It simply amazes me at how some consumers think when they order a puppy online it's coming from a Top USDA licensed kennel. In fact, the majority are coming from some of the worst breeding facilities in the USA. Much of this has to do with some of the animal activists telling people,"Good breeders don't sell puppies through pet stores". So wrong, I have so many dog breeder friends who give me their puppies because they know of the care we give them and the GREAT homes we get for our puppies.
It's a shame how many people purchase "UNFIT" puppies online and what make it worse is the consumer has absolutely no recourse. People come into the boutique all the time to buy food and merchandise with their new puppy that they picked up at the airport. Much of the time the puppy doesn't even look like the breed they researched and selected from an online breeder. We make sure to educate the new pet owner on the care of the puppy. We advise them to see a vet as soon as possible to make sure the puppy is thriving.
You certainly can acquire a puppy from a store or a local breeder and still have an issue, However at least they can help you with a resolution. Don't think for one minute that any breeder or a store has never had a problem, if they tell you this it's simply not the truth. I am so careful with my puppies, however it's a living breathing item and they can get colds and coughs. I find it absolutely unacceptable for anyone to send home a puppy that they know it is not healthy.
I remember a few years ago in my boutique a family purchased a Havanese puppy after much thought was put into it. My policy has always been to allow only purchasers to handle the puppies because they can get sick or become hypoglycemic. The people purchased the puppy and went on vacation and while she was away sent in their parents and cousins and friends all to play with the puppy knowing full well what my policy is. The dog went home and sure enough broke with an upper respiratory infection. The customer came in and was almost abusive NEVER dare owning the fact that her ignoring my policy is what most likely made the puppy sick. This is another example of how a person can say they purchased a sick animal from a store. Remember, there is usually three sides to every story.
What I'm trying to convey is there are good pet stores and bad pet stores........there are good breeders and bad breeders........always check with the Better Business Bureau and Department of Consumer Affairs.
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Monday, July 30, 2012
I have been able to work at many different facilities in the past, However since 1995 I have worked for myself. I opened one of the first pet boutiques in 1995 and it still succesfully runs and is located in Nassau County Long Island. IT BROUGHT ME EIGHT GREAT YEARS AND LOTS OF FRIENDS. I learned the outs and ins of the pet industry. Back then it was much harder to screen our breeders, now it's very easy to find out what breeder is a humane loving person and which breeders should not be allowed to own a dog.
Throughout the years I have fought with so many so called breeders and some of them are just not smart enough to know that dogs sense fear and hunger and desire companionship. It's like talking to a wall and this is a breeder I will report to the usda. I also found that all the complaints I have issued through the years did absolutely nothing. As more and more kennels and pet stores get smart they are learning to check the breeders USDA reports and ask simple questions..." How many Dogs do you have?" When the answer comes back hundreds, I do hope the pet shop runs the other way. I'm hoping that with less support of the very large scale breeding kennels they will fall to the side.
There is some good news, recently one of the major puppy brokers in Kansas has closed after 40 years," Lambriar Kennels". I found that buying directly from the breeder or kennel makes the seller much more responsible for their puppies health. More and More of the breeders now Certify the parents eyes and certify the parents hips . One defect ALL breeders will never be able to avoid is patella luxations. Most of the time it happens because the little dogs are jumping up and down off furniture.
Throughout the years I have fought with so many so called breeders and some of them are just not smart enough to know that dogs sense fear and hunger and desire companionship. It's like talking to a wall and this is a breeder I will report to the usda. I also found that all the complaints I have issued through the years did absolutely nothing. As more and more kennels and pet stores get smart they are learning to check the breeders USDA reports and ask simple questions..." How many Dogs do you have?" When the answer comes back hundreds, I do hope the pet shop runs the other way. I'm hoping that with less support of the very large scale breeding kennels they will fall to the side.
There is some good news, recently one of the major puppy brokers in Kansas has closed after 40 years," Lambriar Kennels". I found that buying directly from the breeder or kennel makes the seller much more responsible for their puppies health. More and More of the breeders now Certify the parents eyes and certify the parents hips . One defect ALL breeders will never be able to avoid is patella luxations. Most of the time it happens because the little dogs are jumping up and down off furniture.
I have been in the pet industry for over 25 years and I must say, "I have seen it all". It is time for me to let the DOGS out!!!!!
My animal career started
in the 1980's, as a teenager working my way up to becoming an assistant manager
of a well known north shore long island animal adoption center. I thought wow
what a great job. I can remember thinking about all the animals that come here
for adoption and damn it, I am going to find a great home for each one of
them. It was my mission along with many others to get homes for everyone. Later on down the road I realized
it's all a numbers game, HOWEVER it was not a numbers game to me. The senior
managers were always ranting more adoptions!! more!! more!! More!!
I would never let a dog go to a home that was not in my eyes perfect and believe me I took the heat many times because as I said it really is a numbers game. Then there was the $25 perk to get the "Difficult Dogs" adopted and again I would NEVER allow the $25 incentive stand in the way of finding a perfect home for the dogs.
Like it was yesterday, I remember a one eyed shepherd mix named, "CHAZ". Talk about a hard adoption, she hated everyone except the people that worked there. After months at the facility the staff trainer said CHAZ was ready to be adopted she has no further issues. I was on the cover of the NY POST with CHAZ and sure enough we found her the perfect home, a single women from Washington DC.. Chaz adored her and it was her time. Several weeks later I remember going to work and guess who was back? CHAZ. It seemed she had bitten the adopter in the face. Looks like CHAZ is back for a while and she was. After a couple months I came into the kennel and CHAZ was gone, the managers told me she was adopted. I wanted to call the person and make sure she was doing well, however the adoption office could not seem to locate her adoption forms. Till this day I wonder did CHAZ go to the kennel in the sky?
Now working in the adoption center that was like being in the department of motor vehicles. In those days the kennels advertising campaign was come and adopt FREE puppies and kittens, you cannot imagine the element of people that came to adopt. We had at least 2 security guys in the adoption center at all times and even then I was still pushed, kicked and thrown into a window because I stopped an adoption from going through. The customers did not know we had a list from the city showing us all the addresses of city housing that does not allow pets. We also would read the adoption history and so many time the answer to a question," What happened to your last pet?", frequent answer was, "We let it go"....... It simply killed me. Many people would come with the advertisement "get free gas money with each adoption. The screaming that went on when they got turned down because they didn't have money to buy gas to get home. I knew so many of those poor puppies were going to god awful homes and they would be in a shelter by the time they were 6 months old. I NEVER let a bad adoption through, even though I was not great for the numbers game I could sleep at night. I just wish the adoption center really cared about the animals as much as people believed they did.
I was so disgusted as time went on with the lavish company parties, company cars, large salaries for the management. I though WOW, what happened to the well being of animals. I was offered a management position, I turned it down knowing full well this was not a place for me in the future.
I can tell you all these years later I do have the utmost regard for one of the founders of the animal adoption center. She really cared, instead of going shopping at Bergdorfs we took out the rescue van and pulled dogs out of kill shelters on long island. They would tell us rescue 15 and we would take 25, never letting the management know exactly how many we rescued. I think because of this task I was so tough in the adoption center because I know how ruff the animals had it. They stared at me begging to live and how I cried knowing we could not save everyone.
25 years later the one thing I remember is none of the dogs at the shelters were maltipoos, havanese, morkies or any of the other tiny dogs of which I have sold throughout the years. I could never bring myself to sell large size dogs, I always think of the large breed dogs in the shelters. Till this day I screen my potential puppy customers in the store, there is not enough money for me to send home a puppy to a bad pet owner.
I would never let a dog go to a home that was not in my eyes perfect and believe me I took the heat many times because as I said it really is a numbers game. Then there was the $25 perk to get the "Difficult Dogs" adopted and again I would NEVER allow the $25 incentive stand in the way of finding a perfect home for the dogs.
Like it was yesterday, I remember a one eyed shepherd mix named, "CHAZ". Talk about a hard adoption, she hated everyone except the people that worked there. After months at the facility the staff trainer said CHAZ was ready to be adopted she has no further issues. I was on the cover of the NY POST with CHAZ and sure enough we found her the perfect home, a single women from Washington DC.. Chaz adored her and it was her time. Several weeks later I remember going to work and guess who was back? CHAZ. It seemed she had bitten the adopter in the face. Looks like CHAZ is back for a while and she was. After a couple months I came into the kennel and CHAZ was gone, the managers told me she was adopted. I wanted to call the person and make sure she was doing well, however the adoption office could not seem to locate her adoption forms. Till this day I wonder did CHAZ go to the kennel in the sky?
Now working in the adoption center that was like being in the department of motor vehicles. In those days the kennels advertising campaign was come and adopt FREE puppies and kittens, you cannot imagine the element of people that came to adopt. We had at least 2 security guys in the adoption center at all times and even then I was still pushed, kicked and thrown into a window because I stopped an adoption from going through. The customers did not know we had a list from the city showing us all the addresses of city housing that does not allow pets. We also would read the adoption history and so many time the answer to a question," What happened to your last pet?", frequent answer was, "We let it go"....... It simply killed me. Many people would come with the advertisement "get free gas money with each adoption. The screaming that went on when they got turned down because they didn't have money to buy gas to get home. I knew so many of those poor puppies were going to god awful homes and they would be in a shelter by the time they were 6 months old. I NEVER let a bad adoption through, even though I was not great for the numbers game I could sleep at night. I just wish the adoption center really cared about the animals as much as people believed they did.
I was so disgusted as time went on with the lavish company parties, company cars, large salaries for the management. I though WOW, what happened to the well being of animals. I was offered a management position, I turned it down knowing full well this was not a place for me in the future.
I can tell you all these years later I do have the utmost regard for one of the founders of the animal adoption center. She really cared, instead of going shopping at Bergdorfs we took out the rescue van and pulled dogs out of kill shelters on long island. They would tell us rescue 15 and we would take 25, never letting the management know exactly how many we rescued. I think because of this task I was so tough in the adoption center because I know how ruff the animals had it. They stared at me begging to live and how I cried knowing we could not save everyone.
25 years later the one thing I remember is none of the dogs at the shelters were maltipoos, havanese, morkies or any of the other tiny dogs of which I have sold throughout the years. I could never bring myself to sell large size dogs, I always think of the large breed dogs in the shelters. Till this day I screen my potential puppy customers in the store, there is not enough money for me to send home a puppy to a bad pet owner.
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