# Thought experiment - How easy is it to find good information about adding a canine to your family?



## curlflooffan (Mar 27, 2020)

I know that its always said that its on the future owner/consumer to do the research but I am appreciating more and more how hard that research is when you don't know what you are looking for. The information can be hard to find. 

So I have a little thought experiment for you. 

Imagine that all dog-related information has been deleted from your brain. You are a complete novice who has decided to get their first ever dog. 

Without knowing anyone in the 'dog-hobby' and without any prior knowledge what do you think a complete novice would search for on the internet? 

When entering that into the search bar what are the first search results? do you think they lead you to either good breeders or information on how to find them? 

When I thought about it, I think most people would search 'poodle puppies for sale (my region)' and when I do that for Belgium its all puppymills. 

France was a little better, it did lead me to the french kennel club website. However, the French kennel club is not as strict as for example the Dutch and I was unimpressed with some of the breeders on there, not as bad as puppymills though. 

What do you think novice potential owners search for and what pops up when you put that in your search bar?


----------



## Skylar (Jul 29, 2016)

Pretty scary.

Most of the first page was sketchy places that was looking to place puppy mill dogs or may have been scams. AKC Marketplace was near the end of the list. For me that’s a start point, not the only place to look for puppies.

I’m looking for a puppy and none of the quality breeders I’m looking at was in my google search and none advertised on AKC Marketplace.


----------



## Liz (Oct 2, 2010)

Yikes! Puppy mills and doodles; nothing good. And I think you're right - I would focus on breeders, not on all the other stuff first time owners struggle with.


----------



## For Want of Poodle (Feb 25, 2019)

I am a compulsive researcher. My search terms would have included 'how to choose the right puppy" and 'what to look for in a dog breeder'. I spent more than 10 hours in total researching my last computer, I can't picture spending less time researching a dog. 

That being said it did take a lot of research to get past my purebred bias, and the cultural idea that show dogs are all unhealthy can't walk kinds of dogs. Originally, I wanted a doodle of some description - a cockapoo, a sheepadoodle, maybe a goldendoodle!!! Growing up, my parents were strongly against pure bred dogs. Calling them inbred, saying they were all unhealthy, etc. After a while, once I learned I would need a 75% or more poodle dog to guarantee a non shedding coat I started seriously thinking about poodles. It took a lot more research and meeting my mom's nervous wreck of a BYB dog to convince me to go with a CKC dog from a good breeder. 

Even now - any time my dog goes to the vet I am told by my father it's because she's a purebred. As if cuts from glass, kennel cough, and pesticide poisoning are due to bad breeding rather than bad luck and a very active lifestyle.


----------



## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

Double yikes! I searched “poodle puppies for sale in Washington state” and the breeders highlighted by Google are mostly advertising goldendoodles, bernedoodles, labradoodles, teacups, chorkies (??), shorkies (???) morkies, whoodles, maltipoos, “rare” merles.... The list goes on.

Even more concerning is that the sketchier the breeder, the more reviews they seem to have. The average modern consumer is absolutely going to gravitate to those. Same with the kennels advertising “available now.” Their prices are outrageous, but it’s normal to not want to wait when you’ve decided you’re ready for a puppy.

In the whole bunch, I see a single breeder that I would consider, knowing what I know now.


----------



## cowpony (Dec 30, 2009)

I searched for the phrase "getting a dog." The results on the first page were pretty reasonable. Some were variations on "take this quiz to see if dog ownership is right for you." Many of those quizzes had links to further resources. One or two sites were humane society "adopt don't buy, and if you do buy here's what not to do" advisories. 

Searching fo poodles in my state produced a three way tie between puppy brokers, rescues, and some local breeders who do somewhat high volume but haven't crossed the line into doodles or puppy mill practices.


----------



## eeeeeek (Dec 13, 2020)

*Oh boy. Triple Yikes. *My search resulted in doodles, bybs, and puppy mills. I also got stuff like puppyfind.com and other dog finding websites. Mostly, I got alarming results.

When I got my puppy, it was after a year of research and preparation. I'm glad I did so much research, although I think that you can never be fully prepared for a puppy. They're all so different! I'm really concerned for those who buy a dog after a spur-of-the-moment decision. It causes much frustration for the humans and the dogs. I feel like more people should be better educated in the process of getting a dog.


----------



## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

"Poodle Puppies for sale near me" produced Pets4Homes (not the best site but does have some controls in place), and various higher volume doodle breeders in the area, plus gumtree, preloved, and other free listing sites. "Pedigree poodles for sale" got an Ad driven Kennel Club website at the top of the list (including links to buying a puppy safely) and yet more free listing sites. On the plus side I didn't see any of the dealerships that proliferate in the States - Lucy's Law seems to have had an impact on that sort of advertising. 

Drilling down most of the pups on the free sites are mixes; the few poodles are mostly from people claiming to be breeding pets. None appear to be KC registered, and there was no mention of true health testing. 

Worrying. The information is out there, of course, but only if you specifically search for it - and if you don't know you need it why would you? I can remember considering getting sibling puppies way back when - after all, it is recommended with kittens. It was only because I too am a compulsive researcher I discovered that this was a bad idea.


----------



## Vita (Sep 23, 2017)

When I got my first poodle in the early 1990s, I looked in my local newspaper. It turned out lucky, he came from a good breeder. 

If I knew *absolutely nothing* about poodles or how to find one now, I'd first do that again, and then look on Craigslist 😱, followed by my local dog shelters (only pitbulls there), and then I'd google "poodles for sale near me".

So I just googled, and pulled up a range:

a known horrible breeder
a rescue
a notoriously bad pet shop
a "teacup" breeder
a few doodle breeders who live on "farms" and have photos with the entire wholesome-looking family
and two fairly decent breeders but a long drive (for me),
some other poodle breeders
I'd likely try the poodle rescue first since in college waaay back long ago, I had a young adult mix-breed from a shelter and she was great. Then I would visit websites, but we know those can been misleading and if you don't know a thing about DNA testing, and they say "healthy", I'd think _well they sound nice_. But I'm sure I'd stumble on information about better breeders and might end up at a dog show in hopes of making a contact, except we're in a pandemic, so back to the drawing board.


----------



## Vita (Sep 23, 2017)

For Want of Poodle said:


> Even now - any time my dog goes to the vet I am told by my father it's because she's a purebred. As if cuts from glass, kennel cough, and pesticide poisoning are due to bad breeding rather than bad luck and a very active lifestyle.


I had to laugh at this. My late father might have said the same thing. He did get us a beautiful black Cocker Spaniel when I was a teen, or at least he thought it was one. In hindsight of how she looked, I can tell now she was mixed with something, but she never had health problems. He attributed this to supplementing her diet with good people food like a couple eggs every week and meat and veggie leftovers daily. I mean, Dad _liked _cooking for our dog, lol. This is something I do with my poodles too.


----------



## curlflooffan (Mar 27, 2020)

@For Want of Poodle I am the same but when I was doing research on buying a computer or a phone once I had decided on which one to get the rest was easy. As long as you are not buying from a scammer it doesn't matter which company you buy your dell or lenovo from. It's always the same product. I don't fault inexperienced people for not knowing that the same does not apply to dog breeds. 

There is a lot about buying a dog which is so counterintuitive.


----------

