Second, it is true, that is not always the case with rescues vs. shelters. In my neck of the woods, I have found it to be so. I have yet to deal with a reasonable rescue (not breed rescues, more generic rescues who are privately funded and often pull “death row dogs” of any type), and I have yet to deal with an unreasonable shelter. But that is a very narrow sample. Mostly, I have been very, very frustrated by my experiences with rescues, and I’m fed up with them! And as a person passionate about dogs, I can only imagine how this makes people who are more apathetic towards the issue feel. It upsets me. Because I feel like the ones I have seen could be doing so much more good if they would be more reasonable, and instead are often doing more harm than good.

While the dogs in shelters and rescues come from the same places, or are passed between, their adoption processes are separate. Which is why I appraise them separately. Not for the quality of dog, but for the quality of people and process.

Of course, no generalization is 100%. Which is why I started by saying “many, many rescues” …but then I forgot to keep that up. I’m not someone who gets upset by generalizations (i.e. “women are weaker than men” is not going to get my hackles up by itself…it’s true for most people because of biology, though certainly not all), so I tend to use them. Sorry if any offense was passed. I certainly did not intend to condemn all rescues out there.

As for rescue groups vs shelters — generalizations don’t apply. Some breed rescues are very reasonable about getting dogs into good homes; others aren’t. It’s the same with shelters. Some have the funds and facilities to be able to screen more thoroughly (and some abuse that advantage by being unreasonable); others just want to get animals out the door. And remember that breed rescues almost always get their dogs from shelters of some variety, so it’s impossible to separate those systems.

I love the idea of rescues. But I think the high-and-mighty attitude undoes a lot of the good a rescue could do. As such, if I were to ever want to “rescue” a dog, I would be heading to a shelter rather than a rescue. I just don’t need the judgement in my life. Many people skip that step, and go straight to the solution with the fewest questions possible, which unfortunately is horrible for the dogs involved.

What is a responsible breeder? Someone who truly cares about the breed and their dogs. One MAJOR hallmark of this, to me, is when the breeder will take any of their puppies back at any time of their life and rehome them, if the original owners can’t keep them. If every breeder did this, the need for shelters would be almost eliminated. It’s amazing. And it’s a practice I highly recommend people looking for puppies search for.

Online selling is becoming more common by reputable breeders. And puppy mills are wisening up, and doing things like posting photos of the “nurseries in which the puppies are raised” (obviously not the case in a puppy mill). I always say that if you are buying a puppy, unless you or someone you trust has physically visited the facility, you cannot trust that it is not a puppy mill. It is much easier to weed out back yard breeders than puppy mills, because BYBs are simply not savy enough to go to the manipulative extents that mills are. Unfortunately, people believe the pictures they see on the internet far too easily, and, as you said, get weak in the knees at the sight of puppies. This is a problem I am truly passionate about, but I don’t know what to do about it beyond trying to educate as many as possible. Unfortunately, I usually meet them after the puppy is home.

Rebecca, great insights as always. In California there has been talk percolating for years over legislation mandating that a puppy not leave its mother until 10 weeks. Don’t know what’s happened lately.

Kenzo, you are well qualified to talk about rescue and purebreds, and should not be bashful that you were the latter. I had never heard of your breed, so I looked you up online and discovered that you friends almost died out more than once, including in the 20th century. You are large and noble (with potentially too-human style thought process) and I’m glad you’re here to weigh in.

Ron, you’re killin’ me with your coyness? What breed? Okay, I know that you and SophDog may need to be elusive due to abuse of the breeds you save.