Breeders who sell puppies to pet stores?

[Windsor1]

Is this common?

I am not shopping for a dog but recently noticed that a local pet store (http://www.petopiava.com/) sells puppies but advertises that it does not buy from puppy mills. Website says We do not buy from puppy mills …making sure you get your choice of the healthiest puppies available. We hand pick all of our puppies from local breeders, giving you the peace of mind you are looking for when selecting a pet. You can rest assured that the puppy you are taking home is healthy, and will be a part of your family for years to come.

I’ve never heard of breeders allowing a puppy to go to a pet store and wonder if this becoming “a thing.” Maybe the breeders sell the puppies to the store under the condition that the store seriously vet prospective owners or something? I don’t know.

[independentlyawesome]

Sounds like a marketing ploy to me.

[paulaedwina]

Bullshit, IMO. They don’t buy from puppymills, only from breeders who happen to have high volume breeding operations to meet the store’s needs for dogs.

Walks like a duck talks like a duck

Paula

[LauraKY]

Total BS. No legitimate, responsible breeder will sell to a pet store.

[gaitedincali]

This is getting to be a common tactic to part the unwary from their money now that more people know about puppy mills.

The puppies are “hand-picked” from whatever unethical BYB or local almost-a-mill is willing to cut the best wholesale price.

[wendy]

yeah, our local puppy mill stores love to trot that one out- and yeah, the pups really are from “local breeders”, aka the local puppy mills. Many of the persons who work in the pet stores haven’t a clue as to where the pups come from, and will trot out the party line in a very believable fashion because they believe it.

No breeder who cares about their puppies would ever let them be sold through a pet store. For starters, good breeders want to have a say in who gets the pups; and spending even a day or two in the environment of a pet store is very damaging to a puppy’s temperament and mental development.

[Dr_Doolittle]

Recently, MANY of my in-home clients (and Petsmart students) seem to get their puppies from here:

http://www.dreamypuppy.com/index.php/about-us/

DP even has “their own vet practice”, a local outfit that caters to what seems like only Dreamy Puppy clients–and provides health checks, shots, “advice”, etc., and tells them things like: “Don’t take the puppy OUTSIDE AT ALL for the first 3 or 4 months of its life”! :eek:, meaning that they are primarily (or ONLY) trained on Potty Pads. Which makes the transition to “outside pottying” more difficult And these are NOT elderly apt. dweller buyers, but people with big houses and big yards, and generally kids at home.

This place seem to specialize in toy and smaller breeds, and “designer crosses” (Malti-poos and Shi-poos being very common and popular.) My bad lower back LOVES this new trend, not :lol:

I must say that I haven’t personally (yet) run across any glaring temperament issues among the puppies I’ve worked with who came from this place, though there have been some minor health issues (shocker!), and they seem to sell the puppies at overly young ages, 7-8 weeks in some cases :eek:

Odd sizes and colors (white miniature Schnauzer?), and some rather wildly variable breed characteristics, though of course so many of them are “crosses.” They sure make a good profit on these puppies!!!, who cost more than many pedigreed purebred dogs from reputable breeders (bred for the show ring or for sport, but selling to pet homes.)

DP is easy and convenient for busy Northern Va. residents, since it takes time, energy, and commitment to track down reputable breeders and do homework and research, and then “qualify to own that dog”. OR, better still, adopt a dog from a shelter (again–AFTER doing your homework and research!), and putting it into training immediately, for the benefit of all concerned.

Who can resist a cute puppy face in a window?? :sigh: ALL the buyers claim that DP “assured them that they ONLY buy from responsible local breeders”…Hmmm. I’ll bet they have regular “sales pitch clinics” in the backroom of the place, and they must be pretty good at persuasion…

[LauraKY]

Not buying the Dreamy Puppy baloney either.

[vtdobes]

@Dr. Doolittle;7471900

http://www.dreamypuppy.com/index.php/about-us/

From that website…"We work directly with local small breeders, who believe in bettering the breed standards by only breeding the best, healthiest, and cutest puppies in the nation! ".

There are no breed standards for mutts!!! ARGH!!! That website makes me want to vomit…

[Dr_Doolittle]

Yes!! to all of the above^^.

Oy vey.

[Bicoastal]

Pet stores are supplied by puppy mills. Period.

Other posters have nailed it. The puppy suppliers are not breeders in how COTHers define them. Anyone can call herself a breeder. The only definition that place provides is “local” which is subject to their definition.

I love when such stores say “We get our puppies from USDA licensed breeders.” :mad: Go no further. The store just told you they are supplied by puppy mills.

“We work with certified USDA dog breeders to bring you an exquisite collection of adorable toy dog breeds” -copied from Pauley’s Puppies

Dr. D- Grrrrrr! A fancy Petland. They have my breed :no: All you need to do is make a deposit online then they’ll finance the rest and ship. :mad:

In Dreamy Puppy’s guarantee/contract, they try to prevent abuse. I have to concede that. The health guarantee is a joke: “excludes kennel cough”, “Puppy should not be allowed to …run up and down stairs,” they can’t guarantee that dog is a purebred, etc.

[scruffy_the_cat]

That wording is nearly EXACTLY the same wording a local pet store used when talking about their for-sale puppies. It was nauseating. Fortunately, they have stopped selling puppies and are switching to hosting adoption days where local shelters can come in and feature their animals.

[Bicoastal]

PS the names are driving me bananas! Morkie, Cavachon, Maltipoo, ackhh! I. must. step. away.

[vtdobes]

[QUOTE=Bicoastal;7471951]
PS the names are driving me bananas! Morkie, Cavachon, Maltipoo, ackhh! I. must. step. away.[/QUOTE]

And what in the hell is a “Valley bulldog”???

[IdahoRider]

@Dr. Doolittle;7471900

Recently, MANY of my in-home clients (and Petsmart students) seem to get their puppies from here:

http://www.dreamypuppy.com/index.php/about-us/

Oh, my! Those prices are indicative of every other puppy mill-supplied store I have ever seen or heard of. Seems to me that they have caught on to a more educated buying public and come up with a way to package the same thing (a puppy mill puppy) using language to distract the buy from what they are doing.
Sheilah

[S1969]

:no::no:

No reputable breeder will sell to a pet store.

It doesn’t really matter if you call them “puppy mills” or “backyard breeder” or “idiot breeder”…whatever. We all know that the term is irrelevant - they can call themselves “good, local breeder” but the minute they sell to a pet store they are exactly the same as a puppy mill.

And I agree wholeheartedly with the idea that designer cross-bred dogs have NO standard, so anyone that uses that phrase is an idiot.

So sad.

[Peaches]

Apparently they offer a “1 Year Helth Duarantee.” :lol:

https://scontent-a-pao.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/t1/1014084_638108482904141_74315706_n.jpg

[Peaches]

[QUOTE=vtdobes;7471956]
And what in the hell is a “Valley bulldog”???[/QUOTE]

That was exactly what I was thinking! Looks like a Boxer mutt…according to the description on the puppy’s page…it’s a Boxer mutt.

The origin of the Valley Bulldog can be traced back to 20th century Canada. The Valley Bulldog was created by unnamed breeders by crossing the Old English Bulldog and the Boxer. Throughout its history, the Valley Bulldog has been most commonly used for driving and guarding cattle against predators such as wolves and fox, and as a watch and guard dog, proving its superior abilities to work happily while providing both protection and gentle companionship.

Right. That is the dog I’d want to work cattle with. I assume they mean the “Olde English Bulldogge.”

[S1969]

OMG…those prices…:eek: Some are more than I paid for my puppy from five generation of champions, all with health checks and clear OFA xrays… people must have no idea. :no:

Valley bulldog - will be renamed “pit bull” when it ends up at the shelter.

[Bicoastal]

[QUOTE=Peaches;7471974]
Apparently they offer a “1 Year Helth Duarantee.” :lol:

https://scontent-a-pao.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/t1/1014084_638108482904141_74315706_n.jpg[/QUOTE]

Did you read it? I have to concede one good thing: they are trying to stop some things they consider abusive such as staking out and hitting. The health guarantee excludes this and that and that and in order to prove anything you have to jump through a dozen hoops.