Shops or Shelters??

[Toulouse630]

I am looking for a Pug puppy in the DFW area. Where is the best location to start looking? Any advice will be helpful.

 

[TheOriginalWhitehorse]

I am looking for a Pug puppy in the DFW area. Where is the best location to start looking? Any advice will be helpful.

It depends on what kind of dog you want and what suits you best. If you're looking to rescue a dog, the a shelter is a good place to go although you won't know exactly what you're getting. Often those dogs are in the shelter either because they ahve behavioral or expensive health issues, but also those can occur because the previous owner didn't handle them properly. Anyway, it's a gamble but a lot of people have good experiences. My last dog was a purebred pointer from a shelter. He worked out pretty well. It turned out his last owner gave him away for eating a plate of lamb off the table. I will admit he wasn't the most obedient dog even when trained, but we loved him anyway.

But if you want a purebred, I would avoid the pet shops and go directly to the breeder. You'll undoubtedly pay a lot less and get a much healthier dog. My German Shepherd Dog is from a shop and I will never do that again. She does have expensive health issues; I've shelled out somewhere in the neighborhood of 400 dollars in the last month.

 

[Toulouse630]

Okay...and how do I go about locating a breeder? The type of dog that we want is a pug.

 

[Dagna]

Avoid pet stores and the newspaper! I live in DFW myself and could help you locate a responsible breeder or a shelter with a pug. How much are you looking to spend? Any gender preference, age preference?

 

[IrishGrace]

Avoid pet stores and the newspaper! I live in DFW myself and could help you locate a responsible breeder or a shelter with a pug. How much are you looking to spend? Any gender preference, age preference?

We're looking for a healthy female, under 1 year, preferably housebroken... as for cost, we're not really sure what a reasonable price is really...

Thanks for any help!!

~Renee
(Toulouse's DW)

 

[Dagna]

Wow, Pugs are hard to find in Texas apparently. Try contacting this woman:
Bluebonnet Pug Club, Inc. Corr. Secretary, - Margaret Dunning, 1107 Derbyshire Lane, Carroliton, TX 75007 (72-242-6175 Margpug@aol.com

She's the secretary for a local Pug Club. May be a good starting point since I can't seem to find anything for once. You can also check www.petfinder.org for rescues.

 

[Toulouse630]

Thanks for the info, Dagna. Now, is it just a email address or is there a website?

 

[LegacyOfLove]

If you are looking for a breeder, you can check:
*your local newspaper
*go online to a search engine and type in "Pugs for sale (and city/state)"
*Check out the AKC's website. They now have a breeder referral and classified ads from breeders who have puppies/dogs currently available throughout all over the USA.
*Call some local veterinarian's offices; if they have any clients who breed pugs or who currently have a litter of puppies, they will be more than happy to give you a referral!

 

[Galadriel Gal]

NEVER use stores. My parents bought a dog from the store and he was really sick. Pets stores tend to be like puppy mills, they just breed for the money and sell bad dogs. I think the Humane Socitety has some kind of wating list. You ask them to tell you when a dog of the breed you want comes in, and then you can see if you like him/her. It's pretty handy, but most often you're going to get a mixed breed, but sometimes they're sweeter because there isn't all that over-breeding. Or, if you want a nice dog, and can afford it, breeders are always a good choice. I was reading a book about it, and it says not to pick the first breeder, look around and see if you can find more healthy and lively puppies. Always ask to see the mother if it's possible. If she seems sick or mean, the puppies will most likely turn out like her.

 

[Gumdrop71]

Pet stores are THE WORST place to get a dog. You are feeding into an industry which has no respect for an animal's life and an animal's life is seen as a dollar sign. Type in any search engine "puppy mills" and you will see where the pet stores get their animals.
Call your local animal control officer and they will be more than happy to get you a puppy or dog. OR petfinder.org. Also, consider a mutt. They are a blast.

 

[ChrisWins]

My purebred Samoyed is from a store. I do not advocate getting from stores at all. Thing with my dog is - he had a ball problem as a pup which meant he couldn't breed. (i probably never would have bred him anyway but maybe i would have since he's a gorgeous dog with a tremendous personality.) I am not sure but I am guessing the breeder knew there was problem and that's why he went to a store.

However, he's now 9½ and aside from that one thing (and one other problem that stemmed from something spoiled he ate that he shouldn't have) he's never had more than a common doggie cold!!! I pray he has at least a few VERY good years left. I try my best to keep him young and healthy. He's like a child to me and it saddens me knowing he has less years ahead than the number we've had so far

 

[PACKY]

I used to work at a humane soceity, I can tell you that the dogs at shelters are just as good if not better than any breeder or pet shop, buying from a breeder or pet shop only increases the demand for these animals which creates to much supply wich leads to homeless doggies..... save a animal and go to a shelter... you can also go to a breed rescue if you are looking for a specific breed of dog, you can get breed rescue info from, Local shelters.
Peace and Blessings!

 

[ChrisWins]

When the time comes a few years down the road I will certainly check out a shelter and breed rescue before I approach a breeder. I hope everyone else does similar or the same

 

[PACKY]

When the time comes a few years down the road I will certainly check out a shelter and breed rescue before I approach a breeder. I hope everyone else does similar or the same

CHRIS,
I hope that you dont need to check that out for many, many years....
Mike

 

[snoochface]

I just did a quick Google search for "pug rescue dallas" and found this group:

dfwpugs (dot) com (slash) happytails (dot) html

Sorry for having to do it that way, I apparently don't have enough posts under my belt to post external links

They rescue all ages of pugs, and under the Pugs Available Now link on the site you can see what they have available. I see some pug puppies and pug puppy mixes on there as well as older dogs.

I very strongly recommend to anyone that you adopt/rescue a dog before considering purchasing one. There are so many animals out there that need a good, safe, friendly home, and they will be destroyed if they are not adopted. There are some great mixed-breeds out there too. Every dog I've had has been a mutt and they are smart, friendly, sweet, fun dogs. Give a puppy who needs a good home a chance!

 

[Gumdrop71]

I very strongly recommend to anyone that you adopt/rescue a dog before considering purchasing one. There are so many animals out there that need a good, safe, friendly home, and they will be destroyed if they are not adopted. There are some great mixed-breeds out there too. Every dog I've had has been a mutt and they are smart, friendly, sweet, fun dogs. Give a puppy who needs a good home a chance! [/QUOTE]
==============
You are 100% RIGHT!!!! DO NOT buy puppies from pet stores, please, people. They come from puppy mills. The owners of these stores try to state otherwise but it's NOT true.

 

[TheOriginalWhitehorse]

I used to work at a humane soceity, I can tell you that the dogs at shelters are just as good if not better than any breeder or pet shop, buying from a breeder or pet shop only increases the demand for these animals which creates to much supply wich leads to homeless doggies..... save a animal and go to a shelter... you can also go to a breed rescue if you are looking for a specific breed of dog, you can get breed rescue info from, Local shelters.
Peace and Blessings!

Actually breeding doesn't contribute to homeless dogs-it's unplanned litters that fill up the shelters. A properly bred dog, if it is also trained and handled properly, has a much higher chance of successful adoption through elimination of hereditary health and behavioral problems. The proper way to handle overloaded shelters is for owners to spay or neuter animals that are not meant to be correctly bred.

 

[PACSUN]

I am looking for a Pug puppy in the DFW area. Where is the best location to start looking? Any advice will be helpful.

Check out this website

www.petfinder.org

You can find ANY dog imaginable on there -- and also if you don't find a match on petfinder, go to Google, and type in "Pug Rescue in DFW (spell it out)" and it'll come up with pug rescues -- if that doesn't work, get from a very reputable breeder. Please don't go to a pet shop that sells puppies - they come from puppymills, and buying from a petstore supports puppymills (backyard breeders). If you don't know what a puppymill is, just go to Google and type in "puppymill". It's the most horrible thing I have ever seen, and I hope that some day, we can put a stop to puppymills.

Remember, it takes time to find the right dog for you - make sure you and the puppy match. Thank you for asking advice!

Krista