You are not doing any puppy a favor buy buying it from a pet store, even if you know it is from a puppy mill. Get a Bichon Frise puppy only from a Bichon Frise breeder. A Bichon Frise breeder would not sell their puppies to a pet store because they have no control over who gets the puppies. Most people who buy puppies in pet stores are completely unfit to own a dog. Puppy mills, which supply all pet stores, are barbaric. A Bichon Frise breeder's puppy is healthy, sane and pedigreed, unlike a puppy from a puppy mill.



"We never get our puppies from puppy mills", touts the smiling and clean pet store worker, shoving a helpless and utterly adorable puppy into your face. The puppy all but screams "Help me!" But resist. Walk out the door and never come back to that store again. All pet stores get their puppies from puppy mills. Buying that puppy would just perpetuate the misery that puppy's parents and siblings had to go through.

If you want a healthy and sensible companion pet, go to a shelter or a breed rescue to save a life and find the friendship you need. But if you have your heart set on raising a puppy, do your research to find out which breed is right for your lifestyle. Perhaps you once had a Bichon Frise, a Poodle-like toy dog that is becoming more and more popular. You should get your next Bichon Frise from a Bichon Frise breeder.

Bichon Frise breeders spend an incredible amount of time and money on the breeding and raising of their puppies. They often raised the mother from a puppy. Bichon Frise dogs aren't merchandise or a business to them. These puppies are like their grandchildren. They would not then blow all of their tender and careful care by selling their puppies to a pet store, where anyone can buy a puppy if they have the money.

Pet stores that sell puppies rely on impulse purchases and do not do any background checks on what kind of person this puppy is going to. Quite often, people who have no idea what is involved in raising a puppy buy these puppies on a whim. Most puppies bought in pet stores wind up being abandoned when the puppy gets to be about nine months to one year old. Half of all dogs and cats that are surrendered to shelters are euthanized.

Always buy from a reputable Bichon Frise breeder, because buying a puppy at a pet store only helps to perpetuate the inhumane and barbaric puppy mill system. In a puppy mill, dogs are treated worse than battery hens (and there are even laws to protect battery hens, now). Dogs are never taken to a vet, as that would cut into the profit margin. They spend their lives in crates and only come out to breed. They often spend most of their lives sitting in their own excrement.

The puppies bred in this condition are often sickly, have behavioral problems and often aren't purebred. There is no legal overseeing group that makes sure a dog is a purebred. Anyone can fill out whatever they darn well like in pedigree papers and no one checks up on anything. Bichon Frise breeders not only will sell you a healthy, behaved puppy but one that is pedigreed. They also are great sources of accurate Bichon Frise information throughout all of your Bichon dog's life.