Before reading this whole thread I was unaware of puppy mills. I did not read the whole thread.
I read the original poster's comment and replied to that.
I was unaware of the cruelty of puppy mills.
In my head, puppys from pet shops were born on farms where the living conditions were not of the greatest standard - were actually a little shi##y, I didn't know the extreme cruelty that puppy mills were open to.
I apologise for my post and for my ignorance.
I was felling large amounts of sympathy for Happy and am now very glad to hear youare keeping the puppy happy, I hope you are both very happy together.
I am sorry for upsetting lots of people.

Don't beat yourself up.  It is good that you know realise why pups bred thoughtlessly or deliberately without any care to their future, and purely for monetary gain are likely to be those that end up being sold through Pet Shops, Supermarkets, or large scale commercial kennels who buy in to sell on, and are likely to be bought by the most inexperienced owners (who don't realise this is not a good way to buy a pup).  These poor pups are doubly disadvantaged, as they are unlikley to have had the care put into choosing their parents with health and temperament in mind, will have been reared as cheaply as possible, without the socialisation and care a puppy that is to become a family companion needs, and are going to be bought wither by very inexperienced people, or worse by impulse buyers. These buyers then have no back up to help- with the inevitable problems that all new owners fave when trying to bring up a puppy, let alone the extra problems caused by poor breeding and rearing practice.

Now you and Alexanders both pointed out that you did not realise PEt Shop puppies were a bad thing.  The question is how do we make people who are not dyed in the wool doggy folk aware of w2hat we think is as plain as the nose on a your face?????

Should we all volinteer to give talks at schools?  What is the answer?  How do we ensure that pwople are well informed before buying a puppy, so that they only buy from breeeders who rear puppies correctly breeding from the best examples of their breeds with all the health checks.  If the buyers were this fussy, then the substandard breeders would have to up their ideas and practices, or get out of dog breeding.  he latter is more likley as breeding puppies proerly is not really profitable in a make a living sense.  at best it supplemnets an income, or covers some of the breeders costs in keeping and showing/working their dogs.

I spoke to someone a few days ago who told me about a freind of hers who regularly 'rescues' litters of collie pups from Wales.  "If she didn't go and get them then the farmer would drown them."  She was a bit shocked when I told her that her freind was actually a dealer and that if she stopped buying them (I believe she pays about a tenner a pup)  the farmer would maybe stop breeding them.
Sally

For those who are unaware of mills please put in "puppy mills" into the images section on Google
Then tell me its ok after seeing the pictures!!
You may want to "rescue" a pup fom the petshop but what about all these left behind ???
or read
http://www.angasstar.com/puppymillstory.htm

here

I'd just like to add an extra reason not to buy pedigree dogs from petshops. Breeders can register extra pups that dont actually exist and sell the papers to a dodgy petshop who can then pass off another dog as pedigree without knowing who the parents are. So you have no proof that the dog is even what they tell you. At least with  breeder you can go to the home and see the pups with their mother so you know what your getting into.

Just an extra warning

Happy I am delighted you are not taking the puppy back. You never know you might have a long time with it. I wish you well and I would reconsider about never posting on champdogs again. there are a lot of good caring folk who can give good advice here & you never know when you might need some support. Good luck with the puppy & take care

Jean

happy....don't stop posting on here because of peoples comments, the thing is everyone on here are real dog lovers and it breaks our hearts to hear of stories like this, when a subject pops up which some people feel strongly about then things can tend to get heated :)
nobody thinks you are a bad person for buying this puppy, lets face it not everyone knows its best to buy from a reputable breeder, nobody's perfect but we do learn by our mistakes :)
good luck with your puppy and remember if you have any problems, post on here and i am sure someone will be more than willing to help you :)

Happy sorry if I offended you in any way, I didn't mean too....Iam very happy that you decided to give the puppy a home and keep the wee little one.....I would definately let the store no about this as well as the breeder if you can. Please don't stop posting and what people say don't take to heart because one's opinion is just that, not everyone has the same opinion. :) Stay around awhile longer and I'm sure you will like it here...People feel very strongly about petstores as well as dogs (the reason for the forum) :)

As for buying crossbreeds in a petstore I think is just as foolish...most dogs in the petstore are cross breeds which come from puppymills so in that same respect YOU are still helping the PUPPYMILLS. I don't think any dog/cat should ever be in the petstore ever. If you want a cross bred dog look in the paper (at least here you can check out how they are kept and how they were raised) or how about your humane society alot of dog/cats there in need of a home desperately, at least these will be saved from deathrow. The petstore is no place to look for a beloved friend. When buying these animals from the petstore you are just making room for the other ones who will soon take their place. :(

I was in the petstore awhile back and they had my breed in there Boston Terriers and it was hard not to just buy the two up, I asked them where they got them from saying that I needed to no to make sure they were not related to mine (not like I would of bred them just trying to get some information)...They wouldn't give me any information on them :( That was the hardest thing to do was leave them there. Called my breeder cause we were trying to figure out where they came from and called the petstore back but they were gone already and that was the next day. Not to sure what we would of done :(

Oh my god i thought puppy mills were bad but that is just unimaginable, I just googled puppy mills and i feel sick, the owners should be locked up in cages and never get to walk on grass. Why the hell is the government allowing this to go on. this is my first post by the way even though i've been reading this forum for months now and i felt i had to say something.

Nickie

welcome to the forum nickie :)

Thanks Jacki,

           Nickie.

Just to brighten your day The Government are funding Puppy farming in Wales, farmers are being given a grant to buy in dogs and puppy farm :(   But unfortunately these places are everywhere.

That link you provided is the saddest thing I have ever read Jacki and it makes my blood boil!! How can people be so cruel, it just amazes me?! I know of a pet shop that sells pups and I have questioned the girl who works there a few times and she does not know what to say to me. I know she only work there but how can she?!!! I wouldn't work there even if you paid me a million pounds. Those poor dogs. :(

Everyone,
Could you all stop being so critical of people who would like to become regular posters on this site?
I know I haave'nt been a member for long but the comments sometimes are very harsh. They are only asking for advice, not crititcism, to help them to come to a decision. They obviously love dogs. We know that buying from puppy farms/pet shops is not a good idea but the people who have done this are not always aware of what is going on in these places. Once they have the pup we should give them support not criticism, maybe then they will be able to educate others, in retrospect of their mistakes.
D4wn

People really do need to know the facts though
People on this thread have admitted they didnt realise it was so bad until people on here have added information about puppy mills. Maybe if people see the cages and disgusting "living" conditions these poor dogs are kept in rather than the fluffy cute bundle sitting in the pet shop window they will think again
Maybe if more of the public realise what a disgusting trade this is and let the Government know what they think then things may start to change ( although where money is concerned I very much doubt it) :(
The puppy trader in Scotland recently caught with lots of puppies squashed into a van pleaded not guilty even though he was caught virtually red handed and was basically given a slap on the wrist with a £500 fine (probably the cost of one poor puppy) and when WAGS etc called for an appeal because of the judges leniency, the judge refused point blank :( :(  :(
There is NO EXCUSE FOR IGNORANCE
Lel

I once tried to stop my local free ad paper advertising pet shop litters, but the woman i spoke to was adamant it was perfectly OK and that the pups came from a reputable breeder :(

Like talking to a brick wall

Lindsay

I know what you mean, Lindsay. :(

And when you explain to them that the pups can't possibly come from a reputable breeder (because no reputable breeder would sell to a pet shop, and that owners of KC reg dogs are not even allowed to sell pups like this) they just refuse to understand.

They refuse to understand because they are blinkered by ££ signs :(