D
I'm sorry, Sphen. My wife and I lost our little beagle a couple years ago. We still miss her.Our 14 year old dog passed away just after Christmas.
This thread came alive again. I can report that we started to look for a puppy on Monday. After a week of searching, we have uncovered a lot of scams, lies, and deceit. I will not bore you with all the details. We drove around a lot. More than one seller was a no show. We learned much about the scammers' victimization patterns, but did not fall for any of them.I'm sorry, Sphen. My wife and I lost our little beagle a couple years ago. We still miss her.
Been there and done that, and we are not eager to repeat the experience.Looking for another pet....cat/dog/whatever....?
Let the animal find you
If it is meant to happen, it will.
This thread came alive again. I can report that we started to look for a puppy on Monday. After a week of searching, we have uncovered a lot of scams, lies, and deceit. I will not bore you with all the details. We drove around a lot. More than one seller was a no show. We learned much about the scammers' victimization patterns, but did not fall for any of them.
Yes, we looked at every rescue dog in all four of our local shelters, too. Sad to say, but there are few choices other than large pit bulls and pit bull variants. We keep looking at new arrivals, too. We understand that we are in a "long game" that may take weeks or months before we find a perfect match for our needs. That's okay.
Can Be Safely Ignored:
The laws in California changed a few years ago regarding pet sales. My partner and I learned about them the hard way this week. Although the laws were well-intentioned, they may have caused more harm than good, based on what we saw. Under the new law, pet stores may sell only rescue dogs from rescue shelters, but not from breeders. It drove many people to illegal black market sales in parking lots. Now the market is filled with sick, abused puppies, sold by questionable, anonymous "breeders". Many of the puppies are smuggled across the border. We saw several sad, sick puppies in laundry baskets being sold from the back of cars this week. After what we saw and learned, we will not do any more parking lot meetings.
My favorite scam was the young widow whose dog breeder husband died recently during surgery. She is an electrical engineer who must move immediately to a new job in San Francisco. She must sell the remaining one male and one female puppy, but only to good homes ... My partner and I responded for the entertainment value, but it wasn't worth our time, to be honest. The first reply from the seller was a questionnaire to determine whether we were suitable buyers who would love and care for the dog and send regular reports and photo updates on its progress and its happy life in our home. We answered the questions and received the expected follow-up. The deal fell through when we offered to drive and pick up the puppy ourselves, but the seller insisted that courier shipping was the only "humane" way to deliver a puppy to us.
I'm sorry for your loss, brother. When my cats died, a part of me died along with them, and it's been one of the most difficult things I've had to go through. That's why I've been considering getting a school of fish, since you can't interact with them the same way as a cat or dog, and when they die, I couldn't see being distraught over it.She became my constant mate....never ever to leave my side (until 16th march, 2023
This thread came alive again. I can report that we started to look for a puppy on Monday. After a week of searching, we have uncovered a lot of scams, lies, and deceit. I will not bore you with all the details. We drove around a lot. More than one seller was a no show. We learned much about the scammers' victimization patterns, but did not fall for any of them.
Yes, we looked at every rescue dog in all four of our local shelters, too. Sad to say, but there are few choices other than large pit bulls and pit bull variants. We keep looking at new arrivals, too. We understand that we are in a "long game" that may take weeks or months before we find a perfect match for our needs. That's okay.
Can Be Safely Ignored:
The laws in California changed a few years ago regarding pet sales. My partner and I learned about them the hard way this week. Although the laws were well-intentioned, they may have caused more harm than good, based on what we saw. Under the new law, pet stores may sell only rescue dogs from rescue shelters, but not from breeders. It drove many people to illegal black market sales in parking lots. Now the market is filled with sick, abused puppies, sold by questionable, anonymous "breeders". Many of the puppies are smuggled across the border. We saw several sad, sick puppies in laundry baskets being sold from the back of cars this week. After what we saw and learned, we will not do any more parking lot meetings.
My favorite scam was the young widow whose dog breeder husband died recently during surgery. She is an electrical engineer who must move immediately to a new job in San Francisco. She must sell the remaining one male and one female puppy, but only to good homes ... My partner and I responded for the entertainment value, but it wasn't worth our time, to be honest. The first reply from the seller was a questionnaire to determine whether we were suitable buyers who would love and care for the dog and send regular reports and photo updates on its progress and its happy life in our home. We answered the questions and received the expected follow-up. The deal fell through when we offered to drive and pick up the puppy ourselves, but the seller insisted that courier shipping was the only "humane" way to deliver a puppy to us.
Short story. back in 2009, I was reading a local paper. i came across an add for 'Free Kelpies"
being that this was in the bush (outback nsw) I didnt pay much attention ....because kelpies are the country man's dog...they are a working dog....particularly with sheep...and are highly prized because of their demeanour, and their intellect.
They commonly sell for more than most motor cars. Hence my ignoring the add.
The following week, the add was repeated...so....I rang the phone number. A lady answered and assured me that the add was genuine.
I asked her name and where she was located.
She gave me a property name and her name
I spoke to the local agriculture bloke and he told me that is one of the biggest properties in this area....approx 67000 acres....and he confirmed the ladies name.
So I phoned again and asked if she would send me an email with pics of the dogs
She complied.....I saw this little, full of energy and fun, female Kelpie....who I drove 150km to pick up, and subsequently named her Belle....because she was outstandingly beautiful. Belle actually knew she was beautiful...it showed in the look on her face when I called her, beautiful.
The lady was good to her word and would not accept any payment, despite my efforts to do so.
Belle settled down on the front seat of my ute and only sat up to bark at sheep and/or cows along the way
She became my constant mate....never ever to leave my side (until 16th march, 2023
I have always said that Belle found me....not the other way around.
View attachment 15648
-> This post is safe to ignore, there is no Linux content.Been there and done that, and we are not eager to repeat the experience.
Those rogue sellers abandon dogs that are no longer suitable for breeding. Those abandoned dogs were severely abused by the breeders, who dump the dogs in store parking lots. Walmarts are popular. The dogs may be hit by cars, picked up by sympathetic people, or collected by Animal Services. The rogue sellers don't care. From their point of view, the dogs are used up.
We are too old to wait for a good dog to find us, hence our active involvement. It has taken more effort than we expected, but we are starting to figure out where to find the right people.
Maybe. We wanted a pic to send to other members of the family. Partner took some photos and picked one to send, but I didn't like it. The puppy was mostly curled up and didn't look happy. We are not that fussy, but had hoped to do a little better. The problem is:Are you going to share a pic ?