Logan’s Run
In honor of Puppy Mill Awareness Day , I’m devoting the first post to some of our very own Dogsters who were from puppy mills.
I also want to take a moment to thank all those who put in their time, effort, and money to help rescue these dogs.
It’s because of those rescue groups, and individuals, that people like us have a chance to adopt these wonderful dogs.
On June 7th Lisa and I adopted Logan. He is a gorgeous 4 year old Bernese Mountain dog who came from a puppy mill.
He was a dog used for stud at a puppy mill, spending over 4 years in a 2×4 cage where he couldn’t even sit up. His only human contact came when it was time to be pulled from the cage to fulfill his role. When he stopped producing, he was discarded just as a 64 pound bag of flea and tick infested garbage would be.
After the breeder was through with him he was put up for auction. To possibly be bought by someone with no concern for his welfare, another breeder or someone to resell him because he’s a purebred, and continue his life of torment.
Luckily, that was where the Bernese Mountain Dog Rescue Coalition group stepped in and changed his life forever. They bought him and sent him to a wonderful foster home, to be socialized and allow him a chance to find a forever home.
Something minor in the whole scheme of things, but something that really drove home the reality of his situation to me, was that fact he never even had a name. As Lisa and I work with Logan to get him to trust humans, I have no doubt that puppy mills are a business, in it for profit, with no concern over the welfare of the dog. That’s why the word needs to be spread far and wide about these despicable actions.
I’ve recently been made aware of a few other Dogster dogs, all who have one thing common, their origin from puppy mills. You can visit the homepages of Kaluha, Merlin, Angel, Breeze, Fawn, and Heidi to read about their amazing stories, from tribulations to triumphs.
I know there are many other Dogsters, I’m not aware of, that also come from puppy mills. If you have a puppy mill dog please add your dog’s name in the comment section to be honored.
My beloved Max was a puppy mill puppy. He was loving and sweet and funny and one of the very best dogs I have ever had the honor of spending time with.
He was lucky to have escaped a life of misery he would have endured in the puppy mill; however, I now often think of his parents who were left behind and I mourn for them. I guess I will always feel guilty that I bought in to the “pet store” propaganda. I will love him and miss him for the rest of my life.
My poor Max came with health problems..yes, westies are prone to many, many allergies and I accepted that; however, Max was neutered early and, yet, died at the age of 6 with prostate cancer. I now know that it was possible that he had inherited it from his breeder parents. I only had a short time with this puppy but he made my life so full and so happy!!
My baby boy came from a puppy mill. I too bought into the pet store propaganda. I regret supporting the cause without doing research and knowing what was going on. At the same time I can’t imagine my life without my Indiana Jones. I love that dog so much and he has been with me through some very hard times. I hate imagining what the beginning months of his life was like, but I am doing everything I can to ensure that the rest of his life is nothing but easy.
My Jixxer wasa puppy mill rescue…he was bred in a puppy mill and then shipped to a pet store and it was on that trip where he was rescued — and that was the beginning of his new life with me…
He was very fear aggressive…did not like other dogs, or people for that matter and therefore was a challenge because he couldnt be cared for by anyone else but me but he was the love of my life. I lost him on March 8, 2008 to lymphoma at the young age of 6…but I like to think that was 6 good years he would never have had…
These puppy mills have to stop…
I am at work reading all of your stories and tears are pouring down my cheeks. I’m so glad these pups found loving families to care for them.
PUPPY MILLS HAVE TO STOP!!!
My baby girl Dutchess came from a puppy mill, she was just 10 weeks old when I adopted her. Thankfully, she was healthy most of her life and did not have any major behavioral issues as a result - her only issues were a total fear of being crated and some seperation anxiety. At the time that I adopted her, I had never even heard of a puppy mill. About two weeks after bringing her home, I read an article in the paper about the “private adoption facility” where I got her from and how it was busted for keeping animals in deplorable conditions (they were kept in other buidings on the property that were not accessible to potential adopters). My vet told me I did her a favor by getting her out of there when I did.
Dutchess was my very first dog, and I had no idea what I was doing back then. I made so many mistakes with her, but she was so forgiving and taught me so much. I lost my baby girl in March to nasal cancer at the age of 11. Was the cancer a result of the puppy milling? I’ll never know. But I do know that she was truly the doggie love of my life, and I am so blessed to have been able to share 11 wonderful years with her. I love her so much and miss her every day, and she will always be in my heart. She was truly the greatest dog I’ve ever known.
Puppy mills have to stop now! Dogs do not deserve to be treated like this.
I love to have one like yours but I’m just affraid of dogs. Marjan Sadoogh
My 3.5 year old Bernese Mountain Dog was rescued from a puppy mill at age 9 months. He weighed 50 pounds and was a filthy bag of bones. His rescuers/fosters worked long and hard with him over the next 5 months teaching how to be a well behaved dog. Shadow has been with me ever since and cannot stand to be anywhere but beside me, hence his name. He is very small, 70 pounds, full grown. His growth was likely stunted by terrible nutrition. He is a loving, funny, silly, crazy boisterous dog who breaks all the rules regarding the breed standard. He has what’s called a gay tail that curls like a pig’s tail. His front legs are set way too close together and his rear left knee has already required surgery for a torn ligament. And his size is below breed standard too. He is healthy now and it has cost me a small fortune! Do not buy a puppy from a store or a broker, EVER! Those dogs are all products of puppy mills and they do not care about producing a sound animal.
If you must, buy from a breeder whose credentials and kennel can be verified via membership in their respective breed club. Do research. Check hips, elbows, eyes, pedigrees and ask for permission to see the parents. If anyone says no or wants $$ first, walk away! They’re not the kind of breeder you want a lifelong companion to come from.
Or you can get a rescue through breed clubs or an animal shelter. Whatever you do, don’t buy from a store or a broker. Don’t even buy food or supplies from a store which sells puppies.
I once lived with a horrible man. He breed me to line his pockets. I was nothing to him. This over breeding almost cost me my life. The really bad thing about it all was he is a so called K-9 handler.
When I could not breed anymore, I was taken to the animal shelter to be put to my death. Thank goodness someone cared enough to save me.
I now live at my furever home and I am soooo happy.
Please!! Let us do all we can to put a stop to this horrible way of life and or death!!
My Old English Sheepdog Logan Ben, came from a puppy mill. The breeder had so many puppys that she was over whelmed with them all. The day that we got Logan, she had puppies that were “older” such as Logan who we go when he was 6 and a half months old and several new born littlers. The fact that she had multipal litters should have set off alarms and warnings to us. Another warning was that she did not want us to come to her home, instead she drove down and made the exchange at a gas station. At the time, we thought she was being nice because she was six hours away from us, but we learned later this is a common practice from puppy mill breeders so that the prospective buyers don’t see the terrible conditions that the puppies are kept in.
Logan was a beautiful boy but he had a host of problems. He had not been socialized, was terrified of men, cried all the time, and did not like anything new and unknown. He didn’t even know how to play with a toy.
I was the lucky person who Logan chose to love and I loved him dearly, however, he was totally dependent on me. Logan’s fear aggression was a big challenge and I was always terrified that he would bite someone. He never did get along with my husband and that was a real source of tension in our household. In the ten years that Logan was alive, there was a shaky truce between them, but no love.
Logan Ben was deeply scared by his early terrible beginnings. He would cry, moan and twitch badly when he slept. It was like he couldn’t even find peace while he was asleep. I heard later that the person I had gotten Logan from had been known as a cronic puppy mill breeder. Apparently her operation had been shut down several times but she would relocate and resurface again.
I for one really miss Logan Ben, but I think my husband put up with a lot from him. It’s not easy having a dog that has all types of mental problems, some of them we were able to over come, others we never did. The terrible thing about all of this is that none of this was really Logan Ben’s fault, because he was simply the result of someones greed, who bred him for the money his life could bring.
Keeping all pups past and present in heart and send PotP for all who suffer, those who bring them to safety and love and all those who have passed..
On September 14, 2008 we purchased an eight week old male, Scottish terrier puppy from a breeder selling puppies on the roadside in OK. We were told the puppy had been vet checked, had its first puppy shots, and had been de-wormed. We instantly fell in love with him and were so taken aback that we did not stop to think his breeder could be a ‘back-yard’ breeder and/or a puppy mill.
We took our puppy, Rover, to our Vet on Monday, September 15. The Vet immediately found medical complications with Rover (open foramen, bilateral hermias, and extensive parasitic infestation) and encouraged us to seek our money back. However, we couldn’t even consider sending a puppy we’d purchased in such bad condition back to the environment from which he came. Instead, we opted to try to help meet Rover’s medical needs.
In the days that passed, Rover went to the Vet daily. In the end, he was treated at a pet hospital due to his grave and eventual fatal condition. We only got to have Rover 5 short days, and unbeknown to us he was dying when he was sold to us. His little life ended in death at the pet hospital due to hemorrhagic gastroenteritis and blood-loss anemia secondary to massive, multiple parasitic infestation, coccidia, and secondary bacterial infection.
Rover was instantly our pride and joy, our family’s first puppy, and our new baby boy. We loved him very, very much. He instantly crept into our hearts to stay! I will never ever forget his cute, tiny face and his sweet puppy kisses. He was soo precious.
We couldn’t have known upon purchasing Rover that he was gravely ill and what his fate would be. We didn’t get to adopt/purchase him soon enough to save his precious, little life. So, while he deserved to live his life out with us – he tragically died because from the start he never had a chance to live.
The veterinary advice and opinions we received led us all to suspect that Rover’s parents and litter mates may be in dire need of veterinary evaluation and treatment and my heart breaks for them. As we mourn the loss of our itty-bitty boy, we too desire investigation into this breeder possibly running a puppy mill., and we are hot on their trail. Also, we have been educating ourselves about the extensive problem of puppymills and back-yard breeders……I want to spread the word to help stop this outrage and mistreatment to animals who deserve so much more.
I do not want Rover to die in vain. I will be his voice and spread the word about puppymills from this day forward. Thank you for letting me share our story!