Didn't Know What To Say

[Online Pets]

Maybe you could print out some info or buy a little book about the care required for this breed. Pop a little ribbon on it and say it is a puppy welcoming present. That way you are giving her some valuable information without coming across as rude.

I did this with a friend of mine, whose husband went to the pet shop to buy a fish and came home with a puppy

She is a beautiful friend and I didn't want to offend her, so sent her something to read and learn from.

Love this idea!

[Alkhe]

Sounds like the dog's in a better place now anyway! I don't think taking on a free to good home dog from any less than ideal situation is a bad thing, and as has been said, this girl may end up being a great owner.

I love people's suggestions of helpful 'presents' There's nothing worse than thinly disguised lectured by someone who's "trying to help", but genuinely helpful suggestions of grooming places etc may go down well.

[PetSitters]

I don't think you can say much really, only offer advice if asked for. I ruffled the feathers of an aquaintance once when she was waffling on about her "pure bred" Groodle, those silly oodle names really annoy me made out to be something special, but having a say tends to cause friction and not worth the potential grief. Perhaps this Cocker X has a better home now which is a good thing

Edited July 2, 2011 by PetSitters

[Tilly]

I am a sucker for talking about my dogs and asking other dog owners about what products they use, what trainer or training methods they use etc.

I knew someone who got a dog and didn't know about needing to vaccinate or worming (heartworm and all wormer) ...

In general conversation I started complaining about the price of heartgard and all wormer and mentioned how I had just found a wonderful online store which offered reasonable prices - even offered to add their order to my next order to save on some postage costs. Then again in general conversation I mentioned ... if it wasn't for reminders in my phone I would forget to give the dogs their monthly heartgard chews also mentioned how remembering the 3 monthly all wormer was a pain - even mentioned how I get one of the boys vaccinated on my birthday so I would remember.

Over time I asked them how the dog was going and when I noticed it was scratching a bit ... I asked how they were going with treating fleas ... mentioned I had some difficulty getting rid of fleas on my boys (having used a couple of different products) and was now trying product X and was finding it was doing well so far.

Over time we kept sharing experiences and they became a wonderful dog owner. I find being lectured by a know-it-all isn't helpful but general discussions and sharing of information is much more helpful.

[toy dog]

Being a PA my boss asked me to source a dog for his family, he wanted a collie so i sourced one for him from a very well known breeder. After that he told everyone in the office how long i've been with dogs etc. etc. and now some of the office staff come to me if they want to know about anything. The boss from the other department came in one day and asked about his wife's JR's as he was having trouble with them not listening to him. So i told him how he could do it and a week later he came back and said it worked. Another lady who works in the office asked about a certain breed she wanted and asked me to help her so i sourced out another breeder for her. I tell all of them about puppy farms and most conclude it is better to either go to a reputable breeder or help save a life getting a dog from a shelter. then those people go and tell other people their families and it spreads.

My current boss's daughter that i don't have too much contact with, don't know that well, recently came in after the boss told me that she got a Cav from a reg breeder. I asked her about the puppy and she said no its a Cavoodle so i said oh how cute and went and sat at my desk. I wanted to say something else but stopped myself several times. LOL

in the end i couldn't contain myself so i asked her where did she get the puppy from? she said a petshop, i said you know they source their pups from puppy farmers or farms don't you? she answered yes, after we bought the puppy we did some research and was horified of where he could have come from. They are after another dog, so i told her about DOL and she wrote it down as she wants either a dog from an ethical breeder of cavs or a shelter dog.

[Remarkabull]

It's really hard to bite your tongue sometimes. I just had to bite mine so hard it's bleeding!

I just walked up to the local Pet Barn to get a air pump for the fish tank and took Acheron (Doberman) for a walk with me. While I was at the counter a lady came in with a Pug X. It was hugely overweight and was snorting it's little head off. Anyway another lady started cooing over it saying how beautiful it was and asked what breed it was. Owner replied "Pug x JRT". Ahh said cooing lady, do they do that alot now, it's very nice I'd have one of those. Then the lady serving me piped up that 'yes, they're crossing alot of breeds now so that they can eliminate some of the problems with dogs'. At this I said 'what was that?' (I was in shock and was curious as to what other gems of mis-information she would spout off). She then said she new off 'breeders' crossing JRT and Dacshund to eliminate the long backs. I then said 'what about the pups that will no doubt still be born with the dacshund body?' She then went on saying how it's all about the 'genetics' and if it's done properly you eliminate all of the genetic problems.

I quickly paid and left at this point mumbling something about how I prefer to know what I'm getting when I buy a dog and I'll stick with registered purebreds from now on.

It made me a bit sad that these women had a beautiful example of a healthy, beautiful and well behaved dog from a registered breeder right in front of them and they were all to busy cooing over this ugly, fat dog and talking up the virtues of cross breeding.

People make me want to cry sometimes

[Guest Ams]

I am trying to bite my tongue at the moment after a collegue advised me they had gotten rid of their lab (advertised ftgh on that ***tree site) because it has urinary incontinance and was too big for their yard - needed more room to run. So now they have a KELPIE. Like that's not gonna need more room to run than a Lab!!!!!

[dancinbcs]

I would proabbly say something like:

"thankgoodness you gave this boy a home. Now he has someone who will groom him and walk him, everyday. He's going to have a really great life now"

In this case, this is a good response. The girl didn't pay for the dog, so hasn't been ripped off financially. I'm sure she will still love it no matter if it is purebred or not. Maybe giving her a book on the breed will enlighten her to the fact that it is a crossbred without you having to point it out. This is an adult dog now in a better home, so no real harm done.

When people buy puppies though, I cannot help saying something. I former idiotic work colleague asked me for help buying a puppy from a repuatable breeder. We found her a puppy from a wonderful breeder and she was delighted with it. Then she chose to ignore my protestations over her son buying a so called "spanador" from one of the biggest puppy farms in the country. She couldn't see what the problem was.

I have also just commented on an old school classmate's FB page. She proudly diplayed the photos of the Bulldog puppy her adult son has just brought home. First it isn't a Bulldog and second it is mostly white with rather red looking skin and no eye rim pigment. Up to this point I chose to ignore the post. Then she posted that the puppy was 5 WEEKS old and still unsteady on it's legs. At that I let fly with the facts that it is a crossbred, legally cannot be sold in NSW before 8 weeks and that it should have been vaccinated and microchipped before sale. Also pointed out that it will be prone to sunburn/skin cancer and could be deaf and the fact that the "breeder" was highly disreputable.

Why oh why can't people ask advice from dog savvy friends and family before buying a puppy ? If they know nothing about cars or horses most people ask the advise of those that do know about them before buying but for some reason they won't do it with dogs.

[Dogsrawesome]

I am trying to bite my tongue at the moment after a collegue advised me they had gotten rid of their lab (advertised ftgh on that ***tree site) because it has urinary incontinance and was too big for their yard - needed more room to run. So now they have a KELPIE. Like that's not gonna need more room to run than a Lab!!!!!

Wow thats insane.

Anyway i like the idea of a gift as well

[Huntia]

Sounds like the dog's in a better place now anyway! I don't think taking on a free to good home dog from any less than ideal situation is a bad thing, and as has been said, this girl may end up being a great owner.

I love people's suggestions of helpful 'presents' There's nothing worse than thinly disguised lectured by someone who's "trying to help", but genuinely helpful suggestions of grooming places etc may go down well.

I agree fantastic suggestions :thumbsup: