Here is my story.... A little long, but true....
Before I was educated as to the truth about puppy mills, about the conditions, the horror stories, etc...... I had always wanted an australian shepherd. I was an owner of a rescue dog(north shore animal league) that was a mix of australian cattle dog and australian shepherd. During her life I researched both breeds. I fell in love with the australian shepherd. So when she passed away, I met friends at the local mall to take the trip back to North Shore for another rescue. When I walked into the pet store there was an AUSTRALIAN SHEPHERD!!! I 'oooooo'd and ahhhhh'd' and off we went to north shore. I came back without a dog but kept thinking of the puppy at the store. I CONVINCED myself that he was a sign sent from my previous dog and I should get him. (crazy thought I know)
I bought him, did not care what papers he came with, what letters he had after or before his name... I ONLY read health issue (regarding puppy mill dogs) so I immediately signed up for pet insurance. I said to myself, again crazy i know, that if he had health issues I would give him the best life he can possibly have and immediately enrolled in pet insurance.
He was 4 months when I got him, I signed up for puppy classes, socialized him.. etc... During basic obedience class I noticed dominant, aggressive behavior. I increased his daily physical and mental exercises. Still I noticed unpredictable behavior. He would play one minute and then bite the next...
I sought professional help. Euthanasia was the only risk free solution due to the unpredictable behavior. Most common answer I received from these 'professionals' was that since I bought him from a pet store he was a product of a puppy mill. Again, naive to what this really meant, my search to prove these professionals wrong began.
I dug out his 'paperwork'. I googled his parents according to their registration numbers and FOUND them! Champions! and even an article about his dam! I was so relieved...I emailed the owner of these dogs. Within a day I received a call back.... I was informed that these were her dogs but the sire has passed in 2001 and the dam has not had a liter since 2003. My puppy was born in 2009!.. So I continued my search, and made a formal complaint to to the pet store a month ago... (I have YET to get an explanation from them)
I also found out that the 'breeder' had a USDA number that does not belong to him. AND is was of another kennel that is NO longer being used. This is ILLEGAL. When I got in contact with the 'kennel' (which I later found out it is a puppy brokerage) to question the paperwork they told me the breeder was a hobby breeder and the paper left their kennel not having a USDA number on it. (this meant the false USDA number was placed there by the pet store) I requested a copy of the paper work that needed to be on file regarding the breeder being a hobby breeder I have yet to get a response.
My mission: to tell my story. My dog just might be a product of inbreeding. He is unpredictable. Can love one minute, bite the next. He has one bite reported to the dept of health... next bite, according to NY law) he will be put down. He has a great deal of anxiety, fear etc,..
I will never know where he came from, I will probably never get an answer from the pet store, kennel, or breeder.... but I will educate people not only to the HORROR conditions AT the puppy mills but the struggle of living with a product of these mills.
There are A LOT of people who are just like me... you see the puppy, you fall in love, you want to help... but the BEST thing we can do is LEAVE that puppy there. You will put these stores out of business and in return save so many more lives...DONT SHOP...ADOPT!!
If you have any questions or even recommendations email me at xopatchesxo@aol.com. Thank you,
Kathy & Nike

I work as a vet tech and wish to dispel a few untruths sold to the gullible public by unscrupulous breeders.

Breeding cross breeds does NOT necessarily make a dog healthier. The genetics that cause hip dysplasia in labs, are the same as in poodles so you can get 'labradoodles' that have hip dysplasia. Schnauzers and poodles both can carry the genetics for portosystemic shunts (liver). We are starting to see more schnoodles with this problem then purebreds. Why? Responsible breeders screen their breeding stock for genetic disease, retire dogs that produce serious problems, are involved in research to find genetic markers etc. They can spend months poring over pedigrees and doing research to find the best suited match for their breeding. They keep detailed notes. I saw one breeder who was breeding schnauzers and chinese crested hairless' producing dogs that looked like they had the mange - and billing them as 'rare'. Hairless dogs are hairless because of a genetic deficiency in calcium. These dogs not only lose hair - but they lose teeth as well, and can have brittle bones. And this is supposed to be HEALTHIER? In truth - the perception is there because it is almost IMPOSSIBLE to track genetic illness in mutts - so while they suffer from them - they are uncategorised and under-represented in statistics.

Some breeders place dogs into 'forever' homes. Some do this to give the dog a nicer quality of life - but many do so for the following reasons:

They no longer have the expense or labour involved with feeding and caring for the bitch/dog. People visiting their facilities may be led to believe that there are fewer dogs being bred - or that the pups are all 'home raised'. Have you ever considered the heartbreak if something goes wrong and your beloved family pet DIES during the breeding/whelping process?

Some people breed irresponsibly out of ignorance, others out of pure avarice. They are not held to any standard. They can not predict what each litter will produce - nor do they care - there are always gullible people who will buy them. I hear people complain all the time about how they bought a puppy from a (known) mill or a store and it wasn't what they wanted, expected, or it has been rife with health problems. I have tremendous sympathy for the dogs and NONE for the idiots who bought them without taking the time to do their due diligence.

I'm not anti-mutt - I've owned and loved them - but PLEASE if you are too busy to do proper research about a breed (or alleged breed) then ADOPT a dog that needs a home because someone like you made the wrong choice, and then dumped off to become someone elses problem.

there are plenty of dogs that need homes. why would you breed a mutt to produce more mutts?

I was glad to see that Cesar did not associate a 'number' of dogs or litters in the definition of a puppy mill. The only legal description I have ever found also described it as a breeding facility where the health and safety of the dogs are substandard in order to make more profit. I don't like the term 'puppy mill'. To me, a breeding facility is either meeting standards of care or not meeting standards of care. That is as simple as it gets. Standards of care, to me, are minimum requirements for shelter, hygiene, food, water, exercise, and socialization. Some of the legislation goes way too far in describing standards, while some are reasonable. Commercial breeding can be done correctly, and there are currently facilities that have good standards. Some legislation tries to set a maximum number of animals, which serves no purpose. Years ago, there were a lot of very famous and excellent kennels where there were large numbers of dogs, a lot of litters bred and sold, yet the care of these dogs was excellent. The one disagreement I have with Cesar is the support of the HSUS. There have been too many raids lately where they were unfounded. Breeders have been intimidated, and sometimes physically abused, to force them to turn over their animals. And even when charges are dropped, the animals are rarely returned to them. Sad, but true. HSUS would do better if they worked with those facilities that need education in standards of care, and perhaps parting with some of their millions as grants to get these facilities improved, instead of always shutting them down, ruining lives, and causing the deaths of many dogs. HSUS is a political organization that takes donations from people that genuinely think they are helping shelter animals. But HSUS does not help shelters. They do run five sanctuaries, but these are not dog/cat kennels. Many of their fundraising campaigns are unethical, making them appear to have custody of seized animals when that is not true. They never had custody of the Vicks dogs (which they wanted all killed!) and they never had custody of poor Fay, an abused pit bull rescued by Mutts n Stuff, yet they made a LOT of money in donations on this dog. HSI made an announcement that the animals in Haiti were not in need due to the earthquake, yet HSUS made a ton of money supposedly for these animals. HSUS spends a lot of their funds lobbying, with most of the money they make going to executive salaries, lobbying, and marketing to make even more money. Bottom line is that HSUS is an organization that means to ABOLISH all animal ownership and use. That includes our agricultural animals (meat, dairy, eggs, etc.) as well as our pets. There are many quotes out there, if you do the research, that proves this. HSUS also attacks everyone that does not buy into their extremist agenda as people that support cruelty, when nothing could be farther than the truth. We believe in, and practice, animal welfare, not animal rights. Their statements are very offensive to people like me that don't drink the HSUS Kool Aid. So I absolutely can not understand why Cesar supports the HSUS. Please donate to your local shelters and rescues. They truly need the money, because HSUS does not fund them. You will know your donation will be used for the animals.