The hashtag #adoptdontshop sounds great on the surface (who wouldn’t want shelters to be empty of dogs needing a home?), but it’s led to guilt concerning choice of sourcing your dog and ignorance of the realities of some dogs.
Here at Canisocial Co, we support those who buy from breeders and those who adopt dogs from shelters. We only have one requirement – adopt or shop, just do it responsibly!
Buying a dog from a bad breeder is NOT buying a dog responsibly, especially if you know the breeder is unscrupulous. Similarly, adopting the wrong dog for you purely because you like its markings is
irresponsible. Adopting a dog you know you can’t train or fulfil is also irresponsible.
#adoptdontshop refers to the belief that nobody should purchase puppies from breeders and that we should all instead adopt dogs from shelters. If all breeders were as dodgy as most breeders are, we’d agree with this statement wholeheartedly. However, in twenty years, no pet dog on this Earth is going to be alive. We’d need breeders again then!
Additionally, responsible breeders produce dogs needed for a specific role. This doesn’t have to only be working dogs – a pet is a role too. Responsible breeders also improve the health of our beloved breeds and contribute to lineage accordingly.
Finally, puppies who have been bred responsibly never enter the shelter system. A decent breeder always takes puppies back in the unlikely event that they need a new home. People are always going to want puppies (we will never change that) so we need a few individuals breeding for the right reasons.
On the other side of the coin, we cannot deny the existence of tens of thousands of dogs waiting for a new home through no fault of their own. Even if some of those dogs do have undesirable behaviours and are less healthy than carefully bred dogs, not one single dog on this planet asked to be born. Nor did any dog ask to be born with the characteristics and genes that it has been given. If you are not looking for a dog for a specific working role, I believe more people should consider adult dogs in shelters who need a home. People don’t realise how hard puppy training is – raising a puppy properly takes at least a year if you plan to see it through, and other aspects of your life have to be paused whilst you raise the puppy.
The problem with adopting comes when shelters are unaware of or lie about a dog’s challenging behaviour problems, which either decreases their chances of finding a home or, at worst, results in the dog being returned to the shelter or even euthanised. This point is bordering on the balanced/’force-free’ debate now, but shelters not opening their eyes to balanced training is ultimately leading to a lot of dogs being misunderstood and/or being placed in the wrong home.
Just as there are good and bad breeders, there are good and bad shelters. Choose a breeder
or a shelter to find your ideal dog, just make sure you’re choosing a responsible source.
