Where to find a puppy or dog.

Adding a new family member to your home is a big decision. Please take the time and do your homework.  

Places to buy or adopt puppies include:  

• Animal shelters and rescue organizations.
• www.petfinder.com
• Breed Rescue Organizations
• Reputable Breeders - Get a reference from the breed club for that breed.

Adoption through shelters. Many people don't take advantage of this option. However dogs at most shelters are fully vetted which includes shots and spay/neuter. In addition, most shelters attempt to match the right dog and breed of dog with the right person or family.

Adoption through breed rescue! Every breed of dog has a rescue breed organization or breed organizations. The volunteer groups consist of members who love and appreciate the merits of the particular breed their organization is involved in. A search of the animals up for adoption from a breed groups can include everything from puppies to adult dogs.

Typically, these dogs are socialized and live in foster homes that are the residences of the volunteers of the organization. They have also had veterinarian care, shots and are or will be neutered. Just Google the name of the breed you are interested in with the word rescue after it and the area you live (pit bull rescue Illinois) and you should find a local or local breed organizations like this.

Purchase from a reputable breeder. Reputable breeders breed dogs because they love and respect the dogs which they breed. They will want to meet you so they know where their puppy is going. They are part of that breeds club where they will show his/her dogs, or enter them in breed field trials, or agility or other events. These breeders breed for the betterment of the breed. Google the breed club of America for the breed you are interested in. They will refer you to a responsible breeder and never to a puppy mill.

The following statements from a reputable breeder shows the kind of concern and commitment reputable breeders will display. Compare this to what you now know about pet stores and otherwise suspect "breeders"...

"My reasoning against shipping puppies.......
 
When the Airlines offered counter to counter shipping I was fine with it. I would take my pup and crate to an office where all shipments requiring special handling were checked in. Some one would come for the pup and I would go to the departure gate and watch to see my crate loaded with the baggage into a pressurized, heated/cooled compartment. I would wait until the plane left. The person receiving the pup had stern orders to call me the minute the the pup arrived. The pup was always the first thing off the plane.
 
Then 9/11 happened. I was no longer permitted to go to the departure gate. My pup was removed from the crate and the crate was x-rayed and inspected.
 
Then the airlines stopped the counter to counter service.
 
I flew to Georgia. I had a window seat right above the compartment where cargo was being loaded. I saw a dog crate sitting on the tarmac in the hot sun. The flight was delayed. The crate just sat there. I started complaining to the flight attendant, to no avail. A  Bulldog would have died from heat stroke.
 
Reports of dogs dying on flights increased. Several incidents of dogs escaping from crates and not being recovered occurred.
 
 I am no longer comfortable putting my dogs on a plane.
 
Breeding Bulldogs is a very hands on experience.  I decide to bring my puppies into this world. I am responsible for their existence. I am responsible for their well being. They go from my loving hands to the new owners.
 
It's not about the money for me. I can and will care for them as long as I need to in order to find the right home. In the rare event that it is necessary, I will take the pup or dog back.
 
Puppy Mills (commercial breeders) don't have the emotional involvement that I do. I put my heart into every puppy born here."