I posted the pic of me and the pup on Reddit. I post pics of my other dog and my art from time to time for ***** and giggles. I thought I'd get some upvotes and a like or two, but it ended up making the front page of Reddit and has close to 13k upvotes.
I guess I was pretty naive posting it because the pic has a lot of negative comments about buying my dog from a breeder (it was not, by any means a puppy mill) instead of a shelter. Before I got the pup, I did lots of research and spent countless hours finding a breed that would be a good fit for my home, my family and my dog. My first dog has been such a great thing for me on so many levels. I spend hours each day (no exaggeration) working with him, training him, walking him 2 to 4 miles a day and playing with him. Our goal is to make him a therapy dog because kids absolutely love him and he's a gentle giant. We want to train the new one too and I was very comfortable speaking with her breeder, knowing her health records, learning the breed and what condition the pup was raised in. Ultimately, I am very pleased with the decision to get her. She's a sweetheart and our big dog has been great with her.
While I support adopting shelter dogs and rescue dogs, this wasn't an option we felt comfortable with. I know there are tons of neglected dogs and shelter dogs with no homes and being a dog lover, it's sad to me. Should I feel bad for buying my pup from a breeder instead of adopting a dog at a local shelter? I want to say I don't care, but at the end of the day, some of the comments have made me feel pretty bad. In the future, getting a dog from a shelter could be a great option, but from the hours I put into making the decision, I chose a dog from a breeder.
There are lots of other reasons why I got the pup we did too, and to be honest, the experiences I've had with shelter dogs haven't been great (that certainly doesn't mean there are many great experiences.) Both my gf and I are allergic to dogs and both of our dogs are the breeds we can live with and not be miserable. My brother adopted a pitbull mix from a shelter in California and she's super obedient and I love her tons. That said, she will eat you if she doesn't know you and will try and kill any animal it doesn't know. It's very hard to introduce her to males and other dogs. I do not let my son by her. My buddy also recently adopted a dog. It has been a great experience for him, but very challenging. The dog is hyper, hard to train and has chewed up thousands of dollars of items and destroyed his backyard by digging. These are other reasons that made me more comfortable with raising a pup brought up in great conditions and socialized. It's not to say the dog I got can't be terrible either. Dogs are dogs and will have their natural demeanor. Some dogs are better at being in different environments, regardless of the breed.
I'm probably over thinking this. I know I did nothing wrong and my decision made me very happy. Social media is an interesting medium where people show fake outrage or are morally better than you and want you to know it. Anyway, thought I'd share.
