Pet Store Puppies - Problem

[Quercus]

<<my experience="" is="" people="" will="" either="" love="" the="" breed="" or="" hate="" with="" very="" little="" middle="" ground.="">>

That actually hasn't been my experience. I meet lots of people that really like a lot of things about the breed, but realize they just aren't a good match for their lifestyle. I think everyone I have ever met loves the way they look. The only people that I have met that have preconceived notions about basenjis being "bad" are other dog people ;)</my>

[lvoss]

I guess I should have clarified a little. People who come to meet my dogs and spend enough time with them to see their quirks usually either love them or really don't like them. People who see them in passing admire many qualities about them and recogonize they are not the dog for them. But people who have lived with them have a very strong response one way or the other.

[Duke]

I think the general population does not know what a Basenji is. The people who call Basenji breeders know or have an idea what it is or think they'd like to have one. Some people just want to "rescue" a dog, which is what I did. I thought Duke was a little mutt. There was nothing about him that I recognized as being a type of mix. Some people see the Basenji in the window at the mall and buy it because it's little and cute. (the pet shop & puppymiller's cash in quick) Then the buyer learns from experience if this is the dog for them. In many cases, it's not and the pet shop pup ends up needing to be rescued. If more people knew what Basenjis are, decisions about acquiring and screening wouldn't be as difficult as it seems to be. IMO the Basenji Breed clubs might want to think about a strategic public relations campaign. (get a Basenji on a TV show or in a movie like the JRT on Frazier)

[Ambered]

i took fender to my neice's softball game and one of the mother's said, "that is the weirdest looking dog i have ever seen!"
i also had a man in an electrical truck pull up beside us while we were out on a stroll and said
"that's a basenji, right?"
yes
"strange dogs, i had one when i was a kid"
and then he just drove off
mostly i get ohhs and awws, he is so beautiful, what kind of dog is that? blah blah.
i have met people on the rescue side who had tried to get a dog from a reputable breeder but found the process too daunting. for a newbie, truly it can be. if you know what you really want and what you are getting yourself into you are willing to drive to the moon and back for your new friend.

[JazzysMom]

I was once in a different town following a dog show, walking Jazzy and actually got stopped by a cop. I thought I was in trouble for walking her in the area I was, and was stressing out, but he just wanted to ask about my dog. He thought she was a Basenji, and seemed to know a little about them. And, of course, she charmed him.

I've had several people stop and ask what she is, and several who know.
But I seldom go for a walk w/out someone commenting. No one has ever said she's weird looking. Usually, it's "Wow! That's a neat looking dog."

[JazzysMom]

I read so many articles in dog magazines that are quick to point out how >>B's are so hyper, distructive, chew everything, are so difficult/stubborn >>and hard to train. Just by what is written in magazines I would never want >>a basenji. Why are they portrayed so negatively!

LOL, I'd read it all and STILL wanted one.
Of course, I got a weird one. Named it Jazzy, expecting her to really be something wild.
She is so calm, never jumps on the furniture, never takes food off the coffee table once we say, "Leave it", I can leave her leather leash in the crate w/her and she won't chew it, she listens very well, and usually only chews what she's supposed to {with the very occasional infraction}.

Hmmmm, maybe she's NOT a Basenji? LOL

[tanza]

Lisa is right, very few store in No. Cal sell puppies…. I am not so sure that they really know where they come from, but more that many of the pet stores that sold pups were shut down.... but the fact that there are many stories about the Lemon Law and pet stores does certainly help.
It is very important that we all educate the general public about where pet store puppies come from... and the problems that usually come with them.... Being hard to house train, IMO, is because they are kept in a crate just about 24/7... where else would the potty?... and the fact that they are taken from their Mom's and littermates way, way to early leads to problems with early socialization. It is easy enough even from a responisble breeder to have behavior problems, let alone a puppy mill puppy....
Interesting to the comment about no one wanted the Basenji pup because she would pee or bite them... not surprising... early socialization is so important for a Basenji, and in reality, all pups regardless of the breed.
The problem with pet store puppies or even puppies from BYB is the fact that people get caught up in the moment... and by from the heart instead of the head.... I know one person that did all the homework for a Sib puppy, found a breeder, was on the list for a puppy... then her husband was in a pet store and saw a Sib puppy, bought it and took it home... 3 days later it died.... so very sad... but the Sib people got together, found them another pup from a responsible breeder and put the two together...

[Quercus]

@lvoss:

I guess I should have clarified a little. People who come to meet my dogs and spend enough time with them to see their quirks usually either love them or really don't like them. People who see them in passing admire many qualities about them and recogonize they are not the dog for them. But people who have lived with them have a very strong response one way or the other.

Yes, absolutely! I can tell you in our area, in the past (like way long ago past), there must have been some seriously nasty basenjis. 'Cause just about everyone who knows what a basenji is then follows with the comment 'my (neighbor, aunt, family) had one of those when I was a kid…meanest dog I ever met' Yikes! At least my (and Vickie's) dogs are doing a lot to improve the breed reputation in our little part of the world

[nomrbddgs]

I don't think it's just there that there were mean B's. I've heard the same beginning up here as well.

[tanza]

Basenji 30 years ago were for the most part nasty…. almost all breeders that have been with this breed that long will tell you that one of the biggest challanges to the breed was temperament... and they worked on that to really improve temperaments. And of course it is our duty as breeders now to continue that along with health and conformation

[vstripe]

Yes, absolutely! I can tell you in our area, in the past (like way long ago past), there must have been some seriously nasty basenjis. 'Cause just about everyone who knows what a basenji is then follows with the comment 'my (neighbor, aunt, family) had one of those when I was a kid…meanest dog I ever met' Yikes! At least my (and Vickie's) dogs are doing a lot to improve the breed reputation in our little part of the world

< I have heard similar things, people that have known mean basenjis. Including myself I used to know a mean little basenji a number of years ago. I still have the scar on my knee from when he bit me. Its because of those storys that I have worked really hard on getting my boy well rounded and kind. I always try to make sure he minds his manners and is polite to all people.

[vstripe]

<<<<>>>>
Its so nice to know I'm not the only one with a weird one! My basenji Garrett is so freaking lazy chewing things up is to much work lol!

[Lenora]

It's hard for me to think of basenjis as mean creatures. I got my first one 37 years ago from the Humane Society at a time when nobody knew anything about them. No internet forums back then. We just thought she was a cute little critter with great big ears and a curly pig tail. My vet knew what she was but I'd never heard of basenjis. Pumpkin was very good natured, calm, never growled or bit, and loved cats and kids. She was not too destructive but she would chew my shoes up and then hide under the bed to escape punishment, and once chewed plaster off the bathroom wall. Her specialty was treeing squirrels. She'd get halfway up the tree before realizing that she couldn't make it and just hang there waiting to be rescued. She never needed a leash but she did chase down (and caught) a motorcycle once. Before I got Abbey 3 years ago my vet said, Oh no, anything but a basenji. They're wild! I didn't listen to him but boy, was he ever right.

[nomrbddgs]

@Lenora:

Before I got Abbey 3 years ago my vet said, Oh no, anything but a basenji. They're wild! I didn't listen to him but boy, was he ever right.

And boy, aren't you glad you didn't listen to the vet? Then you never would have had all of life's little pleasures!!

[felakuti]

we bought our sweet baby Nyahbinghi from Debbie's Petland after keeping an eye on her for over a month we couldnt stand it any more and brought her home. It was breaking our hearts to see a basenji in here shivering from the air conditioning. She had worms and an eye infection but we didnt care, we got her to a vet and everything cleared up, and she is our sweet one, and our felakuti is our big boy.

[tanza]

@felakuti:

we bought our sweet baby Nyahbinghi from Debbie's Petland after keeping an eye on her for over a month we couldnt stand it any more and brought her home. It was breaking our hearts to see a basenji in here shivering from the air conditioning. She had worms and an eye infection but we didnt care, we got her to a vet and everything cleared up, and she is our sweet one, and our felakuti is our big boy.

While that is great that she found her forever home (was this the pup with an extra toe?)…. remember each time someone buys from a pet store, they enourage pet stores to keep offering them... I only hope that for as long as that pup had to wait for a home that might discourage Debbie's Petland from getting more Basenjis. Also remember that pups in pet stores are NOT health tested....and come from NOT responsible breeders

[lvoss]

The puppy mills and pet stores do not care why you purchase a puppy from them as long as they get money. If people are willing to buy the puppy because it makes them feel better to "rescue the puppy from living in a tiny cage" the results are the same for them, they get their money. A new puppy will be bred at the mill to replace that puppy and the store will hope to pull at someone else's heartstrings to sell it. If that person is a poor match for the puppy, not their problem. Then it becomes the local taxpayers' problem when the dog gets dumped at the shelter with no ID and no way to track it back to the store and mill that produced it.

[red and white furever]

There're some great tips here!
I was just given a sticker for my car that says:
"Pet Store Puppies Come From Puppy Mills! Don't Buy 'Em!"
I sport it proudly on my bumper.
Heck, I can't even bring myself to walk into a pet store that sells puppies anymore. The last time I did, I left and burst into tears. That's no way to start off the life of a puppy, and I shudder to think what the parents of those puppies are being put through.

[jys1011]

R&WF-where did you get that!! I want one too Maybe we can start a campaign & stand in front of pet stores & give these out :mad:

[dmcarty]

Actually what I have done before is go into a store that sells dogs - I pick up things that I normally would buy and set them on the counter. Food, collars, bowls, leashes, beds etc . Then I 'notice' the dogs and say "I'm sorry I do not shop where dogs are sold" and leave.
NOTE: - you can't do this in the same store twice - they get testy.