Know The Breed Before You Buy

One in four puppies (of any breed) is returned to it's breeder or left at a shelter, according to the Washington-based Humane Society of the United States.  

During a recent walk though at a nearby animal shelter, my husband and I could not help but notice the many young Siberian Huskies that were there.  Then it dawned on us, "Snow Dogs" the movie about a dentist from Florida inheriting a sled dog team full of comical huskies.  Who wouldn't love the beauty and child-like playfulness of these dogs.  The puppies are so cute...But!!  Woe...when they grow up, they sometimes are not what a regular dog owner would expect.  The excessive digging, furniture eating, shrill barking/yelping, and last but certainly not least, the built-in escape artist that they are. (We are fostering a malamute (mix?) from a shelter, so we can speak first hand to this!)

Some neighbors of ours confessed that they bought their adorable husky puppy after seeing "Snow Dogs".  They did not know what they were getting into.  They did not research the husky breed before buying.  It is not an uncommon event to hear them driving by calling out the dog's name, because it once again, escaped.

The puppy mills...oops, I mean "pet shops" will tell you that whenever a movie comes out that features a certain breed, they are bombarded with customers requesting that puppy.   (Saint Bernard's-"Beethoven", Dalmatians-"One Hundred and One Dalmatians", the Taco Bell dog and so on...The pet shops don't care if the people are well educated.  They sell whatever to whoever, out of greed.  They have very little concern  that that puppy leaving their shop today, may, in a years time be innocently standing "behind bars" in some shelter because the owners "just couldn't handle them."  I highly recommend anyone to take a few tours through the different shelters out there, it will break your heart!

Movies about animals are perfectly ok, and falling in love with a breed from a movie is ok also - but, do the research.  Find out everything you can about that breed.  It's very easy to just type in the name on any search engine and many websites will come up.  Most sites will have a page called: Is (name of breed) the right dog for me?    These particular pages will list the pros and cons of the breed.  If possible talk to folks who own that breed...go to dog shows...contact breeders, anything, just don't purchase a puppy compulsively without the research. 

After all your research, and you are convinced that a certain breed is right for you and your family.   The best and most wonderful thing to do would be to visit: Petfinder.com, type in your desired breed and look through the many pictures and descriptions that come up on the screen. THEN go visit the dogs you have selected and give a dog who was abandoned a second chance.

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