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Many Petland store operators offer their customers registerable
pets or purebreds, purposeful mixes bred for their desirability
of traits including disposition, coat and looks, and, of course,
Adopt-A-Pets -- puppies and kittens from accidental litters.
Purebreds, however, offer some certainties to individuals
and families. While there is nothing wrong with adopting pets
from accidental breeding, there are some unknowns. For instance,
when a family adopts an accidentally-breed puppy, there is
no sure way to be certain of the dog's mature size. Mom and
Dad may want the new family pet to mix nicely with both their
5-year-old daughter and their 80-year-old grandmother. In
this case, they might prefer a mature 7-pound Yorkshire Terrier
to a mature 70-pound adult mixed breed dog.
In addition to size, other mixed breed uncertainties include
coat length and grooming requirements, exercise needs, working
ability and temperament. Also, the health history of a mixed
breed pet may never be known.
If a family has a particular canine need, let's say security
or assistance with a handicap, then a mixed breed's ability
to fulfill the family's need would be hard to predict.
On the other hand, the ability to produce predictable traits
is an advantage of purebred dogs. In some breeds, hundreds
of years of study and careful breeding have led to these certainties.
And while every individual pet has its own unique physical
and character attributes, most purebreds don't fall too far
outside the breed standard.
Reminder: No breed is suitable for everyone, but every breed
is perfect for someone.
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