I'm feeling incredibly frustrated right now. Earlier today I stopped in to a new pet store thinking I would pick up a new toy (or two) for my fur kids, as well as support a fellow business owner in the pet industry, but the first thing I saw as I walked in were several dozen puppies kept in cages behind a floor to ceiling glass wall. "Oh - you sell puppies?" just sort of spilled out of my mouth as a young, pimple faced man turned to greet me. He clearly misinterpreted the anguish in my voice for something else. He seemed proud of the fact they could offer me this "wonderful" service and smiled saying, "We sure do!" I couldn't even look him in the eye I was so disturbed. Thoughts raced about my head vying with each other for positions of importance - "Do those puppies sleep in those cages all night long? Are they scared at night when all the people go home? Are the bitches who gave birth to them already (fill in the blank) pregnant with the next batch/alive/healthy/sick/scared/in pain? Do people who shop here realize they are supporting inhumane practices simply by shopping here?"
"Sorry," I mumbled as I turned for an immediate exit. I'm sure he was bewildered - I could see it on his face once I was outside and turned to look back. And that fact alone is proof to me that it is WRONG with all capital letters for pet stores to sell puppies. He had no idea a person might not embrace the selling of puppies in a pet store. I'm sure he has no idea how many dogs are euthanized each day because there are simply too many puppies being born every day, but even more importantly I"m sure he couldn't tell me where any of those puppies came from.
I can tell you where those puppies came from.... A PUPPY MILL! There isn't any reputable breeder alive who would allow puppies they bred for the purpose of improving, or at least of maintaining the quality of a breed, to be sold in ANY pet store. That young salesman might not want to think about where those puppies came from or about the horrific conditions of their origination, and I didn't feel like calling him out to defend the sins of his boss, but I can unfortunately assure you those puppies didn't fall from Heaven.
I'll blog more about this later but until then, PLEASE DON"T BUY A PUPPY FROM ANY PET STORE! If you must, must, must have a purebred puppy, go to dog conformation shows, meet the breeders of the breed you are interested in, and purchase from the one you feel has the most integrity and knowledge about your chosen breed. If you are not interested in a particular breed, go to Petfinder and change your life for the better by giving a previously abandoned dog a second chance.
That is, providing the aesthetics appeal to my "sophisticated" taste LOL. Of course anyone who knows me well knows I'm only partially kidding about that. I do have very specific taste and am frequently complimented on my sense of style and design (not trying to be vain here; I'd fully disclose my many weaknesses to anyone who asked) so I don't necessarily want anyone else picking up dog related decor items for me.
Having said that, I did pick up a couple "dog items" in the past few days that I'm really loving right now. The first thing is a sort of "diorama." My new favorite store is called Majesty - Crowning Touches for Your Home owned by the ever helpful and sweet Amy Gray. Anyway, in stopping in to find some final "Crowning Touches" for a 40th birthday party taking place in my home this past Saturday, I happened upon the above mentioned display (it's probably not considered a diorama because there isn't really a whole scene happening but when you have a dog involved, that pretty much takes care of everything for this girl).
Anyway, Amy had cleverly arranged a "bell jar" to contain a statue of what (I think) is a Rottweiler wearing a crown and royal necklace. She set the royal dog on a bed of moss and I just had to have it. While each component (excluding the moss) was available for purchase separately, I "made" Amy sell me her cute composition. I had decided to name the dog "King Buck" after my late Rottie just because he was my first every dog love but then a friend who currently owns two rotties pointed out the markings on the statue and it appears it really is a Rottie!
The second "dog item" isn't a decor piece, but rather another favorite indulgence of mine; a book. The only thing better than a book is a book about dogs. This book is called A celebration of the new american mutt: a breed apart and has photos by Amanda Jones of the cutest mixed breed dogs ever! I have a few favorites such as Gidget a "chackhussell (chihuahua/jack russell mix) Jackson a "muggin" (mini pinscher/pug mix) and Vasco a pitbullet (pit bull/basset hound mix). But my all time favorite is Lily whose breed is completely unknown. Oh my gosh, you have to buy this book for her photo alone. It's probably a good thing her heritage is a mystery because I suspect if she could be intentionally recreated, we'd have people killing each other to get one. She actually looks "other-worldly."
Ahhh - I really love dogs and their stuff.
