Pet store marketing gurus really know their stuff, don't they?! Their cute storefront signs and fun-filled commercials make their inventory about as easy to resist as chocolate cake! Of course the fact that they aren’t as stringent as professional breeders makes them especially appealing. The reality behind these pet stores however, is enough to make anyone think twice about giving in to temptation. Let’s talk about the important role that professional breeders play for a moment. You’ll see how they’re relevant to pet store mishaps in a moment.

First and foremost, professional breeders don’t take their jobs lightly for a very good reason. Because they’re in the business of breeding quality, healthy, sociable (albeit - ‘expensive‘) Poodle puppies for sale, they take extra steps to insure that their litters are properly cared for. Such an endeavor takes a tremendous amount of time, money, research, diligence, and effort that pet stores simply don’t have or even want.

Professional breeders for example, ensure that their Poodles are bred according to strict AKC standards. They make sure that their Poodles have all their shots, and they make sure that their Poodles come from healthy, tempered, purebred parents who come from a long line of the same.

Pet stores on the other hand, do *not* take these extra steps because they‘re in the business of making a quick sale. Period. Pet stores operate just like any other store. They have an inventory that has to be moved quickly in order to make a profit, and they usually have a set deadline to follow. By any set of business practices, this would be considered normal. But we’re not talking about any kind of inventory here. We’re talking about living creatures - Poodles that have specific needs and desires. Treating animals as inventory isn’t just ‘abnormal,’ it’s unethical - especially after we consider how that inventory is achieved and maintained, includeing what happens to it when it’s no longer lucrative.

Unlike professional breeders, pet stores do _not_ get their Poodles from healthy, tempered, purebred parents. They get them instead, from puppy mills notorious for breeding unhealthy and abused dogs. You don’t need to know much about puppy mills to understand that puppies thrive when they’re born from parents cared for from loving environments. Thriving puppies are allowed to run free in a safe area and they have access to fresh food and water. They also get excellent health care. Puppies from pet stores however, come from badly tempered caged parents that are (in all probability) ridden with feces, urine, disease, and starvation. No suitable puppy could ever thrive from being born in such an environment. Yet this is what you’re confronted with at your ‘friendly’ pet store.

If you’re lucky, you’ll find a litter of pet shop Poodle puppies with no visual defects or signs of illness. The thing is that being puppies, signs of abuse and neglect may not show up until they’re much older when it’s time to train them or when it’s time to socialize them. This is the moment when improper breeding characteristics really begin to show and could quite honestly, be too difficult for you to manage. Can you guess where the bulk of these kind of puppies end up?

If you guessed animal shelters and rescue groups, you guess correctly. To add insult to injury, Poodle puppies for sale at pet stores cost just as much (if not more) than professionally bred Poodles!