Puppies who come from pet shops usually come from puppy mills. A puppy mill is a facility that produces lots and lots of puppies without regard for the individual animals involved nor their breeds. The mother of the puppies does nothing but produce puppies. Most likely she lives her entire life in a small wire cage. Her feet never touch solid ground, but continually stand on wire. When she urinates or defecates, the waste is supposed to fall through the wire. Those who do get to actually walk on solid ground, end up living in their own waste and wallowing in mud.
The puppies are born into filth and often diseased. By the time they reach the stores, they are often sick, weak and full of worms. I can only touch on the horrific details of puppy mills. The web is loaded with sad stories of disease and death at the hands of puppy mills.
I urge you to check into several breeds when you are looking for a new pet. Go to dog shows and ask owners and handlers about the breeds. Find and read as much information as you can on the web. And when you finally decide on a breed, go to a reputable breeder. Find someone who knows what he or she is doing -- Someone who is breeding for the betterment of the breed. They should take into account the temperment, genetic health, conformation and instinct of the puppies they are breeding. No one can guarantee a puppy will be completely free of any kind of defects. But, reputable breeders have done the best they can to ensure that the puppies have the best chance.
One more important thought ... The puppies that come to a pet shop are there because of demand. If the shop has 4 puppies of a particular breed and they all sell fairly quickly, more puppies of that breed are ordered. If the puppies don't sell, more puppies are not ordered. It's supply and demand. So when you walk past the window of a pet shop and see that sweet little face looking at you, resist. Don't be fooled into thinking that, if you buy this puppy, you are saving it from death. That may be so. But, in buying that puppy, you have sentenced countless others to the conditions of puppy mills and many of those to a gruesome death. Better the one to die than the many. And, if it stops even one breeding, that puppy will not have died in vain.
