buying

Todays technology makes is so simple to get almost anything online including a puppy.  While the internet can be used to help learn about dogs, breeds and connect with breeders, buying a dog off of an unknown website can potentially be a bad idea if you are not careful.

Pet stores are the worst place to get a puppy.  This is because it is almost guaranteed that the puppy was bred in a puppy mill.  In addition to a traumatic questionable start, they are often not cared for well in the pet store and have behavioral and medical problems.  This does not mean that these puppies are inherently bad.  If you have a pet store puppy the puppy could be a loving sweet dog, but by buying from pet stores you are rewarding puppy mills and keeping them in  business.  Saying there is a pro to buying from a pet store seems a bit like an oxymoro

Responsible breeders take part in their breed club, they have their dogs health checked often, the puppies are healthy and happy and the parents are not over bred.  They care for their dogs like children and make sure their pups go to the very best home.  While they might turn a profit they will never do so at the jeopardy of a dog.

Pros

Backyard breeders either sell directly to customers, online or through petstores.  They are not the occasional pet thats dog accidently got pregnant, they breed dogs in their yard for puppies to sell.  The entire point of the breeding for the backyard breeder is to make a profit off of selling the puppies so their criteria for potential owners is pretty open.  Anyone who has money can get a dog.  Below are the pros and cons of backyard breeders.

Pros

Once you have decided to get a dog or puppy you need to decide where to get it.  What you are looking for will often determine where you get your dog.  Age and breed are the biggest determining factor when deciding where to look.  If you are looking for an older dog you will likely go to a shelter or breed rescue of a responsible breederA responsible breeder is one that takes care of the breeding bitch and puppies, performs proper health screening and tests, does not breed sick or genetically weak dogs, does not over breed, and will not sell the wrong dog to the wrong owners regardless of profit. You can determine if a breeder is a responsible breeder by asking the right questions and visiting the kennel..