Choosing a New Dog - Pet Stores - Part 2

Currently I've been sharing some thoughts regarding sources for finding a new pet based on my own experiences. This is the 2nd of 3 consecutive threads regarding breeders, pet stores, and shelters/rescues. The purpose of these posts is not to say one source for finding a new pet is best, but to offer some pros and cons of each from my perspective as a trainer. Today I will discuss pet stores.

Read the other articles in this series...
Choosing a New Dog - Breeders - Part 1
Choosing a New Dog - Shelters and Rescues - Part 3

There are not very many pet stores that still sell dogs. Political and social pressure has made this a very hotly debated issue, and many retailers do not wish to be in the middle of these arguments. However, I do see many dogs annually that come from pet stores. If you feel their origins may be socially questionable, let's not hold it against the dog! Many of these dogs can and do make very good pets.

My first comment regarding pet store puppies is that you will never know the dog's origin. Buying from a pet store allows an owner no opportunity to meet and evaluate the parents of a given puppy. While this is also true of most rescue dogs, an owner is at a bit of a disadvantage not knowing. An owner has no way to research whether there are any health or behavioral issues in the breeding line.

Early, favorable exposure to people, places, and things is critical to the healthy development of young puppies. Pet store pups spend considerable time during their imprint period in a pet store. This exposure generally allows plenty of interaction with diverse people, and exposure to a multitude of public area sights and sounds - which is good. But these pups may lack opportunities for exposure to varied places and common household items, especially if they languish in the store for longer periods.

Also, many pet stores have pups in crates with open, wire floors which allow the dogs to eliminate any time. This can cause some real challenges when the pups are taken home and house training starts. Since the puppies are used to eliminating at will in their crate, the help offered through confinement in a crate is lost - some of these dogs will take considerable time to develop the ability to "hold it". These dogs can (of course) still be house trained, but the process is usually more difficult.

Finally, pet stores seem to have a knack for charging premium prices for their dogs. While any business is free to charge what the market will support, I've had numerous clients over the years that eventually paid 10-20% of the original asking price. I suspect these stores find that when a puppy has been around for a while, deep discounts are cheaper than keeping it and continuing to feed and care for the animal.

Pet Stores
pros: helpful early socialization during imprinting generally finds these dogs very people friendly, dogs that don't sell quickly will often be deeply discounted
cons: unknown parental lines, socially shunned, house training often more difficult