BYB vent and people's expectations

[jenn D]

I honestly don't know where to put this post, so if its in the wrong place, please move it Mods. :)

 

I'm a bit frustrated and a little shocked regarding a recent event. A close friend is wanting to get a puppy for their family for Christmas (we can all go into the holiday/ puppy thing later but just bear with me). They want a new pup because their other dog is very old and they have always had a dog etc and want to get their new 4 legged family member while old one is still alive. They have always got shelter dogs.  To be fair, they are VERY good to the dogs in their family. They take good care of it, exercise, training, its truly a part of their family.

They have a medium dog and they really want a small dog. They asked me to help locate one because they know I do "dog stuff". Now I researched ALOT before I got our dog. I researched breeders more than a year before finally selecting a breeder and I had to make sure we were done with all the medical stuff at our house before adding a dog. It was a 2 year search until I brought our first doodle home. I told them this. But they want the Christmas puppy.

I know the general public doesn't typically think this much beforehand and my friend is no different. They want a Christmas puppy under the premise that they will all be home for 2 1/2 weeks and they think that will be a good time to bring pup in. I've discussed in depth with them issues with this as well as charging into this guns blazing expecting to find anything now without research. I have my own opinions about that but lets move on.

They asked if I knew of any rescues of small "poo" dogs. I was like "whats a poo dog?" but apparently that can be a malti-poo, sheltie-poo, yorkie-poo, small dogs crossed with a small poodle. I guess I should have known this seeing as I have labradoodles. opps.

Anyway, I looked and talked to all the rescues. No poos. Just pitbulls or Chihuahuas are really all that's available.  I don't know if the general public all want Christmas pups or what but their isn't a lot of selection at the shelters.

So I suggested contacting breeders. But that takes a lot of work.  I started to do this for them but oh dear, I cannot believe how many BRB there are. Breeding all kinds of random small dogs to each other without thought. No health guarantees and the oddest names I've ever heard.  I mean when I was researching for myself I had to go out of state to find someone reputable.  I guess I never really dealt with BRB. The phone calls to some of these places were very sketchy.

 

I really couldn't find anything I could recommend. So what a frustrating situation all around.  I know many of you will say to dissuade them from getting a pup for Christmas. Its not going to happen because they have their minds set and they are pretty much like family to us.  I was trying to help make the best out of the situation but it was just upsetting. Thanks for letting me vent. I know you guys get it.

[Meredith]

I just have to say that I got a puppy for my children last Christmas and he has been the best gift that I have ever purchased for our family. Each and everyone of us love him so much. He has become my third child. So, I have to say that I disagree with the Christmas puppy thing. It will be a year this coming Sunday that we have had him in our family and I would love to add another but it is just too expensive.For our family, our Christmas puppy, Charlie, has been such an awesome addition and quite a lot of fun and I would recommend it to anyone who is seriously considering getting a puppy.

We got Charlie through a breeder as I got scammed by several so-called breeders on Petfinder.com. I would never try to get a puppy or dog on Petfinder again. That site is such a scam.

So, I would have to say for our family, our Christmas puppy was the best decision ever!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Meredith, the listings on PF that we are referring to are homeless dogs who are available through rescues and shelters only. NOT breeders. Breeders are not allowed to use the PF adoption listings. There are also ads on Petfinder, which is what you must have been looking at. I assure you that the rescue listings on Petfinder are not scams, and it does shelter and rescue dogs who desperately need homes, including DRC doodles and many other doodles, a great disservice to state that the site is "such a scam". I adopted JD from a shelter after applying for him through Petfinder.

I am very glad that Charlie has been a wonderful addition to your family, but the same would be true if you had gotten him in January. :)

[Adina P]

I'm happy everything turned out awesome for your family and your pup. 

Everything has an exception and I'm sure there are more stories like yours.  I think the warnings against Christmas puppies have to do with the potential risk of buying a Christmas puppy and the experience of people in Rescue.  There is risk with getting a puppy before the age of 8 weeks...yet not every single puppy who was brought home at 6 weeks has had problems.  There is risk with getting a pair of littermates...yet people have done it with success.  There is risk with eating raw eggs and other foods that are likely to carry foodborne illness, but the reason people still do it is that it's not 100% assurance of a problem.  If everyone who ever ate a raw egg got sick, nobody would do it.  But few risky things are always going to lead to problems.  The problem, for those who worry about these things, is that they don't want innocent pups to go through a risk like that.  So in the interest of the dogs who have no choice, many advise against it out of caution and for best outcome for family and dog(s). 

Anyway, I didn't mean this to be an argument against what you chose as much as an explanation of why people still give these warnings.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

All over the internet there are articles with advice about not getting a puppy for Christmas. The reasons are many. There are also breeders who will not sell "Christmas puppies" and deliberately do not plan litters that would be going home at that time of year. 

[Meredith]

My puppy was 9 weeks when I took him home. My puppy was from a reputable breeder and My friend who is also a breeder found my puppy for me. For our family, this is what worked for us. I was trying to show the other side of families getting Christmas puppies.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Meredith, are you sure you were on www.petfinder.com?
A rescue listing site?
There are so many that sound similar that are Internet brokers and YES those are big time scammers

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Yes, like Puppy Find; one of the worst. Similar sounding name. 

[Meredith]

Yes, it was Petfinder!

[Meredith]

No it was Petfinder that I used last year. There were not many goldendoodle or labradoodle puppies for rescue or sale. The few that I did find either didn't respond to me or tried to sell me different puppies other than the one I was inquiring about. I had one man tell me I needed to bring the dog to church. I had several shelters never respond to my inquiries. So, I found a friend who knew a breeder with goldendoodles and figured it was better to know where he was coming from and that he was close by my home. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion but I did not have a good experience and I would not recommend it. It was very frustrating.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Meredith, again, you are mistaken about what website you were on. There are no dogs for sale on Petfinder. 

[Meredith]

Sorry, but I know which site I was on and it was Petfinder!!!! When a shelter asks for money that to me is selling!! So yes, they are for sale!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

So shelters and rescues should give dogs away for free? How do they get the money to vet, feed and house the dogs they save?

Money paid to registered non-profit shelters or rescues is a charitable donation, not a sale. 

Currently, DRC has two doodle who are HW positive. Their treatments cost $800-1500 each. How does a rescue or shelter pay for that? 

Please educate yourself about animal rescue. There are millions of dogs put to sleep every day because of ignorance. This past weekend, DRC pulled four gorgeous doodles out of kill shelters where they were scheduled to be euthanized. When you make these uninformed comments against rescues and shelters in a public forum, you contribute to the deaths of dogs.