Do you think that people should be interviewed before getting a dog?

Well, you're actually covering 2 separate issues here, but I starred it because I agree with both!

On the interviewing, this just blows my mind. I see sad stories on craigslist all the time where some moron rehomes a family dog, whose tail was probably wagging as he got in a car with a total stranger, and then 3 months later the moron is on craigslist begging to know if anyone has seen his dog because the info was all bogus and now he wonders what happened to it. And then he has nerve to whine about people who lie.

Sorry, but I hope that poor pup's face haunts him the rest of his life. You can't just 'interview" - you have to confirm what you're told! You get ID, you get vet reference, you do a home visit. And if you don't, you deserve every nightmare you have, but your poor pup sure didn't.

/end rant

Yeah, I agree with you, some people are not meant to have dogs. I don't think that people realize that a dog is just like a human, and that it has feelings too. It makes me sick to hear stories about people shooting their dogs. However, I also agree that every family has a certain breed that works best. My family is a German Shorthaired Pointer family, and we have two of them. When we had a lab he drove us crazy, and just didn't get along with any of us. Some people need lower maintenance dogs that don't require a lot of time and/or effort, whereas some people can deal with the higher energy dogs that need to run and play every few hours.

I was interviewed within an inch of my life by the responsible breeder of my current Dobermann b*tch!

The first two questions in the sifting of potential owners process was "why do you want this breed?" & what are you going to do with the dog?". Failure to provide comprehensive answers would have meant zero chance of being placed on the breeders list. I waited two years on the list for the puppy.

If a breeder does not have as many questions for me, as I have for the breeder, it's a red flag to walk away.

I agree that however an owner chooses to finance veterinary treatment, it is incumbent on a responsible dog owner to ensure they can provide the care the dog needs, the moment it needs it.

I think every breeder should have to at least visit the home where the puppy will go. it should be the law! that wa, loads of sad lives could be prevented. Re-homing centres check out the homes where their animals should go, so why not breeders?

As of the cost of vets bills, people should know they will come and expect to have to pay out at some point. If they wanted, the could take out insurance, but we never did and dealt with it when our dog was ill.

I think a lot of the people who ask these questions are kids who can't drive and want to help their pet. You can't really make the judgment call that their (or the parents) being bad owners off of a question on yahoo.

Yes they should! I volunteer at a dog shelter and before we let anyone adopt a dog, they have to fill out an application and list references, we make sure they know how to (and will) take care of their dog, and that their home is a nice place.

I agree with you. I hate to see dogs being neglected like that.

It's very sad. I also agree that people should be interviewed before being able to purchase a dog.I don't understand why people do the things they do to dogs

But most of the people I know don't do such things.

erm, people DO get interviewed before getting dogs. at least they do if they are trying to get a dog from a shelter/rescue group/good breeder, etc.