The Irresistible Puppy

Have you ever walked past a pet shop and been drawn in by the cute puppy in the window or perhaps surfing the net and stumbled (deliberately or otherwise) upon the pets for sale section? If you have you are not alone. Residing in Christchurch I frequently listen to More FM in the morning and the antics of Simon Barnett and his sidekick Gary McCormick. This will be a familiar story for those who listen in, but for the non locals - some years ago Simon recounted a story of how he walked into Animates in Christchurch one day to look at the puppies with his kids and walked out with not 1 but 2 puppies. A case of the kids convincing him to get one and then not being able to leave the litter mate alone in the cage. Its a common scenario!

Recently Oprah Winfrey in the US has exposed puppy farms (or puppy mills), where bitches are bred over and over again to get maximum numbers of puppies making it a profitable business. Unfortunately these puppies are not necessary well socialised or given the basics in health care. The same goes for their parents. In addition to this an article appeared in last week's Sunday Star Times magazine 'Sunday' talking about puppy purchasing. It is that article, which a colleague showed me, that has inspired me to write this post. I have also recently written an article on responsible dog breeding on The Pet Hub which was inspired by me seeing a client while working as a veterinarian one morning who, when I was explaining at the clients puppies vaccination about desexing, said "oh, I'm not going to spey her, I plan to breed from her". The puppy had been purchased from a pet shop and no history of the parents/genetics was known for a start.

As well as it being important for breeders to breed responsibly, it is also important that as purchasers, you purchase wisely too. If you make poor purchasing decisions on your new puppy, this encourages the poor breeder (and if it is from pet shop with poor policies on puppy selection) to continue the poor practices and in addition you may find yourself with a time bomb on your hand medically and or behaviourally. This translates to a monetary and social cost for you.

Please don't purchase puppies on Trade Me or other sites, without first viewing the puppy and finding out about its credentials, in terms of the parentage. If you purchase dogs prone to hip dysplasia like Labradors make sure the parents of your new puppy have been hip scored. If they haven't, search elsewhere for your puppy. Your veterinarian can advise on what specific things you should look out for on the breed you are choosing.

If you are purchasing from a pet shop, quiz them on there puppy purchasing policy and ask them what they know about the parents of the puppy you are purchasing and what the breeding facility is like. They have a responsibility to have done this research before taking on the puppy.

Purchasing from a place like the SPCA, Dogwatch or GAP (Greyhounds as pets) for example can provide a useful alternative place to purchase pets and they offer some good options. However, choose carefully. Make sure the dog will suit your situation. GAP run a very comprehensive assessment and retraining programme for example and offer great pets for people that have a suitable situation for a greyhound. What is avaialble at the likes of the SPCA vary from day to day and week to week and it may take a while to find a pet that will suit you.

Articles on The Pet Hub which provide useful information for the prospective puppy purchaser are:
Which type of pet is best for me? and
Which dog breed is best for me?

Please avoid purchasing on a whim. The ramifications can be quite serious. Ensure you check out the source of your new puppy properly. Do not rush into your puppy purchase, but take time, do the research on firstly whether getting a dog is right for you, then on the best breed for you and then on the best breeder to purchase from.

Dr. Francesca Matthews
Veterinarian and Director of The Pet Hub

Sharing the love ...

I have just finished walking around my local dog park this evening with two of my regular charges, the pugs Angus and Tassie (soon to be 'Pets of the Week'). We go out an average of three times a week together for exercise because their human 'mum' (an ex-vet nurse and now groomer by trade) is pregnant and waiting for bubs to arrive.


Angus and Tassie are well behaved dogs, they love meeting new friends, and at 8 and 5 years old respectively, they've "seen it all before". Often in my area there are families exercising and socialising their new additions, and it is great to see so many people interacting with their dogs. It gives other dog owners (and walkers like myself) the opportunity to speak to these people about their dogs and find out a bit about that breed, their dog's behaviour, good habits, bad habits, and you can share ideas and information on pet care. I really love it how dogs are such excellent ice breakers when it comes to other dog owners or people who just want to pat or touch your pet.


There are often stories in the media portraying vicious, aggressive dogs, and unfortunately often these stories centre around maulings and even deaths that people have suffered at the hands of someone else's, and in some cases, even their own dog. Luckily these stories are very few, as the dog owners in NZ are excellent examples of animal carers. Their dogs are for the most part, well behaved, well socialised, healthy and happy dogs. And I'm in a privileged position in that I am welcomed into their families through the work that I do by being an 'aunty' to their beloved pets.


So I think we, as animal lovers, should show our love to our pets - cats, rabbits, mice, rats, guinea pigs, turtles, lizards, chinchillas, and everything else not mentioned (as well as our dogs of course!) - by giving them a big hug and just spending as much time with them as we can.


Tell us about your dog and where you like to walk with them in the comments.