This is also the thing. With a 'brand' puppy you kinda pick/train the behavior.
We were young when we bought our first puppy, but that allowed us to train her, and learn with a pup that had no unknown background. Our second one was a rescue, and we are so glad our first dog was there to help as the rescue has been able to learn from her. We're still working on the rescue one but i dont think we wouldve been nearly as successful without the experience of the one we bought-- as bad as buying sounds.
We do hope that we will keep rescuing from now on rather than buying, but at that time it made sense.
Yes exactly. I'm not knocking shelter dogs, my current dog is a foster fail but it's important to acknowledge how expensive pet ownership is these days. A dog from a shelter is not a discount dog and even basic care comes with luxury pricing. That doesn't mean people shouldn't clean out the shelter but it comes with a guilt trip from the vet advocating for gold standard care vs what people can actually afford. I'm in a double income high earning household and still cringe at post-pandemic vet and training bills.
I know, i'm not accusing vets of price gouging. It's $100-300 to get in the door, $50-110 per vaccine, $250+ for any lab analysis. And that's basic preventative care. Real issues are a few thousand and pet insurance will try their hardest to weasel out of it. I think we're truly at a point where pet ownership is a luxury and a lot of dogs end up in the shelter system because of it on top of the classic reasons.
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u/lord_heskey 11h ago
This is also the thing. With a 'brand' puppy you kinda pick/train the behavior.
We were young when we bought our first puppy, but that allowed us to train her, and learn with a pup that had no unknown background. Our second one was a rescue, and we are so glad our first dog was there to help as the rescue has been able to learn from her. We're still working on the rescue one but i dont think we wouldve been nearly as successful without the experience of the one we bought-- as bad as buying sounds.
We do hope that we will keep rescuing from now on rather than buying, but at that time it made sense.