Procne wrote:Shelters probably do only basic health exams.
With animals from breeders you also know the parents and grandparents of the pet. And you can expect that genetic issues were excluded through selective breeding.
Also, you get a young animal from a breeder, so it's easier to train it. Pets at shelters have their characters already formed.
It's a bit similar to why people prefer to raise their own children than to adopt them.
Don't knock shelters, they do good work. I've gotten all my pets from shelters over the years and I volunteer as well. Qualified vets will examine and treat shelter animals pro bono, give them all their vaccines, microchips, and spay/neuter, you get an awesome deal when you get a shelter animal.
Also, if a young animal is what you want, you can get that from a shelter. Just last Friday I was at the local shelter and they got four batches of a total of about 20 tiny kittens just barely past weening age all in one day. A lot of people forget though, that training a kitten or puppy is a lot of work, and most shelter animals were owned and housetrained at the least before they were abandoned/released/seized, so they are tame and friendly and when they are adults, they tend to be more laid back and calm as well. You can still teach an old dog new tricks, that wives' tail is not at all true.
As for getting an animal it turns out you don't match, all shelters have greeting rooms you can take your animal to and play with it for awhile. You don't have to grab one and go, you can come back every day for a couple days and play with different animals. If it's a dog, ask to take it for a walk and see how it behaves. And of course, the staff works with the animals every day, ask them what kind of personality the animal has, and they probably know.
