Golden Retriever Puppy

　　In order to expose the secrets of dog dealers and to enable dog owners and those preparing to buy dogs there to fully understand the situation, we went through many twists and turns and found a dog dealer named Zhang who lives by selling dogs there. We used some methods to get him to agree to an interview and describe how they deceive customers.

　　(1) Dyeing Fur

　　For some dogs, we dye their fur to change the dog's color so that they can be sold at a higher price. This is often done on dogs like Pomeranians, because the puppies of red Pomeranians (detailed introduction) generally have blackish fur when young, and the color gradually fades as they age into the bright red we commonly see. Many customers don't understand this and always think the redder the Pomeranian puppy’s fur is, the purer it is. This trick is mostly used on Dalmatians, Papillons, and pure white breed dogs by bleaching them; many people have been fooled this way.

　　(2) Concealing Age

　　Strictly speaking, puppies should not leave their mothers before half a year old, because their resistance is low before that and the mother’s milk contains antibodies that help them fight viruses. However, dogs can have two litters a year, and this can prevent the mother dog from coming into heat and having a second litter. So puppies are taken away at one or two months old, sometimes even less than one month, to be sold. Since everyone knows very young puppies are hard to raise, many dealers will report the dog's age as older.

　　(3) Concealing Defects

　　If the dogs they bring back have defects, they will deliberately hide the dog and distract you to look at others so you don’t notice the defects. I have a friend who bought a dog with deformed legs; at the time the dealer only put the dog in a cage and said it would run away if let out, so he was fooled.

　　(4) Concealing the Dog’s Breed

　　This trick is generally used to sell local mixed dogs as Chow Chow (they do look somewhat similar when young), Great Pyrenees or Japanese Silver Foxes as Samoyeds, or Labrador Retrievers as Golden Retrievers (they look exactly the same when young, even experts can’t tell the difference). Sometimes this trick is combined with the third one.

　　(5) Changing Breed by Grooming

　　This trick is often used to turn Beijing dogs into Shih Tzus, or long-haired dogs into short-haired dogs, etc. If you see a well-groomed dog, be careful.

　　(6) Injecting Serum into Sick Dogs

　　After injecting serum, the dog will look energetic within two or three days, and sickness symptoms are suppressed. Imported serums have a more obvious effect. However, when the serum’s effectiveness wears off, the illness will worsen. Some people are told when they buy the dog that it had serum to prevent disease, not realizing that if the dog is sick, suppressing the symptoms before they reoccur will cause much more trouble.

　　(7) Injecting Hemostatic Drugs

　　Many dogs infected with canine distemper or parvovirus will have bloody diarrhea. After the injection, bleeding can be temporarily stopped, but if not treated immediately, death rates are very high. Buyers cannot tell this when purchasing the dog.

　(8) Washing the Dog Completely

　　Washing the dog thoroughly makes its eyes, ears, and anus very clean. Even if you check according to the books, you cannot find anything wrong. So be cautious with dogs that have been washed very clean.

　(9) Spraying Dog Perfume

　　Many sick dogs, especially those with skin diseases, have a very unpleasant odor. Bathing them and spraying perfume can mask that smell. So don’t immediately fall in love with a dog that smells nice and fresh. This trick is also used on dogs with strong natural odors, such as Shar Peis, Cocker Spaniels, Beijing dogs, etc.

　(10) Concealing the Dog’s Origin

　　They pretend that dogs acquired from a dog market are bred at home and groomed professionally. This trick is foolproof for first-time dog buyers. To avoid being fooled, the best method is to go directly to a kennel or a reputable breeder. Pet shops are somewhat better. If they let you pay a deposit and pick up the dog after seven or eight days, that is much safer.