Cheap Pet Insurance

December 4th, 2008 by Mary Stevenson

If you remember only one thing from this article, please remember this ? never buy a puppy from a pet store. In fact, don’t even buy pet supplies from pet stores that sell puppies. It can be tempting to go to a pet store today to get a fluffy white Bichon Frise puppy ? and that’s exactly what pet store owners hope you will do. They thrive on impulse shoppers. They don’t care who they sell their puppies to, they only care about getting your money.

If you really have your heart set on a Bichon Frise puppy, then you can make life a lot easier for yourself and the dogs by getting in contact with a Bichon Frise breeder. You can find them through the Internet, by going to dog shows, through recommendations from other Bichon owners in your area and sometimes even your vet. If everyone stopped buying puppies from pet stores, then this inhumane practice could be stopped. What’s inhumane about buying a puppy at a pet store? Plenty! First off, all puppies in all pet stores are from puppy mills.

Perhaps you once had a Bichon Frise, a Poodle-like toy dog that is becoming more and more popular. You should get your next Bichon Frise from a Bichon Frise breeder. A Bichon Frise breeder will offer a lot of little extras that no other pet store or even an all-pet animal shelter can. This is because he or she can spend a lot of time and effort on just a few dogs ? or at the most, a few dozen ? and gets to know their temperaments and quirks. In this way, you can be matched with a Bichon Frise puppy that is most compatible for your personality and lifestyle.

No Bichon Frise breeder would ever sell puppies to a pet store. Bichon Frise breeders take their responsibilities very seriously. Since they planned on bringing the puppies into the world, they are responsible for finding good homes for the puppies. They will do background checks on prospective puppy owners, drill you on your Bichon Frise information (or lack thereof) and often ask for character reference letters. They want to be sure that you are going to be a humane owner and won’t give the dog to a shelter once it has outgrown the cute stage.

Always buy from a reputable Bichon Frise breeder, because buying a puppy at a pet store only helps to per petuate the inhumane and barbaric puppy mill system. In a puppy mill, dogs are treated worse than battery hens (and there are even laws to protect battery hens, now). Dogs are never taken to a vet, as that would cut into the profit margin. They spend their lives in crates and only come out to breed. They often spend most of their lives sitting in their own excrement.

Bichon dogs need a lot of grooming, for example. If you are not sure of how best to care and train your Bichon, now is the time to ask for Bichon Frise information.Here’s another way in which Bichon Frise breeders differ from pet shops. They will take the puppy back, even when full grown, if you should run into a spell of bad luck and can no longer take care of a dog. You won’t get your money back, but that shouldn’t matter in knowing that your friend will have a good home with people he or she likes. Check your contract carefully before signing to see if this is included.