenager who works nights and weekends at a local pet store was telling a family with very small children how wonderful Chihuahuas (the Taco Bell Dog) are with children. Unfortunately, they aren't. This pimply faced teen then turned to another family and offered his "expert" advice on another breed. I do not question the young man's love of animals. I am sure he is a first class animal lover. However, based upon the advice I heard him dispense that evening, he is far from an expert on any breed of dog.
A breeder of Cocker Spaniels may not be a great source of information about Irish Wolfhounds. If you want information about Chihuahuas, ask a Chihuahua breeder. Heck, ask SEVERAL!
Do your own research. The internet is a great place to start. Find the experts in the breed you want to consider. Ask them questions. Remember, breeders are human too. Some know more than others. Some think they know more than they do. If you talk to four or five different breeders, you should hear the same answers over and over again. If four breeders tell you their breed is not suited for children and then a fifth tells you differently, don't assume the other four are "lying".
You can't do research standing in the middle of a mall. Get out, get home and you'll find......
Puppies will grow up to be
like their parents.
Even puppy mill puppies who are whisked away from their mother at 4-6 weeks in order to get them into the store window at 8 weeks of age will be like their parents. Keep in mind, puppies learn many lessons in their "native tongue" from their mother and littermates from 4-8 weeks of age. These are lessons which will enable your puppy to fit in with a human family and can not be taught later in life. Puppies not so instructed almost never adjust properly to life. In order for your 8 week old puppy to make it to the mall, it is a certainty that his lessons were cut short and he will suffer for it.
Puppies will grow up to be
like their parents.
All puppies carry all the genetic material passed on by their parents. If both parents suffered from PRA or hip dysplasia, your little puppy probably will too. (Be sure you have plenty of equity in your home if your puppy grows up to have either of these diseases. You'll need to tap it to pay vet bills.) However, it's possible your puppy will have problems neither parent has. Like a hemophilia, a disease that must be passed on by both human parents to exhibit symptoms, dogs are also affected by a myriad of health problems not exhibited but carried by either the sire or dam of a litter. Only careful screening of breeding stock and selective breeding will result in uniformly healthy puppies.
Puppies will grow up to be
like their parents.
Your pet store puppy may not be the purebred he/she was advertised to be. If the puppy's parents aren't purebreds, then he won't be either. Even if the puppy has it's AKC papers, that is still no guarantee both parents were purebred.
The AKC is just a registry and nothing more, which does not exercise any judgment over the quality of the dogs it registers. To have any dog judged against the breed standard, one must enter the dog into an AKC conformation event.
Since the AKC is only a registry (and a huge one at that), having a litter of AKC registered puppies requires only two things: ethics plus the ability to do paperwork and operate a mail box. Amazingly enough, the AKC operates on an honor system. This is where the ethics part comes into play. The AKC assumes that the breeder actually saw the two AKC registered purebred dogs consummate the act and that those dogs are actually the dogs whose names appear on the AKC papers.
Unfortunately, breeders whose focus is entirely on profit usually have few reservations about misrepresenting a litter's parentage to the AKC. When a puppy mill's Rottweiler stud dies, they merely substitute another dog who looks like a Rottweiler. Only if they get "caught" will the puppy miller be unable to register their litters with the AKC.
While the possibility of getting "caught" is slim, even if lightning does strike, there are plenty of other registries around. There are actually registries where it isn't even required that both parents to be of the same "breed". One well known registry will register a dog on the basis of a photograph alone.
Puppies will grow up to be
like their parents.
When you purchase a puppy from a pet store, your odds are roughly the same as if you picked up a puppy from the local shelter of getting a quality dog that will fit in with your family. However, you'll pay a lot less for the shelter puppy and the shelter also offers adult dogs, about whom temperament, size and personality are all offered as a matter of fact and not educated guessing.
If you're going to take a gamble on a puppy, take it on one that will be put down if it's not adopted.
Take a chance on a puppy that will not encourage a puppy miller or poor breeder to breed yet another litter to foist upon and unsuspecting family that hasn't visited this page.
If you're going to take a chance, take a chance on a puppy or dog from the local shelter. It's cheaper and a life depends upon it.