Cricket's Story Why you shouldn't buy at a Pet Shop.

~ Hello ~
Everything that you are reading below is dedicated to CRICKET, our first Schipperke, who was a very sweet little dog that should never have had all the problems she did.   Cricket was just one of the victims of a terrible industry that is out there today; one very much alive and flourishing... and supported, most often unknowningly,  by people who are good people and just don't know what terrible things this industry does.   I hope you will listen, and I hope you will think of Cricket and all of the less fortunate dogs the next time you walk into a pet store and see a
"cute little puppy in the window".

      If you are thinking about getting a dog you probably want to know where the best place is to get one.   Well, there are many good places to get a dog, but there are some bad ones, too.   If you just want a nice pet, one of the best places to go would be your local humane society.  If you are looking for a purebred, though, you need to take the time to find a good breeder.  A "good breeder" is someone who breeds with a goal in mind; he wants to produce healthy, happy puppies, but he also wants the dog to be able to compete in something - conformation, agility, herding, hunting, tracking, etc.   These are the people who are planning a litter -   THEY WANT     these puppies for something, they didn't just breed them to sell to you.   Since they should only keep the puppies that best fit their goal, they want to find the BEST homes for the rest of the litter - not just the one that will fork over the money.  Their puppies will have been bred with knowledge, foresight, and experience - not just to "produce another litter".  So even the "pet quality" puppies are going to be very nice, and BETTER than the pick of any "pet only" litter.

      So why shouldn't you buy at a pet shop?  There are a number of reasons.  First of all, WHAT EVERYBODY NEEDS TO KNOW, is that REPUTABLE breeders do NOT  sell to pet shops.  Need proof?  Read the Schipperke Code of Ethics.    So the first thing that you know about any  pet shop puppy is that it is not from a good, quality breeding.  Second, these dogs do not come with a good health guarantee (and a health guarantee until the dog is one year old is NOT a good health guarantee!).  Third, these dogs will probably have HEALTH problems.  Fourth, these dogs may have TEMPERAMENT problems. Fifth, these dogs will be MORE EXPENSIVE  than a puppy from a reputable breeder.

     So, in review, you will be paying MORE MONEY for LESS DOG with FEWER GUARANTEES, and the dog may have A LOT OF PROBLEMS.

   How can we so confidently tell you all this?  We are speaking from experience - we bought our first schipperke from a pet shop.  We paid over $400 for her ON SALE.  Now, we didn't know it at the time, of course, but that kind of money back then would have bought us a SHOW QUALITY puppy, let alone a pet quality puppy, from a good breeder.  Given that this was about ten years ago, we probably would have paid between $200 - $300 for a nice pet quality puppy.   They gave a 1 year health guarantee on her, which we thought was pretty good.  Yet, when Cricket was 2, she started losing all her coat, her eyes swelled up, an she was constantly scratching, putting her in miserable pain.   We took her to the vet, of course, and, through some very expensive testing, discovered that she has over 100 allergies.   We later found out that these allergies were most likely caused by poor conditions she experienced as a small puppy, before she came to us.  We also learned that MOST health problems do not show themselves until after a dog is 2 years old (hence, a "generous" one year guarantee is given).   By the time Cricket was around five or six we had to start giving her dog aspirin for arthritis.  If you have already bought a pet shop puppy and it is healthy then you were very lucky.  We are not alone in our story, you see, there are many more like us.  She also had temperament problems - she had bit several men, and tended to start fights among our dogs.   And, finally, we were never able to housebreak Cricket.   After reading more about puppy mills, we have found that many pet shop puppies can never be housebroken - because when they were babies they and their mother were kept in small cages.  They were taught from tiny babies that it is okay to mess in the place where you are sleeping, and their mother never had the chance to teach them to be clean - in fact, she may never have had the chance to learn it herself.    So once they are in YOUR house they have already been "imprinted" to be dirty - and it is very hard or impossible to re-teach those early lessons.
       We have been talking to others who have bought their pets at pet stores.  One man recently told us that he purchased his schipperke for $800 at a pet shop - I know breeders who sell their top quality puppies for $750 - let alone their pet quality ones.

  Does all of this bother you??  Are you wondering how you can help?  There are a couple of things you most definitely CAN do. 

   First thing is, DON'T BUY A PUPPY FROM A PET SHOP.    I know that can seem hard, but if you pay their prices to buy THIS dog, somewhere a puppy mill will be breeding another to take that one's place, and that puppy will be raised in filth, and likely transported by an unheated truck (winter or summer) then stuck in a store, and bought by anybody who has the money to buy it.  The parents will have a worse fate... they will stay with the puppy miller that can make money with them, be fed the cheapest food possible, and then discarded only when they can no longer produce a litter with every heat.
   INSTEAD, ask to see the manager of the store.  Explain that you know that those puppies that they are are selling came from a puppy mill (and they will probably deny this - tell them that is the ONLY place their providers CAN buy a puppy like that) and that you will buy NOTHING from their store until they STOP selling puppies!  That will make them think!!   Ask for a complaint form, and put that on the complaint form too!

   Second, you can visit http://www.nopuppymills.com and offer your help to her in some way - either by money, or some other way.   Also visit http://www.critterhaven.org/victims.htm and you can learn more there.

   Third, you can get the word out to other people that you know love dogs!  Tell them to read Cricket's Story, or they them to visit NOPUPPYMILLS, or just tell them what you know!!   Fourth, you can adopt a RESCUE dog.  These are dogs that come from puppymills, and often were sold through PETSTORES, and they need good homes!  Almost every breed has a rescue program... if you are interested in rescuing a SCHIPPERKE, then email Howard and Mary Cox at shadowskip@aol.com, and ask them for help - they will be glad to help you!  They could also use a donation of money or dog food... or even, if you are up to it, a foster home!

Pet Shops and Colored Schipperkes

         As an extra warning: there has been a recent rash of puppy mills and back yard breeders who are trying to breed colored schipperkes.  They will tell you that these dogs are "rare" and therefore "more valuable", and a pet shop worker was even heard saying that "they will win in the show ring because this color is so rare".  What is the truth?   The standard states that schipperkes should be black - if you tried to show your colored schipperke you would be disqualified.  Unfortunately, AKC will register these puppies - and this is one of the reasons that you should not use AKC registration as an insurance for a quality puppy - or breeder.  If you find a breeder who is breeding colored schipperkes intentionally, please do not buy from them - these people are not breeding to improve the breed.   I have been visiting several websites with colored schips on them, and, color aside, I have not seen a single one of them that would even come CLOSE to being a breed quality dog.  (What is a breed quality dog?  One that is healthy, has a good temperament - one that fits the breed standard - AND be an EXCELLENT example of the breed.)

Do you want some tips on finding a good breeder?

So what happened to Cricket?

Cricket summer of 98	Cricket at two years of age (right)

                
Update on Cricket:
Since the summer of 98, we have found out that Cricket has an allergy to the flee medicine we were giving her.  She is on a completely natural diet and has been taken off of the flee medication, and so most of her hair has grown back.  However, her arthritis has gotten worse - she has a hard time coming up the steps to go inside and outside.  In a breed that often lives to be 16 or 17, Cricket may soon have to be put to sleep at age 10.

Last Update:
Cricket's allergies once again grew severe; she lost most of the hair on her face and many days she lost her appetite too.  She dropped her weight and seemed in constant pain.   So on September 6, 1999 we had Cricket put to sleep.  She was not quite 10 years old.

Cricket
December 18, 1989 - September 6, 1999

not quite 10 years old

OTHER STORIES:

WHO IS SELLING TO PET SHOPS??

These people are just some among many who sell to pet shops. 

This page has had  visitors since March 4, 1999.