Ted Bauchner
April 3, 2003
Post #1621 – 20030403
I know that in your book “Superpuppy” you are adamant about the fact that you should never purchase a puppy from a petstore. However, we found a four month old Old English Sheepdog at Petworks. We know the girl who cares for the puppies there, and we trust her. She tells us that this dog is a sweet dog with an excellent temperment. I played with the dog several times and administered, as best as I could, the personality test that you have in your book. He did score, according to the guidelines in your book, a three in several categories. He did not display aggressive tendencies and I found him to be alert and responsive. From what I observed on several visits, the dog is very well cared for at the store, and the living conditions are excellent. I was able to contact the vet who gives him his shots and weekly check-ups, and he assured me that the dog is in good health. Based on the above, would it be foolish to purchase this puppy or must I go through the OES Club of America to locate breeders in my area? I live in Valley Stream, Long Island. Thank you very much for your expert advice. I look forward to your response.
Daniel replies:
It is possible to get a disaster of a puppy from a breeder, and it is possible to get a perfectly ok puppy at a pet shop. What we maintain is that it is vastly more likely that the disaster-type will have come from a pet shop. I'm not going to advise you one way or the other. Good luck.