Eireann

Thank you everyone for the helpful replies!

I realize pets are often for adoption in pet stores, and assumed this was the case at my local one. However, the cats have been going for free....the local shelter adopts cats out for around $80. Anyway, if I ever see pups for sale at a pet store again, granted I'm not confusing it for an adoption day, is there anything I can do? Thanks again.

So the rabbits, ferrits and the like also come from back yard breeders you think? Same with birds? I always assumed the cats at my local one came from the county shelter, but recently they've been going for free, and that thought hit me pretty hard. Does anyone think speaking to a manager would do any good?

When you see pups for sale in front of pet stores, what can you do? Recently on a trip across country (the trip was to the Teton Range in Wyoming...amazing!) I stopped at a very average pet store to look at the magazine selection. As I walked to the front door I saw a few crates stacked on the sidewalk. To my dismay, inside the crates were two border (maybe aussie but that's neither here nor there) pups. I walked into the store clenching my jaw and began flipping through some magazines but could not get my mind off the pups. I walked out of the store on the way back to the bus trying to stay passive, but spun and started towards the store again with every notion of giving someone a piece of my mind. However, at the front desk was a girl around my age (I'm 15) and I didn't want to take it out on her because she obviously wasn't running the place. So with that, I began mumbling to my friends and headed out to the bus. My question for all of you is, what could I have done? Should I have asked for a manager and demanded to know from whom they got the pups in an attempt to make them feel guilty? Should I have tried to play nice and inform them on the terrors of puppy mills? I'm at a loss....I just felt so bad for the poor pups. Any suggestions would be helpfull, I'm very willing to help fight this if at all possible. But, that particular store is now out of reach because it was somewhere in Wyoming and I'm now back home in Michigan Also, my local pet store (same chain as the one at which the incident happened) always has cats for sale. Next time I go I will be sure to ask where they get their cats from...but do people back yard breed cats, too? One more thing, the local store sells Diomand dog food. Is that still a credible feed? All locations mentioned are 'Pet Supplies Plus' locations. Thanks for any help.

Hey, Sarah!! It's Annie- did we know that we had this forum in common? I guess I'm pretty much a faker though, because I don't even have a border. haha Anyway, great to hear about your achievement! That dog must be awesome. Once again, I'm going to warn you that if I ever meet the boy, I will steal him! I'm headed to the 4th of July event this weekend in my area. I hope Connor gets half of Chord's distance.

Good thread! I've got a clicker question... how often do you use it? If a dog is used to the clicker (as in he obviously understands it etc) could you train twice a week or month and expect the dog to still react?

Great info, Tex .

For one of my guys (sorry, not a border....just a lab) I used flavored tennis balls. They make them in chocolate, vanilla, mint and something else. The balls come in packs of 4, so I bought 3 packs right off the bat and played for 5min about a billion and half times a day for a week- worked like a charm! He is totally food driven so I put him on a check cord, threw the ball, he picked it up, I reeled him in and because he liked the taste, he kept the ball in his mouth long enough to actually make the retrieve....voila! The only reason I had to buy so many packs of balls was because the idiot (as I affectionately call him ) only liked the vanilla ones and the balls themselves were not a sturdy as regular tennis balls, but once he got the hang of it, it was easy to switch him to regular ones.

That's interesting- thank you for the reply. I guess I've never even thought of S/N early as a 'bad' thing, but my male (lab 2yo) did just tear his ACL and was fixed at 6months. Interesting indeed.

How can spaying and neutering effect the growth plates? I've always (at the vet's suggestion) spayed and neutered before 7months with no problems. Would the dog be stunted in his growth or does it have something to do with his joints? Just wondering- thanks.

I dont understand it either....if someone loves a breed, than they should love that breed for what it does. I think conformation would be like buying a toaster or something and saying "No,it cant make toast, but doesnt it look nice sitting on the counter?" If it can't make toast (aka work) than what's the point of having it? ( aka breeding to it)