For the Love of Dog: Shop
I can already see the raised eyebrows, coffee sprayed on the monitor, the fingers poised ready over the keyboard preparing to fire back the now famous adage: ADOPT, DON’T SHOP!
If you’ll indulge me for just a few minutes I think I can explain why the title isn’t a typo and I haven’t lost my dog-loving mind. Keep reading.
The Reality of Shelter Adoption
I bet I’m not surprising anyone when I share that Ohio shelters are much like those across the country — overcrowded, under funded, and begging for every scrap of compassion that might lead to some relief. You knew this, right?
You’re also savvy enough to believe that adopting a dog from these facilities is a life reward like no other. You get to save a life, you gain a furry companion, you have a new best friend whose every waking moment is spent rejoicing in the decision you made. Truth. All of it. Sometimes.
Adopting a shelter dog is also exhausting, frustrating, frightening, nerve-wracking, house-wrecking, and pack disrupting. Uncomfortable truth. All of it!
Why Rescue Isn’t for Everyone
Adopting these dogs isn’t for the novice dog owner. When deciding to take on a rescue you have to remember there is a reason the dog is in the position he’s in. Owner passed away and now he’s homeless? Sure, that happens, and that’s exactly what shelters and rescues should exist for.
In recent years these facilities have become overwhelmed with more dogs surrendered because their people just weren’t ready for a dog, their lives changed, puppies are hard! There aren’t any good stats out there to track how many shelter adoptions fail, resulting in the dog being surrendered AGAIN because it’s HARD to bring home a teenage or adult dog with minimal training, plenty of time to establish bad habits, and little understanding of what life with a stable human should look like.
With all that being said, it sounds like I should be supportive of the ADOPT campaign, right? I am, however…
The Truth No One Wants to Say Out Loud
Here’s the ugly truth no one wants to talk about.
Those of us in the dog-loving society could join forces, make a pact, raise some dollars, and agree to adopt EVERY DOG currently in the shelter/rescue system. There are enough dog lovers out there, enough homes that could take one more, enough rescues and organizations like ours to get the word out and make it happen, leaving us with empty shelters and volunteers scrambling to find new hobbies to suck up all the free time they suddenly have. Wouldn’t it be marvelous?
It would. For about a week.
The Influx Problem
At our county shelter alone approximately 450 dogs (and more than twice as many cats) were abandoned, surrendered, or passed through as unclaimed strays in 2025. That means in a single week, our friends deal with around 10 new dogs. We aren’t a highly populated county.
Until we stop the influx of pups through the shelter doors we will never make a dent in the unwanted pet population.
Here’s another uncomfortable truth, and this is why we’re having this conversation.
Dog Ownership Isn’t a Right
Dog ownership is not one of your unalienable rights.
Ouch.
A few short decades ago most people in my small town didn’t have dogs. Only people who lived in large houses could afford an inside dog. Only people who lived on farms had outside working dogs. There weren’t places to get a pet groomed. There weren’t stores full of outfits to dress them in, gourmet treats to pump them full of calories, and shelves of high-priced organic grain-free sustainably-sourced rain-forest-friendly kibble to make you feel like you’re saving the world by feeding your pampered pet. Dogs weren’t a right of passage, they were work. If I wanted to keep dogs around I was expected to treat them well, understand their needs, and have realistic expectations about how they fit into the family.
Am I waxing nostalgic about days-gone-by? Yes, but things really have changed.
Now there is a company in town that will literally come pick up your dog’s poop — for a fee, of course.
How We Got Here
Dog ownership has become a high dollar industry. All of the hype, the marketing, and the adorable family photos of you and the kids and Fluffy convinced us that anyone who has a heart needs a dog. Overnight, breeders were flooded with requests, but they couldn’t keep up. The responses ranged from “You want HOW MUCH for a genetically reliable, temperament tested, medically sound puppy?” to “I’m not waiting two months for your next litter, I need a dog right NOW”.
Quality fell by the wayside in an attempt to fill demand.
Reputable breeders were bypassed for convenient well-marketed pet stores.
No one had time to research where their next pet came from.
The puppy mill industry exploded.
The Puppy Mill Pipeline
In this area of Ohio, the puppy mill and backyard breeder situation has reached critical mass. At the height of the pandemic, puppies in Holmes County were selling for upwards of $5,000. No genetic testing for breed-specific disorders is done at these facilities. No temperament testing is attempted or even offered. Housing for breeding adults ranges from a space in the house or barn, to stacked kennels in an outdoor lean-to. Dogs are offered for sale online through brokers whose job it is to make sure you never experience the deplorable conditions these breeding dogs suffer in while your adorable puppy package is delivered right to your doorstep.
With the ability to hide behind the pet-store veil, minimal oversight, little regulation, and an abundance of uninformed shoppers these facilities began to thrive. Before long, county shelters and humane society groups were flooded with discarded dogs. The correlation and timing of these facts shouldn’t be ignored.
So … Why “Shop”?
So why oh WHY would I tell you to shop for your next dog instead of helping these poor souls in the kennels? With the right preparation, you can be successful at both. Shopping for your next dog might very well lead you to a shelter, and if so BRAVO!
Maybe to make it more palatable we’ll change the word SHOP to RESEARCH.
The Cost of Not Being Prepared
Without knowledge and preparation, the existence of kennels and rescues makes it all too simple to unload a dog that isn’t working. Having a baby and the dog isn’t as fun anymore? Didn’t know puppies chew on things? Or that puppies become teenagers? Didn’t know the breed you thought was so cute is actually a crack-addled rat-chasing pit viper on four paws?
No worries — there’s a shelter/pound/rescue to take him off your hands so you can make room for your next cute obsession.
Rescues and shelter facilities are far from the cause of their own angst, but because they provide an easy solution for the uninformed shopper when things just don’t work out they are inadvertently fueling the puppy mill problem.
What Responsible Research Looks Like
Six of the seven dogs added to our pack here at the farm in recent years came directly from their breeders. We researched the breeds. We interviewed breeders and owners. We learned what medical issues might arise and how responsible breeders track their stock’s progeny and adjust for recurring maladies. As a result of our time and research, there are very few scenarios that would result in any of our dogs being surrendered to a shelter. That’s not bragging or hyperbole, it’s logic.
The End Goal
If the practice of shopping/researching became the norm instead of the exception, many of our rescues would be out of business — but so would the puppy mills. Shelters would exist solely to protect strays until they are reclaimed and help truly homeless dogs get back on their feet.
There will always be dogs to adopt, just not as many if we bothered to shop before we adopt.