Would you rather have a Rescue Dog or one from a breeder?

United States
December 28, 2007 12:44am CST
I have always had rescue dogs starting with our first dog Pippy my husband and I got her a month after we were married. She was a rescue and she was a very good dog for 12 years. All of our dogs since have been rescue dogs. I don't know that I would want one from a breeder. What are you thoughts on this?
1 person likes this
8 responses
@roberten (3128)
• United States
28 Dec 07
There is no dog better than the common Heinz 57 variety, so I suppose it's a rescue for me.
2 people like this
• United States
29 Dec 07
Me too, however I have a full boxer and Aussie cattle dog both from a shelter.
1 person likes this
• United States
28 Dec 07
If a purebred dog is what you want, you can get those at shelters and rescue groups. I know for a fact, there are rescue groups for pit bulls, labs, golden retrievers, poodles, chihuahuas, sharpeis and Jack Russell terriers in the towns within 20 minutes driving time from my home. They take purebreds out of shelters and foster them until a forever home can be found. I'd never buy a dog. Homeless pets die every day because people want that purebred dog and there are millions of purebred dogs in shelters everywhere. Just take a look at www.petfinder.com and see how many purebred dogs and cats there are!
1 person likes this
@academic2 (7000)
• Uganda
3 Aug 08
No, Usually I prefer a breeder whose progeny records have been proven-there could b a neighbor already with a product from a given breeder and I get more confidence trying to breed a similar breed!
@palonghorn (5479)
• United States
28 Dec 07
I have had both, I had a Golden Retriever that was a pound puppy, and she was one of the best dogs I ever had, she lived to be 14, she was loyal, loving, and a great dog for my daughter. I also rescued a Blue Heeler puppy from the side of the road, she is still with my ex-husband, and she was a very smart and loving dog. I now have a dog that we bought from a breeder for the simple fact that we wanted to breed her and raise puppies, so we wanted a registered dog.
1 person likes this
@Seraphine (385)
• Finland
28 Dec 07
My dog is from a show breeder and quite honestly I don't know if I would feel comfortable with a dog from anything but a show breeder who does all the necessary health-testing. It's great that people get dogs from rescues but not knowing the dog's history, what illnesses he's predisponed to and the genetic makeup of the dog doesn't sound tempting at all to me. I just like to know what is in a dog before I get one and with rescues, well you can never be quite sure.
1 person likes this
@skizz624 (10)
• United States
2 Jan 08
Personaly i have no use for breeders or puppy mills, there are far too many perfectly good dogs and cats in out local shelters. My little scraps "rat terrior" was a rescue basically, someone dumped him at my old job and i took him home. It's going on ten years and we're still together. Plus breeders and such have no conscience except for your dollars. They don't care about the animal unless it makes them money.No offense to breeders if any here, but i just don't care for your lot.
• United States
28 Dec 07
I personally would rather have a dog from a breeder. The reason why this is so is because usually, the dog from the breeder is of better quality and stock. The rescue dog has gone through so much. It would not be a suprise to me if the resue tog was full of so much tramau. Also, with a dog from a breeder, you can train it to do more things, and also it is more likely to be more playful. A resue dog on the other hand would probably be old at the point of one recieving it that it would not learn any new tricks. It will also tend to be more strick in nature, for it is trained to take its dog serious. Even though a dog from the breeder tends to be more expensive, I think that in the long run, it would be good for both person, and dog to chose the dog from the breeder. Sad to say that the majority of resue dogs, after their job gets done, are put up for adoption. And if these dogs do not get adopted, then they are put to sleep. Now, I always hate to hear, or see of, a dog going under. Especially one that is a resue dog that has probably saved around 100 lives in their carrer. I wish they would go about some other way in finding these dogs a home, and make it mandatory for these dogs not to get put to sleep.
@kdhartford (1151)
• United States
30 Dec 07
You know my answer, I would rather have one that we rescued, but I think it is cool either way.