Pet Topics

“We never get our puppies from puppy mills”, touts the smiling and clean pet store worker, shoving a helpless and utterly adorable puppy into your face. The puppy all but screams “Help me!” But resist. Walk out the door and never come back to that store again. All pet stores get their puppies from puppy mills. Buying that puppy would just perpetuate the misery that puppy’s parents and siblings had to go through.

If you want a healthy and sensible companion pet, go to a shelter or a breed rescue to save a life and find the friendship you need. But if you have your heart set on raising a puppy, do your research to find out which breed is right for your lifestyle. 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.

One of the best things about getting your puppy from a Bichon Frise breeder is that you get to meet Mom. You may also get to meet Dad and even aunts and uncles. Genetics makes up a lot of how a puppy is going to behave in the future. When you can see what kind of dogs the puppy is going to be springing from, this will help you select a puppy wisely. You will be reassured that the puppy is healthy, sane and being well cared for.
A reputable Bichon Frise breeder takes the responsibility of finding good forever homes for each and every precious puppy very seriously. If you’ve ever been forced to give away an animal, you know exactly what they are going through. So Bichon Frise breeders will check you out very thoroughly, often including background checks and requesting a letter of character reference from you veterinarian. He or she will also drill you on your Bichon Frise knowledge to know what you are getting in for. 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.

There are both good and bad Bichon Frise breeders out there, sorting through them can take some time. There would be fewer abandoned dogs if basic Bichon Frise information was made better available to the public.