How do you justify buying from a breeder instead of rescuing a mutt?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't justify it. Why do I need to justify it? DH and kids wanted a golden, I didn't want a dog. As a matter of fact, they never even thought about a rescue. Now, I am stuck with the lovely, well behaved, adorable yellow bear and he is 100% my dog. Heck, he only listens to me. I don't have some savior or high moral ground complex and clearly nor does my DH. I used to drive a Suburban too. And I live in a house, not a condo, so wasteful too. And I eat meat, but also plants, and I feed my dog pork chops sometimes. And I feed deer, and give money to beggars, and donate cars to charities, and donate ton of stuff to used store that is a charity for animals. You do you honey, and find a job or a hobby.

There are nice golden retriever breed specific rescues, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1 word:

Pitbulls.

It is hard to trust shelters who try to pass off obvious pitbulls or pitbull mixes as "mixes", "labs", "lab mixes" "terrier mix"

Avoiding a pitbull in the bloodline makes a breeder super appealing.

I used to be pro mutt back in the day, but with the number of rescued pitbulls appearing in my child filled, suburban neighborhood has made me very anti rescue.

I suspect your antipathy towards mutts increased along with your income.

No.

It increases every time a child is mauled or killed by a gentle family pitbull nanny dog.

This does happen, despite a skeptical PP.

In the last neighborhood I lived in, a family's pit bull got loose, bit several people and ran around loose. It couldn't be caught. Police helicopters were called in to help track it and the dog was gunned down on the sidewalk. Literally. Three doors from my house.

This was at like 7 am so the helicopters and megaphones warning me to stay in my house woke me up (I had no kids at the time, now that would be not so early). I was terrified, especially because I was home alone at the time. I thought there was a serial killer on the loose.

The people bitten were not seriously injured but I would never consider such a dog, not just because of such an experience, but yes, attacks happen. And this event didn't make the news, so I'm guessing for every mauling that did there are tens or hundreds more cases like this one or perhaps even worse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Apparently no one is allowed to post any opinions against buying from a breeder on the labradoodle thread, so I'm starting a new thread here. I'm seriously interested in hearing how anyone can justify buying a designer dog when so many beautiful dogs are available for adoption in shelters. How do you sleep at night?

This is like asking how someone can justify having their own children when so many are waiting to be adopted.

This is such a lazy analogy. By having children you’re not encouraging others to have children. By buying from a breeder, you are encouraging breeders to create more dogs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Apparently no one is allowed to post any opinions against buying from a breeder on the labradoodle thread, so I'm starting a new thread here. I'm seriously interested in hearing how anyone can justify buying a designer dog when so many beautiful dogs are available for adoption in shelters. How do you sleep at night?

This is like asking how someone can justify having their own children when so many are waiting to be adopted.

This is such a lazy analogy. By having children you’re not encouraging others to have children. By buying from a breeder, you are encouraging breeders to create more dogs.

And doesn’t the same thing happen when rescues buy dogs at auction? Why doesn’t that bother you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Apparently no one is allowed to post any opinions against buying from a breeder on the labradoodle thread, so I'm starting a new thread here. I'm seriously interested in hearing how anyone can justify buying a designer dog when so many beautiful dogs are available for adoption in shelters. How do you sleep at night?

This is like asking how someone can justify having their own children when so many are waiting to be adopted.

This is such a lazy analogy. By having children you’re not encouraging others to have children. By buying from a breeder, you are encouraging breeders to create more dogs.

Responsible breeders aren’t the problem. Not buying from breeders does nothing to stop puppy mills and irresponsible owners. That’s where your problem is and where your efforts should be focused.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because I want a dog that is as guaranteed as possible to have the kind of temperment that I want. I'm not adopting a dog to rescue a dog, but to have a dog. Sorry!

+1

I'm also a democrat and I think the connection to politics here is ridiculous.

I also personally resent irresponsible people who don't spay or neuter dogs. There should not be a need to rescue dogs. It is not my job to change my life and personally rescue such a dog just as it is not my personal obligation to foster a child when there are children who need homes even though I feel terrible for those children (especially) and to the reasonable extent considering they are dogs, dogs. The people on this pet board can be truly insane in their lack of perspective sometimes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Apparently no one is allowed to post any opinions against buying from a breeder on the labradoodle thread, so I'm starting a new thread here. I'm seriously interested in hearing how anyone can justify buying a designer dog when so many beautiful dogs are available for adoption in shelters. How do you sleep at night?

This is like asking how someone can justify having their own children when so many are waiting to be adopted.

Seriously. If I'm going to lose sleep over something, it will be kids that need a "forever home", not dogs that need one. (And I really, really love dogs.)

I do find it really irritating that I am expected to rescue a dog to support the bad habits of lots of people that should know better and yet refuse to neuter/spay their pets. I would, however, support donating money towards a program that provides free spay/neuter for people in the South (which is where almost all these dogs come from), and also would support laws that give you a discount on pet licenses for spayed/neutered dogs, or other regulatory efforts that would incentivize spaying and neutering pets. As it is, the current social pressure to rescue dogs enables two groups of people that I have no desire to enable: 1) people who let their dogs roam around without bothering to fix them (most of whom do not live in my neck of the woods); and 2) puppy mills that dump their excess product on rescue organizations.

Decent people that need to rehome a pet fro a good reason (like military families that get posted abroad, or families where there's a medical issue that prevents them from keeping the pet) can almost always re-home their pet through neighrborhood or social circles.

Yet another bs argument. I assume you’re against food stamps because they encourage poor people to have kids?

It’s not the kids’ fault and it’s not the dogs’ fault. Punish the parents, not the offspring.

[Anonymous]

Because when I tried to rescue a yorkie at age 19 no rescue would let me because I wasn’t 23 and didn’t live in a house with a yard. I lived in an apt. So, bought a yorkie from a breeder and have had her for 12 years this September.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because I want a dog that is as guaranteed as possible to have the kind of temperment that I want. I'm not adopting a dog to rescue a dog, but to have a dog. Sorry!

+1

I'm also a democrat and I think the connection to politics here is ridiculous.

I also personally resent irresponsible people who don't spay or neuter dogs. There should not be a need to rescue dogs. It is not my job to change my life and personally rescue such a dog just as it is not my personal obligation to foster a child when there are children who need homes even though I feel terrible for those children (especially) and to the reasonable extent considering they are dogs, dogs. The people on this pet board can be truly insane in their lack of perspective sometimes.

You sound like a Republican to me. Sorry. You ain’t no Democrat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because when I tried to rescue a yorkie at age 19 no rescue would let me because I wasn’t 23 and didn’t live in a house with a yard. I lived in an apt. So, bought a yorkie from a breeder and have had her for 12 years this September.

You didn’t need a Yorkie.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because when I tried to rescue a yorkie at age 19 no rescue would let me because I wasn’t 23 and didn’t live in a house with a yard. I lived in an apt. So, bought a yorkie from a breeder and have had her for 12 years this September.

You didn’t need a Yorkie.

Who are you to decide what anyone needs?

[Anonymous]

I’ll admit I was scared to get a shelter dog. But when I found my 6 month old mutt at a shelter, it was obviously his temperament was gentle and friendly. We did the DNA test and he’s 25% Pit Bull. He’s the most social, friendly dog on the planet.

Got him after our designer Goldendoodle turned out to resource guard and we were told by a well known training facility in the area to return to the breeder due to its aggressive personality.

Lesson learned the hard way, but a happy ending.

[Anonymous]

I rescued my dog, and my husband rescued his. We had to rehome his dog after years of struggling and working with a trainer because the dog developed a terrible phobia and tore apart the house/hurt himself every day...when the mailman drove by. He now lives out in a very rural area with our friends, after years of heartache. My dog is medicated for anxiety and can’t be trusted with anyone but me. I have two small children. I love my dog and am devoted to him. He changed my life for the better. When we are ready for another dog, I will be getting a dog that is more family friendly. And it might come from a breeder. And I do not feel badly. Rescues are great but dogs that have not been socialized are unpredictable, period. My dog was relatively normal when I adopted him, but he is barely functioning 10 years later. It is what it is. People have different needs at different times in their lives and should not be shamed for it. Once my children are grown, I will go back to rescues.

[Anonymous]

And p.s. Reputable breeders do amazing things for their breeds. Breeds have individual heritages that are pretty cool and interesting. It is true that most people don’t educate themselves and buy from backyard breeders who can SEEM reputable. But true hobby breeders, who show and are involved with their breed are invaluable resources.

And I hate when people mention breed specific rescues. The golden retriever rescues in my area have almost zero dogs available, and refuse to adopt out to families with small kids. This is quite common.

[Anonymous]

Puppies are unavailable from shelters where we live. Adult dogs that have been surrendered often come with behavior problems that I'm not willing to risk with small children around. It's very easy to train a puppy. An older dog that might have been neglected or abused? Not so much.

I served on the board of the Humane Society for years so I'm pretty well informed.