For those of you who have rescued from a puppy mill, how does that work? Do you still give money to the breeder? When I hear of someone who says they rescued from a puppy mill, it brings up a mental picture of someone going to a mill, seeing a sick dog and paying for him/her. I don't consider this a rescue because your still paying a breeder. So, is there another way that you rescue dogs from mills?

I'm almost certain my chi came from a mill, I adopted him from his owner when he was 9, she told me the name of the pet store where she got him and though they are shut down now (thank goodness!) they were pretty nasty and the type of place that wouldn't have looked into the breeders quality before ordering pups. He also has health issues that I believe he would not have if he did not come from a mill, or would be less likely to have. So I guess I could say that I rescued a puppy mill dog, but not from a puppy mill, as I see some people phrase it. I rescued a puppy mill dog from his previous human who was a a week away from dropping this old man off at a shelter.

Also, what types of health issues have you seen from your puppy mill dog?

Usually, you get a puppymill dog from a rescue. I got my 7 yr old from a rescue. She was 'bought' by the rescue at a dog auction. They got 4 female chi's who had 'failed' their last breedings. They paid $20 for 4 purebred chis!! One was so shy aggressive the rescue euthanized her as being unadoptable. The other 3 were adopted. My little girl was a happy girl with the other dogs. With ME, she was terrified. Never did she come to me on her own. If I picked her up, she would cuddle. First time you let her free, she'd be gone. I finally just let her be a dog. She housetrained herself in 2 days by watching the others. She died 3 years later of a lung disease that the vet had seen only 4 times before in his practice. Interstitual pneumonitis. No treatment. From smelling urine fumes for 7 years we think. I miss my little Mandy.

Good luck with your puppymill pup.

There are so many scenarios. Often times puppy mill dogs end up in shelters
because they were surrendered by owners that originally bought them either
directly from the mill itself, or through an iffy transaction online by meeting
some guy at some Mcdonalds, etc. Other times rescue organizations seize
puppy mill dogs from the unethical mill breeders then put them up for adoption
so you end up adopting a rescue. I definitely agree that if you are paying the
unethical breeder for the dog then you are supporting unethical breeding. If you
are looking to save a life/make a difference, then best thing to do is either adopt
from a shelter/rescue, or take in an unwanted dog that someone is getting rid of
for whatever reason.

I have puppy mill dogs, and their issues range from temperamental to physical.
Behavior wise they each have issues that require constant work, and even
with our 4 long daily walks and daily training some things are simply embedded
in who they are due to very irresponsible breeding, so we keep on keeping
them mentally and physically stimulated to the max in order to help manage
those issues. As for health, we've battled things since their first day here,
from allergies to skin conditions, to eye sight and hearing, to kidney problems,
to bone malformation, etc. Right now things are under control, but each one
is on a specific diet regimen and even a tiniest change triggers symptoms.
We know that there are many things still to come and are prepared for it.
We are basically living a life based around our dogs' needs. Which works for
us, it is a choice, we don't have perfect dogs, but to us they are perfect, we
love them and consider it an honor to have them in our lives, all 4 of them.

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