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 dont 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. Puppy mills are barbaric places where dogs are treated like unfeeling breeding machines. They never get to play, they never get affection and they certainly never get veterinary care. The puppy mill workers do all the vet care, whether they know what they are doing or not.
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 perpetuate 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.
The puppies bred in this condition are often sickly, have behavioral problems and often aren't purebred. There is no legal overseeing group that makes sure a dog is a purebred. Anyone can fill out whatever they darn well like in pedigree papers and no one checks up on anything. Bichon Frise breeders not only will sell you a healthy, behaved puppy but one that is pedigreed. They also are great sources of accurate Bichon Frise information throughout all of your Bichon dog's life.
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