Article central > To Purchase or Adopt?

By Tripp Wood

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While each person must decide what’s right for them, here are a few items you may wish to consider:

Dogs available for adoption should be considered only by those persons with experience in handling potentially challenging situations. Remember, those dogs available for adoption are hardly ever the ones that come from caring families. After all, if they were proper families, they never would have dropped them off at the pound. You can almost bet proper training, care, and nutrition was non-existent. If your family is willing to take the chance on a pound dog, have patience and make it a lifelong commitment, then by all means proceed. Most good breeders support adoption programs, and we all want to see them have a chance.

If, however, you are a family that needs to be confident in the temperament and health of your dog, you should purchase from a breeder that has a program designed to minimize risks and place favor on your side. You may also wish for a dog that has the ability to learn specific skills, such as retrieving or swimming, or need to be able to trust them with neighborhood children. You should not feel bad because you want what’s right for your family.

A word about those advocating an end to all breeding as long as there are dogs available for adoption: This is an unrealistic view. Not all families are ready to cope with the potential challenges presented by pound dogs, and not all pound dogs are right for families, especially those with children. One has to remember it was improper breeding that placed many of these dogs in jeopardy in the first place. Ending breeding will only exacerbate the problem.

If this was truly a standard that should be followed, then by the same token perhaps humans should stop having children and turn strictly to adoption. When thought of in this way, the ridiculousness of the idea really comes home. Only the irresponsible would continue to have children, and the genes of the caring individuals would come to an end.