ok so you got your dog from a "puppy Mill" and your ok with that and supporting that? Your ok with knowing that both your dog and its dam spent its life in a wire cage will little human contact? The dam will never know the feel of dirt and grass on her feet? Or laying on a couch or even in her final moments human love?
Also not sure what you mean by you want to own your dog not rent it? Every breeder I know who sells their "pet" dogs sells them outright. HOWEVER, if the owners circumstances change to where they are not able to keep the dog we require that the dog come back to us (some breeders even reimburse you depending on situations) so it doesnt end up in a shelter. Is that what you mean by "renting"?! That we care where our dogs end up?!
Please. Notice that I qualified "puppy mill" as in "the loosest sense of the term."
I got Dickens from a nice retired person and her husband who breed and raise purebred puppies to sell as pets. At any one time they have around fifty puppies for sale, of various breeds, and some "designer" breeds. Their kennels are open to the public on a walk-in basis; I didn't need an appointment to come see the puppies and their parents. The kennels are large, spotless, air conditioned, heated, and probably the cleanest you'll find anywhere. Dickens's parents, while not the best representatives of the breed you'll ever see, were nonetheless beautiful and well-cared-for. All puppies were wormed and vaccinated on schedule; indeed, the owner wouldn't allow me to leave until Dickens had received the last of his vaccinations for which he was due on the day I got him.
My dog and his dam did not spend their lives in a wire cage with little human contact (quite the contrary, actually), nor experience any of the other horrors of true "puppy mills." But for all that, if you want to be really technical, this was either a very "nice" puppy mill, or a very extensive backyard breeder. I'm fine with that. I wanted a Sheltie as a pet, and there was a good, healthy one available. I don't breed dogs myself, and have no intention of Dickens ever breeding ... not that that would necessarily be bad, in my opinion. I have some very definite notions regarding canine eugenics, which don't jibe with majority opinion here, but that's another story.
I mean what I say regarding purchasing a puppy as opposed to renting one. I would assume my meaning is clear enough. Breeders who sell puppies under contract with extensive qualifications and ridiculous conditions aren't really transferring ownership of the animal. They consider the dog "theirs," and for the price stipulated in the contract are trying to get the buyer to handle "their" dog in the way they wish, with the proviso that the owner gets to pay for its upkeep and maintenance. Others may find that acceptable, but for my part, I don't.
However, if the breeder's only stipulation is that the dog come back to him if the owner doesn't want it, that's not too bad a deal, both for the purchaser and the owner. It preserves the owner's interest in the dog without any real cost to him, keeps him free to raise the dog as he sees fit, and gives the breeder some assurance that "his" dog won't end up in a bad place.
