I want a dog, but what kind? Where can I find my dog?

When a family first decides to add a dog, its a big decision. Tonight I would like to help you make it.  In order to find the right dog for you, I would suggest going to the library. You may think, I can get the info from my computer. True, and you should, but first go and look at a bunch of books. I say that because books show you a wide variety of dogs. Write down the name of the breeds you fancy, and then go to your computer and research those breeds. Here is a list of questions you may want to research:
1) Health of the animal-  What are some genetic problems the breed has, and at what age does it appear?
  2) Do you have children? Are they a breed that works well with kids?  A big problem I see about dogs in shelters is that the couple had a child. If you think you may have a child after the dog, take that into consideration when researching one.
 3) What kind of grooming does this dog require? Is it a dog with lots of hair that needs to be groomed often? Do I have the time to devote to brushing and combing this dog? How much does it cost to groom that dog. Call a few local grooming shops and ask them. Does the dog have hair or fur? Does anyone in the family suffer from allergies? A word to the wise, when a dog has hair, its like human hair, most people with allergies are ok with hair. Most terriers are hair breeds as well as Poodles and Bishons. Saymonds, St. Brenards, are fur pets.
4) Can I afford the dog I want to buy? Dogs can be very expensive to purchase, more so from the show people. It sounds like a lot when you ask the price of a puppy, and you hear $2,000.00 to $2,500.00. I urge you to pay the price from the show people. Reputable breeders have bred many of their stock for many generations. They know everything about the pups that are born. Mom and sometimes dad are available to see. You see quality dogs with show wins year after year. This reflex's the over all look of the dog. They have shots and health records, but most important, if anything goes wrong, we are here for you. We stand behind what we do, and the puppy you bought.  Now, lets say you get a dog from a pet shop, or back yard breeder.( Someone who gets 2 pet shop pups and breeds them)  You may pay $1,000.00 to $1,500.00. Sounds ok,  you are not looking to show.  So many times I have heard from my clients that they spent at least $500.00 or more to get the pup healthy. Don't get me wrong sometimes you might get lucky. So you go back to the pet shop, and you hear them say, ok we will take the puppy back. To late most times you are already in love and want to save that little bundle that is in such desperate need of your assistance. Hard choice, the real question is how much can the family be put through? If you want to adopt, which is another way to get the breed you want, go to AKC web-site. Find your breed. Look for the number of the parent club secretary, who can give you the number of your local club officers. Then there is always the option of going to the pound and saving a dog. Just remember that the other questions still apply, even if it's a mixed breed. All dogs before being placed by the pound are temperament tested, and the people there should be able to answer all your questions.
Now for my story:

one pup named Maggie from the litter of 10 

 As I had said in a different post, we do not make lots of money .  One time not so long ago, my mom had a female with 10 puppies. Because she had so many, her pancreas was damaged due to the pressure of the babies. She could not push, so she need a c- section. This means they did surgery and removed the babies. It was her last litter so we spayed her. This was her second litter.  She did not really ever fully recover from that, and after days in an emergency hospital, with a cost of $10,000.00 mom died. A breeder friend tried to lend us her girl, which had just finished nursing her litter, but that lasted a week. She did her job, and was done. So here we are bottle feeding 24 hrs a day ever 2 hrs 10 puppies. That means also stimulating them to pee and poo. Bottle feeding was not enough, so we had to slide a tube down the throat, and into the belly. Using a needle syringe, with no needle, the tube is attached to the opening and slowly you push the milk into the tummy of the pup. This is called Tube feeding. It is dangerous, because if you get it say into the lungs by mistake, the pup drowns and dies. This happened to one pup. Now we have nine.  One puppy did not grow very much, she was cute, her name was Roxy, She turned out to be a dwarf, and had a cleft palette. This means it looks like a dry river bed on the roof of the mouth. She was so tiny, we did not see it at first. Usually a puppy like this is put to sleep right away. Now what? She is 4 weeks old, maybe 9 oz, do we snuff her, or try to fix the cleft pallet, and save her life. Understand we are attached as well. To make a long story short,2 cleft operations, and a spay, Roxy did not make it. She lived one year. Her bill was $10.000.00 as well. We lost tons of money, hence why the breeder charges more. We do what ever we can to help them, save them, love them. It's not about the money, but the love of our breed. Thank you and good night.