You do NOT need a $1000 dog.

The BBQ Pit
21

I’ll state, first of all - Your money (in the general sense of “you” – not specifically you, Metacom) is absolutely yours to spend as you like. However:

You refer to a "pound dog” pejoratively, which may or may not be fair (my current “pound dog” is the most well behaved and has the best temperament of any dogs I have ever lived with – including breeder dogs that my parents bought when I was still living with them) – but aside from that, there are rescue groups that specialize in nearly every breed under the sun (sure, there’s exceptions, but for 98% of people who want a dog, you can find one). The AKC lists a lot of them, and I’m confident there are tons more that are not listed on that website.

Sure, they can. I’d like to see an unbiased study that shows any evidence of this being the majority. Often times purebred dogs have inherent health problems that can be greatly reduced when they are crossbred.

See above with rescue groups that specialize in individual breeds.

Yes it does…but what information are you getting that isn’t also on the web?

I have no rebuttal for this. But my WAG is that people who do this make up much less than 1% of dog owners.

Again, it’s your money to spend as you want. I certainly am not in the “You don’t NEED an SUV” camp or the “that $50,000 necklace you bought could have fed 4523 homeless people” camp – Your money is yours to spend how you see fit. I just wish that people would explore options other than the pet store or the breeder when looking for a new dog. Unless they have a very specific need for what the dog is going to do, in most cases what you want can be found in a rescue dog.

22

Heh, you want a healthy, well bred Newfie from a reputable breeder, (presumably) out of titled and proven parents, and you refuse to spend more than $400 for a dog? Good luck with that. Let me know how it works out for you. :wink:
Disclaimer–I am not saying that to be nasty, with a tone of sarcasm, or in any other way intending to pick a fight.

Cheers.
Our puppy will arrive in almost exactly four weeks. All told, we’ll spend roughly $3000, between purchasing the puppy, shipping, various puppy equipment, vet stuff, etc to get him home. I’ve waited well over five years for this, and have a long list of reasons why a purebred, and this particular breed, and this particular litter and puppy were the right choices for us.
Point being, there are plenty of reasons to spend a significant amount of money for the right dog. Chastising someone for making the choice to purchase a well bred, heavily socialized, healthy puppy from a reputable breeder, out of extremely high-caliber parents, with all the requisite health testing and so on and so forth over choosing a random pound dog with an unknown background, unknown personality, unknown health problems, and everything that goes along with that is silly. People make different choices. It’s great to rescue, and I applaud all of you who do so. It’s not what I want to do, at this time. I will likely participate in various dog sports, including competition obedience and Schutzhund tracking and obedience (not sure about the protection aspects, yet), and I want a dog with a specific set of physical and personality traits.
~mixie

23

PS Metacom–what breed is your dog?

24

I’ve adopted a dog from the pound. It was a fine dog and I’m glad I did it.

I’ve also had purebreed pups. They turned out to be great dogs too.
Pound dogs can have been abused (like ours was) and have lots of problems that it takes time and money to fix. Carefully selected purebreds can live long, healthy lives. Generalizations are just that.

I think the comment that ticked off the OP might just as well have been interpreted as “The breeds my husband likes are expensive” instead of “My husband wants an expensive breed for the cachet”.

Let’s not condemn tsarina for lavishing all that affection and money on her pound kitty when there are so many human problems crying out for her attention.

25

A few things that cause me to disagree with this:
[ul]
[li]You can find a rescue group for just about any breed, but that doesn’t mean you’re going to find a dog at one. A lot of such groups have long waiting lists, or rarely even get animals in the first place (my breed has a rescue group, but reportedly we almost never have to rescue animals–mostly due to picky breeders).[/li][li]Check out who sponsers the vast majority of the rescue groups on that AKC page: breed clubs. Breed clubs are essentially clubs for breeders and fanciers. When you buy from a responsibly breeder, you’re indirectly supporting the breed club and the rescue.[/li][li]If there weren’t any breeders, there wouldn’t be any rescues! Where are the purebreds gonna come from? :)[/li][li]The rescues that seem to have the most dogs seem to be the rescues for the most popular breeds, which are often the most overbred breeds, which are often the most unhealthy breeds. I think you have a high chance of getting an animal bred by a puppy mill or a backyard breeder from a rescue. I realize this is a huge generalization! There are going to be plenty of exceptions, both at the individual-animal level, and at the breed level (e.g., the commercial status of the Greyhound puts them in a special situation)[/li][/ul]

I wasn’t trying to say that any given purebred breed is more likely to have fewer health problems; what I meant (and didn’t express) was that I believe your odds of getting a healthy dog are better if you buy from a responsible breeder vs a random pound animal. Not just any purebred dog–one that was bred by a breeder who’s knowledgable of the breeds health problems and knows the available lines well enough to select a sire and dam that are likely to produce robust offspring. This is admittedly just a WAG, and because it’s hard to come up with an objective test for “good breeder” I’d look at any study with a grain of salt.

See above regarding rescue groups being caused by purebred breeders… :slight_smile:

I trust my breeder’s opinion on my specific issues more then I trust whatever is in the first page of hits on whatever Google search I formulate. And I can get my breeders’s opinion nearly as fast as Google, too.

I very much agree about the pet store (I HATE it when pet stores sell dogs), but again point out that rescues exist solely because of breeders.

26

No, in most cases what causes all these poor pound dogs are fucking dipshit people who are so fucking stupid I am surprised they can remember to breathe. I volunteer with multiple dog rescue groups around Atlanta and part of that work means that I am one of the metro county animal control buildings fairly often.

I can’t tell you how often you get some dumbfuck walking in with a beautiful 1 year old golden retriever, or a black lab, or some other dog – “We didn’t know he was going to be this big.” I wish I had a brick on a rope that I could use to crush these people’s skulls. FUCK YOU. Take 15 minutes to learn something about a dog before you take it home.

But, I have to stand there and bite my tongue. People make me so goddamed mad sometimes I want to vomit. :frowning:

27

I really REALLY hope everybody knows NOT to buy a dog from a pet store by now…

Just… don’t.

My 3 current dogs are rescues. One is purebred. She’s about 13 now, and pretty much incontinent, and has some joint problems. But she’s a larger dog, and she’s old. Of my other 2 Aussie mixes, 1 has thyroid problems and exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, and the other is epileptic. My late, beloved Sasha was purebred; she was also epileptic, and died at the age of 8 of a hemangiosarcoma.

I’d love to have a chance to get a dog of known lines that might be a little healthier. (I know, even in purebreds there are no guarantees.)

Dogs don’t live long enough as it is – I hate to lose them early. :frowning:

28

As my post above says, I believe that as long as there’s dumbass, irresponsible people around (and last time I checked the world was chock-full), there will be rescue dogs.

>>>Where are the purebreds going to come from?

I don’t have a good answer for that. I wish there was some way to severly limit the number of dogs dogs that were bred and that # could be driven by waiting homes for these dogs and not by profit for the breeders. I know thats a Pollyanna approach to the problem and is not at all practical in the real world – but that’s what I wish.

29

When I was in first grade my Dad took me to a shelter to get a dog, although I was scared of dogs at the time and wanted a little bunny or something. Anyway, we were looking and I found a dog sitting there so quietly while the rest were barking like mad. I wanted him. Turns out, he was going to be put down the very next day. I wanted him. And we had him for roughly 14 years; until the day he died. He was the best dog I’ve owned, too. I’ve gotten 4 dogs from shelters. It’s a good thing.

30

I was speeking of purebred rescues–I wasn’t clear. There’s definately going to be mixed breed rescues no matter what, I’m sure…

Kudos for doing all that volunteer work–given how insanely ignorant some people can be about dogs, I’m sure it’s often frustrating and heartbreaking. Sticking with it (which I assume you must, to be involved with so many) is very cool.

31

Thanks.

It is often heartbreaking but there are a lot of rewards that come with it.

32

Even though we bought a pure bread dog, we donate to the local animal shelter every year. The one in Santa Barbara is beautiful and they do great work.

Haj

33

I usually don’t make correction posts but this mistake was too lame…pure bred

Haj

34

No I don’t need one but I wanted one and have one, he is my best friend, my protector, my running partner and a source of joy in my life. I have always loved bulldogs. I think most people are partial to a certain breed or if not at least to a certain type of pet. I have a friend that adores cats but is not too fond of dogs,etc… my sister loves birds. That is the breed I have grown up with and prefer.

When I was four my Dad and I were in Mississippi and he bought me my first bulldog an English named Jaws, he was wonderful and had no health problems like so many do he lived a long life and when I think back to my childhood he is always a part of my happy memories.

I guess when I started looking for a dog I wanted a similar dog, after a year of research I chose to get an American bulldog, it took me another 5 months to find a wonderful breeder, my vet told me my dog is a picture of health so yes doing research can aid you in getting a healthy pet. It just happens that they are very expensive but that is a small price to pay for what he gives me back you see, I found out this year I can’t have children, I just turned 30 and when all my friends are pregnant and getting to experiance the joy of having a child at least I have him and my boyfriend to fulfill my life. I have had people comment that they think I am crazy for having him, he is too big for me (we weigh the same) or that he costs too much and to them I say he makes me happy and I make him happy what’s wrong with that.

Did I get him because people will look at me and think wow she has a high dollar dog, no not at all, no one even knows what kind of dog he is.

35

I know I shouldn’t compare (northern) Europe with the US when it comes to this issue, but geez, one of these days when I’ve got the energy, I swear I’m gonna pit the way (broad brush coming up) Americans and how they treat their pets.

I paid $1200 for my doggie. It’s about standard price for just about any pure bred around here. It’s nice that people take in dogs from the pound, but the best way should be to change how the whole thing is handled. Pet shops here can’t sell cats or dogs, you have to get them from a breeder, hence no puppy mills. I’m sure your local legislators could cook something up.

36

I should have been more clear. I don’t want a show quality pup, just one of the litter that’ll be my pal. Most breeders in my area central fl., are charging around 400.00 for a “pet” quality pup. I’d go as High as 600.00 but Definetly no more.

37

Because it’s my money and I want one. This sounds amazingly like an anti-SUV rant.

I paid a bundle for my show quality Shiba, but I don’t go around telling everyone what he costs. And he’s not a status symbol because no one ever knows what he is. Most people think he’s a fox - my bright, orange, screw-tailed fox. :rolleyes:

Why do assume that the kids are going to be told what the dog costs? Also, I don’t feel responsible for shelter animals even though I’ve donated food before and adopted a cat. They are the responsibility of every dipshit backyard breeder who doesn’t keep track of their animals followed closely by the spur of the moment driven imbeciles who don’t think before they purchase a life.

That’s great. And I’ll go hug my $$$$ Shiba - the best dog I’ve ever owned. Ain’t choices grand?

38

Thank you.

People have different reasons for getting pets and different reasons for getting the TYPE of pet that they do end up getting.

Different breeds have different qualities and characteristics that fit into one’s lifestyle, or don’t.

Before I got my older dog (she’s 5), I looked at the pound for a long time to find a dog with the personality, looks and size that I wanted. I used to live in Alaska, and there were rarely any breeds other than lab and husky mixes there(great if you wanted something big, stubborn and untrainable, but not good for apartment living).

I had had a great little pound dog when I was a teenager, unfortunately, smallish dogs rarely make it to the pound in Anchorage, they usually are snapped up through newspaper ads.

My mom and sister bought me a miniature Australian Shepherd for my birthday 5 years ago, knowing I’d spent the last several months looking for a dog. I fell in love wtih the intelligence, energy, and just downright quirkiness of the breed.

When I got ready to get another dog, the choice was a no brainer, and I’m not sorry, my pup is a standard aussie, not a mini, but is just as neat as the little one.

Yes, he was expensive, but so is just about every other item that we don’t absoLUTELY have to have for survival.

With your mentality, why should people be “allowed” to buy their clothing, cars, shoes, homes etc new? SHAME on them, they are wasting resources, space, time and so on.

Everyone has something different that’s important to them. Perhaps your friends husband has HAD french bulldogs in the past, and knows the breed well, and knows that that specific type of dog is what fits his needs best.

You don’t know what another person’s motives are, so that you can decide FOR them whether or not they’re being selfish or whatnot. Lighten up.

39

Baileyp and Guinness go grrrrrr!

Yes, they are my dogs. Bailey (the one in front) set me back $1,200; the rescue fee for Guinness was half his original purchase price, and I paid $900 for him; his original owners shelled out $1,800 for him. It’s the best $2,100 I spent.

Allergy tests show that I’m very allergic to dogs. Although I don’t have allergic reactions around most pooches, if I’m going to keep them around they should be hypoallergenic. I didn’t want a small dog, which limits my choice in pets to either Standard Poodles or a few rare non-shedding medium-sized breeds considered safe for those with allergies; Soft-Coated Wheaten Terriers, Kerry Blue Terriers, and Portuguese Water Dogs. Straight men do not own Standard Poodles, so that leaves paying a G or more for a rare breed.

You don’t see SCWTs, Kerry Blues or Porties in shelters anywhere. Believe me, when I wanted to get a dog, I looked for MONTHS in shelters. The only non-shedding dogs I saw were Toy Poodles. A PWD litter came around first, I passed muster with the breeder, and Bailey was mine. Guinness came along a couple of years later through PWD Rescue in Florida.

My dogs are great therapy for my depression. In a way, I DO need a $1,000 dog.

40

PS, regarding the “WHY do they cost so much”? part of this?

I don’t know about other breeders, but with my puppy, I have DNA authentication from his line, associations that the breeders belonged to, including one for their state that regulated breeders, (not that I cared, I’m not planning on breeding or showing, other than just agility for fun, I fell in love with him the second I saw him, and it was all over with :D), hip guarantee, and health guarantee with replacement dog or my money back for 18 months.

Now, I don’t know if that’s standard, of if that was just that breeder, but perhaps that’s part of where the cost comes in.

I’m not that familiar with the breeding side, only the owner side. Not to mention, Aussies aren’t all that expensive when compared to the “popular dogs”, like Rotties, and the “flavors of the month” like those that become briefly popular thanks to movies and so on. (I’m with CCL on idiots who buy these dogs for ego or whatever).