Should I get a dog from a breeder or the pound?

[Pliablemoose]

Lab Rescue

 

[Mallow]

go to the pound, get a dog and name him/her elbey... (lb)... get it? 😉

 

[Azraele]

Save a life. Get a shelter dog.

 

[zod]

Pound. And I've done both.

 

[MonkeyHwk]

Pound. There are also numerous rescue groups for almost every breed of dog. You need to do some research and find a breed that will fit well into your lifestyle and your future. A dog that knows they've had a second chance will be your friend for life.

MonkeyHwk

 

[alkemyst]

With a purebred dog (or anything for that matter) you have to have inbreeding. You also line breed (which is a subset of inbreeding at the half-brother/sister level). Once the traits of the dog start to become filtered out you inbreed again. You need to know the pedigree well as both good and bad have double chances to come out.

Inbred progeny aren't all clusterfvcked, however, recessive traits show and more often than not are undesireable...so then you breed them out and have pure pups again. (It's really much more complicated but this is the idea).

The english monarchy with hemophila was a prime example of inbreeding gone bad....many purebred animals show the same sort of thing.

There are also many reputable breeders that also cash in on the internet dog business which all deny participating in, but have email addresses. A good test of a breeder is to be persistant and act like you are going to give him volume orders...you will quickly see that most are in it for the money (like almost everything today). Many puppymills are found out to be side projects of real breeders under a different name. Also a lot of reputable breeders get that way by being congenial and friendly (good salespeople) and not because of top notch stock. Even contest winners do not mean the offspring make good pets. It's analogous to the superficial prom queen, she is beautiful to look at, great in bed, but to be around her makes your skin crawl.

The nice thing with 'mutts' is the dominant traits are usually the ones that promote survival of the species....recessives are more icing on the cake when they are good ones....so with a mutt it is much more common to have all good traits really and with a purebred much more common to have a little bad with the good.

If a purebreed is totally desired and a puppy is not the prime concern then a rescue organization is the best of both worlds, you will save a lost pup and at the same time get a purebred one (however, without papers most of the time).