Dog Shopping

[clloyd 0]

It's a matter of supply and demand.

[martinleach 0]

Plug time...

I'd also suggest looking at getting dogs from rescue organizations.

We do alot of work for a couple of Springer Spaniel rescue groups - English Springers - http://www.springerrescue.org/ (my wife is the Ohio State coordinator)

Brittany Spaniels - http://nbran.org/

I've forgotton what Nbran adoption fee is, but Esra charges $250, but includes neutering, vet fees and such like. Looking at our invoices for the past year, that's pretty much the average vet bill, although some have been alot more.

The dogs in foster care come from many sources -some are strays, some are shelter pulls, and some are owner relinquishments, but all the dogs are pure bred, and generally have full medical records.

Some of the dogs we get are in really poor condition, but after awhile in foster care, their personalities really come out and they're a new dog. It's these dogs which are very hard to say goodbye to.

Plug over

Oh, we have quite a few puppies available....

Personally speaking, after our experience with rescue dogs and seeing other people's experiences with 'breeders' and petstores, we now tell people to avoid them and intead get a dog from a rescue organisation

Hope this helps people.

Martin

[Ephesia 0]

wow....... 50 donation and ill get a doggie from the humane society lol

Exactly what Brandon and I did on Tue. We adopted a Shepherd/Rott mix dog from the Humane Society.

Adoption fee + microchip + family photo + simple leash + small donation = $120.

Phoebe is now the center of attention in the household. Everything she does and 'says' makes us gush. We're such soppy dog owners.

Edited June 9, 2006 by Ephesia

[ladybutterfly 0]

We have a puppy store in my local mall and the other week there were demonstrators outside holding placards saying things like "my dog died a few weeks after buying from this store". Like many other VJ'ers I would never ever buy a dog from a pet store. They are over priced, many of them are sick, many of them are in -bred and come from puppy farms but most importantly there are millions of dogs in shelters that are looking for loving homes. These dogs are healthy, have had their shots and far far cheaper.

[Reba 2]

wow....... 50 donation and ill get a doggie from the humane society lol

Exactly what Brandon and I did on Tue. We adopted a Shepherd/Rott mix dog from the Humane Society.

Adoption fee + microchip + family photo + simple leash + small donation = $120.

Phoebe is now the center of attention in the household. Everything she does and 'says' makes us gush. We're such soppy dog owners.

very cute baby

I'll also chime in and say stay away from the pet shops. I don't know anyone whose bought a pet of any sort from one and it lived any longer than maybe a month. My hubby even had one local one shut down intentionally because he knew they were puppy milling and kitty milling.

Even our local no kill shelter has been known to have some shady practices. Their "policy" is to have Every animal spayed/neutered before it leaves the shelter with its new family. And yet we've heard of more than one female dog leaving there still intact, and then a few months later her litter of puppies are taken there for adoption The last we heard was a female Saint Bernard's litter. And they can have litters up to 12 puppies!

Both of our Saints are private rescue. George came from one of my husband's employees who bought her for a friend for Christmas. Stupid stupid idea that was, considering her friend had Just had a baby, and her husband was not working. The puppy ended up had parvo, and they couldn't afford to take it to the vet. Of course she didn't tell that to James when she asked if he'd like to get me a puppy for Christmas. We brought her home and she immediately vomited all over and had the bloodiest diareah I'd ever seen. The poor thing was close to dying. She was in the emergency animal hospital for 2 days on IV. We brought her home on Christmas night, 2003.

And then Bruno came to us last year. A former employee of my husbands who now works at a BBQ restaurant called him up and said there's a stray Saint wandering around the lake, and has become a nuisance at the restaurant. James took a drive up there and found that the dog was in fact Not a stray, just someone's mistreated pet.

Seems the family had received the dog as a gift (again stupid stupid stupid...DO NOT buy a dog as a surprise gift for anyone!) and as the puppy grew (Saints can grow 3 to 5 pounds Per Week) it got too big to play with their toddler. So they kept it outside, and let it wander. Never even bothered to feed it anything but scraps either They didn't "believe" in fences or leashing a dog, its cruel

So James offered them if they ever found they couldn't care for the dog anymore, that he'd take it gladly. He left them his number and then went back to work. Later that very same night, they called him and said come get the dog because the restaurant owner had had quite enough of the dog scaring away his customers (he stayed near the restaurant because the waitresses fed him scraps, but he was 115 pounds of puppy at that time, and intimidating to some people ) and the owner threatened to shoot it if it came round anymore.

We went and got him around midnight, and he's been a happy baby ever since. 170 pounds of happy baby now!

Just really do your research before you bring home a dog. Not just about the dog itself, but also about the organization that you're adopting it from. Even humane shelters can have some unhealthy practices.

[Tim and Bethanie 1]

Reba they are so cute!

I have a customer who called one day wanting to schedule a groom/bath for her dogs. I go through the usual round of questions with her. She had a Mastiff, St Bernard and a Golden. Okay so I expected the Mastiff and St Bernard to be big, but oh my goodness. She walks in with these three dogs and I am not kidding the Golden was as big if not bigger than the other two. She tells me "welllllllllllllll we took him in as a stray when he was a puppy and he had to learn to play with these two big lugs, so we think he just adapted and grew to fit in". Let's just say I ended up only doing two dogs that day, and had to take them in a shower room, standard tub wouldnt do the trick!

Over time I have fallen in love with Tibetan Mastiffs, this breed has such a docile disposition. Laying down on the job after a long day pulling out undercoat! ! Greatest job in the world. This gal is about 120lbs.

[babybunny 2]

Reba they are so cute!

I have a customer who called one day wanting to schedule a groom/bath for her dogs. I go through the usual round of questions with her. She had a Mastiff, St Bernard and a Golden. Okay so I expected the Mastiff and St Bernard to be big, but oh my goodness. She walks in with these three dogs and I am not kidding the Golden was as big if not bigger than the other two. She tells me "welllllllllllllll we took him in as a stray when he was a puppy and he had to learn to play with these two big lugs, so we think he just adapted and grew to fit in". Let's just say I ended up only doing two dogs that day, and had to take them in a shower room, standard tub wouldnt do the trick!

Over time I have fallen in love with Tibetan Mastiffs, this breed has such a docile disposition. Laying down on the job after a long day pulling out undercoat! ! Greatest job in the world. This gal is about 120lbs.

dayum what a pretty dog. wowow!

My company is very much connected with the SPCA. in dallas.

we have a dopt a pet fairs. these seem to happen alot of times. I am glad my company

takes pride in our furry friends. we also have pet food drives.

I think people should take advantage of visiting the SPCA or other pet shelters!

[CanGal 1]

That is a beautiful dog. We are moving to our house hopefully at the end of the year. Later last year we walked into a store up in gatlinburg and the owner had the most gorgoeus dog. And calm as ever, especially for a puppy! He was big and still growing. I finally figured out what the breed was last night! A bernese mountain dog .... they are so beautiful ... my hubby and I researched a bit on breeders close by. There seems to be one in nashville and one in north carolina that looked very decent and maybe worth looking into ( i would never buy a dog online, i would have to see it for myself etc) but from what we saw they looked good. Actually I think from what I remember the lady up in the store stated she got her pup up in north carolina. I wonder if it's the same place we found? Who knows lol *Shrug* if anyone knows much about them though that would be great!

[babybunny 2]

consider this..

when you get your pet. rember he is your FAMILY MEMBER.

if you want to take your dog with you when you travel - a small dog under 15lbs is good for you. < airlines will allow you to take the doggie on the plane under the seat >

i

f you rather leave him home not worried about traveling a big azz dog is good too.

also pay attention to if you want a HIGH energy dog. or a lazzy dog. or one with a lower energy level.

[CanGal 1]

lol well my yorkie is small and is between high energy and lazy :-p

[Ephesia 0]

consider this..

when you get your pet. rember he is your FAMILY MEMBER.

if you want to take your dog with you when you travel - a small dog under 15lbs is good for you. < airlines will allow you to take the doggie on the plane under the seat >

i

f you rather leave him home not worried about traveling a big azz dog is good too.

also pay attention to if you want a HIGH energy dog. or a lazzy dog. or one with a lower energy level.

Very good advice there. It's SO important to understand clearly what you want AND what you can have. Brandon and I took our time deciding on adopting a dog. We actually talked over it on and off for the past 8 months. It was a no-brainer for us on what kind of dog we wanted:

1. Medium to large size.

2. Short coat, because we don't want to have to mess with lots of brushing and grooming.

3. Must not be high-energy because Brandon is still recovering from his ileostomy and we didn't want a dog that would jump on him and accidentally hurt him.

When I saw Phoebe's picture on the Humane Society's website on Mon, I forwarded it to Brandon immediately and simply said, "That's our dog. No doubt about it." We checked her out on Tue, and she stole my heart right away. She jumped on me but was so gentle about it. After just 10 mins with her, we knew we had found our dog. Brandon now insists she is a Mommy's girl.

Today was her 4th full day with us and she has gradually accepted her new home. She has quickly learned her boundaries in the house - she is not allowed on our bed, she cannot enter our room mate's room, and she cannot jump on anyone. She understands what NO means, and I reinforce that command by waving my index finger at her. She also knows the Sit and Lay Down commands.

We love Phoebe so much. Every day we're learning from her and she us. She's starting to get the hang of our schedules. After the first two days, she's realized that even though Mommy goes out early in the morning to work, Mommy will come back at a certain time. She also knows when Mommy and Daddy have to go out together, she has to stay in her cage at home.

Phoebe's even developed her own "potty signal." She'll pick up her red squeaky ball and squeeze it between her teeth, then stand at the back door and wait for someone to let her out. And after just a couple of times, she's learned that she cannot step out into the backyard until the lead's hooked on to her collar. And she'll wait for the lead to be taken off before she goes back into the house. SO ADORABLE!

We love how she's so willing to learn. And we love how she does all sorts of things when we least expect them. For example, she knocked my hand off my mouse several times earlier this evening while I was playing WoW. She wanted some attention. More importantly, I love how her presence has brought even far more cheer to our lives.

Sorry I've blabbered so much in this reply. I feel like a moron yapping on and on about a dog. But this is such a wonderful joy.

[babybunny 2]

I am a dog lover. I have one tip for ya..

when you bring home your new puppy. pay attention to your puppy. when he starts sniffing around

that means " take him out quick" he is about to "tee tee" or "pay his duties"!

[sara535 15]

What about adopting a greyhound? there are greyhound rescue organizations in most big cities that get the dogs retiring from the tracks. Most are pretty young, less than 2 years, and are at least already trained. And believe it or not most greyhounds are pretty lazy and make great house dogs. I have had many dogs but never a greyhound, I think it will be the next dog we get. I've talked to many people who adopted from the tracks and I've relly never heard a bad experience...

[minha_raposa 0]

Please check the shelters or animal rescues in lieu of a pet store or breeder. My best pets have come from shelters, and if someone does not take thrm they get put down (shelters that is, never a rescue).

Good Luck

[Reba 2]

Mastiffs are nice too, some figure that Saints go way back to Mastiff lines

As for Bernese Mountain dogs, they're about the same size as a Mastiff or Saint, so be prepared for a BIG ### DOG! If you get it as a puppy, do not feed it puppy food much beyond 3 or 4 months of age. Switch to adult food. Giants can grow up too fast, and puppy food will do that to them, and they can end up with growing problems and bone problems.

Mountain dogs I believe are also prone to bloat, like Saints are. This is a condition where the stomach can actually flip right over, causing great pain, and death in less than one hour if you don't get them to a vet to fix it. Read up to find out if they're prone, and if so, read up about the signs of bloat and the quickest route to the vet.

Mountain dogs also have A LOT OF FUR. Two layers of coat, and the under layer is difficult to brush properly. See the pic of the Mastiff and the clumps of fur? That's a daily chore with our Saints. But its a bonding ritual too

If you don't like fur all over everything all year long, and if you don't like slobber, a Mountain dog or anything similar is probably not the dog for you. If you can't take the time to have the dog properly trained and socialized, a Giant dog is probably not for you. They don't need a whole lot of exercise, not like a Lab maybe, but the do need regular exercise, and socialization. Puppy training class is a good idea, all the way up to advanced and beyond if you can. You both can learn something new every day, and its fun

George and Bruno are the best dogs ever (tho George's recent bad attitude toward other dogs is worriesome, and Bruno is a big handful when he gets excited) and they're both big ol' lap dogs. Imagine more than 300 pounds of dog vying for a spot on your lap. I honestly can't imagine my life without them.