How I almost got a mill puppy

[eiksaa]

I know I have told you guys this story in some form in various threads, but wanted to share my experience here in detail. I hope this is useful for members looking for a puppy.

The husband and I had been talking for months about getting a puppy. Then, when my husband was away for a month and I had nothing to do, I started looking into places to get puppies. My first target was Yelp, as it usually is for anything. My search was for, 'Pet Stores' in Los Angeles. I was very surprised to find most pet stores DON'T infact sell puppies. This was very surprising to me at that time. Finally, I found a store that sold puppies. I also saw they had really, really bad reviews. When I read the reviews most of them said, "Pet store puppies come from mills, these guys are bad" etc. I rationalized I am not gonna listen to these hippie dippie people and went to the store anyway.

And boy was I happy. They had so many puppies in there, all so cute. I chose a maltipoo and they put him in a small room where I could play with him. I was in love! He was the cutest puppy ever. I even chose a name for him, "Suvé". I put a deposit because my husband wasn't back yet and I know I couldn't take care of the puppy by myself. Then I went back home and started researching raising puppies obsessively. While I was doing that I ended up reading more about puppy mills. That's when I realized what an idiot I was for ignoring the Yelp reviews. So I went back to the store and asked for my money back. Well no surprise they didn't return me my money. And what's even worse, I knew Suvé would probably be euthanized now if no one bought him soon. That was definitely the hardest part about this. But I tried to forget about it.

Next I googled 'breeders' and found this one 'family owned pet store'. Now this place had better Yelp reviews so I decided to go visit them. This place had about 20 puppies, maltese and yorkies. Cuteness overload! I even picked a puppy I wanted. He was the cutest pup ever. White little ball of fluff, very feisty, wanted to push all the puppies from my lap to make space for himself. The owners clicked a lot of pics for me and I put a deposit on him again! Thankfully, my husband still wasn't back so I couldn't bring the puppy home yet.

Then I came home and started doing maltese specific research. That's when I found Spoiled Maltese. I read a post about how no reputable breeder would let a puppy go before 12 weeks. My puppy was 8 weeks old. This rang a bell. I spent the next few hours reading up about quality breeders and realized my puppy's breeder was a BYB! I think this was the hardest decision to make. I called my husband and talked to him and we decided to not get this puppy. Luckily, these people returned me 50% of my deposit. Still, I was heartbroken about not getting my puppy.

Thanks to Spoiled Maltese, I ended up finding a great breeder and that's where Gustave came from. But it does make me frustrated when I hear people use lame excuses to get puppy mill/BYB puppies even after finding out the truth —

Money: I am not rich, I lost a lot of money but I realized I could think about my money now and spend even more in medical bills later. That wasn't even an issue though. I work really hard to earn money. There is no way I am funding animal cruelty with my hard earned money. That is my biggest objection.

Getting attached to the puppy: Don't even get me started on this. I still think about both those puppies. I know how hard it is. But saving yourself heartache is not a good excuse to put animals through horrible conditions at puppymills. How can you love one dog if you are supporting cruelty to thousands?

Saving a puppy: No, no one becomes a hero by saving one pup at the cost of many, many other pups living life in ****. You're not a hero, just a disillusioned human being, move on.

I know you guys know all this. Yet, whenever we tell new members about perils of getting a pet store puppy I have often heard the argument, "Well, you wouldn't know!" which is why I wanted to post my story. I do know! I know how hard it is. It is still a lot easier than the alternative. The right thing might be hard to do at that moment, but you will never regret it in the long term .

[Ladysmom]

Thank you so much for sharing your story. Thank you also for having the strength to walk away from not one, but two, pet shop mill puppies. Only when everyone is able to do that will puppy mills shut down for good.

[Snowbody]

Originally Posted by eiksaa

I know I have told you guys this story in some form in various threads, but wanted to share my experience here in detail. I hope this is useful for members looking for a puppy.

The husband and I had been talking for months about getting a puppy. Then, when my husband was away for a month and I had nothing to do, I started looking into places to get puppies. My first target was Yelp, as it usually is for anything. My search was for, 'Pet Stores' in Los Angeles. I was very surprised to find most pet stores DON'T infact sell puppies. This was very surprising to me at that time. Finally, I found a store that sold puppies. I also saw they had really, really bad reviews. When I read the reviews most of them said, "Pet store puppies come from mills, these guys are bad" etc. I rationalized I am not gonna listen to these hippie dippie people and went to the store anyway.

And boy was I happy. They had so many puppies in there, all so cute. I chose a maltipoo and they put him in a small room where I could play with him. I was in love! He was the cutest puppy ever. I even chose a name for him, "Suvé". I put a deposit because my husband wasn't back yet and I know I couldn't take care of the puppy by myself. Then I went back home and started researching raising puppies obsessively. While I was doing that I ended up reading more about puppy mills. That's when I realized what an idiot I was for ignoring the Yelp reviews. So I went back to the store and asked for my money back. Well no surprise they didn't return me my money. And what's even worse, I knew Suvé would probably be euthanized now if no one bought him soon. That was definitely the hardest part about this. But I tried to forget about it.

Next I googled 'breeders' and found this one 'family owned pet store'. Now this place had better Yelp reviews so I decided to go visit them. This place had about 20 puppies, maltese and yorkies. Cuteness overload! I even picked a puppy I wanted. He was the cutest pup ever. White little ball of fluff, very feisty, wanted to push all the puppies from my lap to make space for himself. The owners clicked a lot of pics for me and I put a deposit on him again! Thankfully, my husband still wasn't back so I couldn't bring the puppy home yet.

Then I came home and started doing maltese specific research. That's when I found Spoiled Maltese. I read a post about how no reputable breeder would let a puppy go before 12 weeks. My puppy was 8 weeks old. This rang a bell. I spent the next few hours reading up about quality breeders and realized my puppy's breeder was a BYB! I think this was the hardest decision to make. I called my husband and talked to him and we decided to not get this puppy. Luckily, these people returned me 50% of my deposit. Still, I was heartbroken about not getting my puppy.

Thanks to Spoiled Maltese, I ended up finding a great breeder and that's where Gustave came from. But it does make me frustrated when I hear people use lame excuses to get puppy mill/BYB puppies even after finding out the truth —

Money: I am not rich, I lost a lot of money but I realized I could think about my money now and spend even more in medical bills later. That wasn't even an issue though. I work really hard to earn money. There is no way I am funding animal cruelty with my hard earned money. That is my biggest objection.

Getting attached to the puppy: Don't even get me started on this. I still think about both those puppies. I know how hard it is. But saving yourself heartache is not a good excuse to put animals through horrible conditions at puppymills. How can you love one dog if you are supporting cruelty to thousands?

Saving a puppy: No, no one becomes a hero by saving one pup at the cost of many, many other pups living life in ****. You're not a hero, just a disillusioned human being, move on.

I know you guys know all this. Yet, whenever we tell new members about perils of getting a pet store puppy I have often heard the argument, "Well, you wouldn't know!" which is why I wanted to post my story. I do know! I know how hard it is. It is still a lot easier than the alternative. The right thing might be hard to do at that moment, but you will never regret it in the long term .

[Sylie]

Of course it is very hard, especially thinking that the puppy might be cast off to a shelter...however, the ONLY way to stop puppy mills and ruthless BYBs is to NOT buy dogs from them. People have said that the government should put an end to puppy mills, but this is capitalism and money rules. Everyone who thinks they are an exception is, in truth, a part of the problem. Pet stores are still in business because people "fall in love" with puppies. On the other hand, there are fewer and fewer pet stores that sell live animals. There is not one within 40 miles of me...good!

[pippersmom]

When I got Pipper I only knew not to buy from a pet store. He came from a lady who owned both parents and had 3 puppies in the litter, I had never even heard of BYB's. I thought this was where you got puppies from unless you wanted to "show" your dog. Now since I joined this forum I know about reputable breeders and I worry and pray every day that I will be lucky and Pipper will stay healthy. It just about kills me to think that one day he might not be healthy. He is my whole world and I hate to always have to worry about this.

[StevieB]

Originally Posted by eiksaa

Money: I am not rich, I lost a lot of money but I realized I could think about my money now and spend even more in medical bills later. That wasn't even an issue though. I work really hard to earn money. There is no way I am funding animal cruelty with my hard earned money. That is my biggest objection.

Amen girl, this is the biggest issue for me too. We talk a lot about how these mill pups are unhealthy and all that, and the truth is statistically they probably are. But we all know a mill/BYB puppy is not guaranteed to be unhealthy any more than a show breeder puppy is guaranteed to be healthy (not talking about the health guarantee). But when purchasing from a puppy mill, you are lining the pockets of people who don't give a flying flip about animals. That's obvious because if they did there's no way would they subject them to the conditions they do. Why in the world would someone knowingly support that. Looking into your sweet spoiled dog's face knowing its parents are living outside in a cage in their own excrement, eating crappy food, never receiving loving kindness from humans and never being seen by a vet. BYBs are another story because undoubtedly many of them do love their dogs, but I think in many cases the dogs they are breeding originated from a puppy mill. So you just don't know what you're going to get looks/health/temperament wise because there's no history.

Anyway, I commend you for walking away, I know that was hard!

[LuvMyBoys]

Thank you for sharing your story. Doing the right thing isn't always easy. We don't know what we don't know and you have just helped educate others about a truly horrible situation. I hope others will find this in an internet search and learn.

[CloudClan]

Thank you so much for sharing your story. I agree that the most important factor in finding a good breeder is making sure that we do not support breeders (greeders) who would mistreat or misuse our beloved dogs. Having fostered dogs who had been kept in cages all their lives as Mill dogs until they were 10 years old, this is my most passionate reason for wishing everyone would do their research before buying a dog. Our dogs and their parents deserve to be loved and well cared for. I am so glad you found SM and the wonderful people here. And I am thrilled you found a beautiful little Maltese.

[Sylie]

Originally Posted by pippersmom

When I got Pipper I only knew not to buy from a pet store. He came from a lady who owned both parents and had 3 puppies in the litter, I had never even heard of BYB's. I thought this was where you got puppies from unless you wanted to "show" your dog. Now since I joined this forum I know about reputable breeders and I worry and pray every day that I will be lucky and Pipper will stay healthy. It just about kills me to think that one day he might not be healthy. He is my whole world and I hate to always have to worry about this.

Honestly, I think we should have another classification for home/pet breeders. It just isn't the same as a puppy mill, and I know there are byb who are simply small puppy mills. They may have six or so dogs, who live outdoors in cages and are only held to breed. I think that is so much worse than people breeding their pets in a loving environment. I got my Bichons from such people, and they were healthy, happy, lived a long life and looked as correct to breed standard as MiMi does. In my mind the main reason we would like people to stop breeding their pets is because there are so many unwanted dogs in shelters, that the time has come to leave breeding to persons with a wealth of knowlegde who want to promote their beloved breed and contribute the betterment of the breed...if that is even possible. (improve perfection?)

Jeese...when I was a kid people didn't even have the option to spay or neuter. They tried to keep their girls safe at that time, but often the neighbor dog sneaked in. We had a minnie pinnie in the early fifties. The "terrior" next door nabbed her and she had two puppies. They were really cute and were placed with close friends. Times have changed, we need to stay abreast of change.

[TLR]

Great post, thanks for sharing. I have to admit I was lucky when I got Ben. I really didn't know about pet stores and puppy mills, but I knew I wanted a Maltese. Thankfully my search lead me to SM where I read hundreds of post and gained some much needed education. Thanks to all the members such as yourself who have shared their knowledge and impacted many new owners in their search.