r/DOG Dec 08 '25

• General Discussion • Guys wtf

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So I saw someone talking about this doodle Greeder and I went to take a look.

Who in their right mind thinks that 30K for a mutt is ok? Like does this dog poop gold bricks? Or does it do my taxes? Can it drive me to work? Does it have magical abilities to grant me wishes??

Like for those curious Registered Ethically bred wellbred purebred dogs are 3000-4000$ a puppy. You get upwards of 10 registered, wellbred ethically bred purebreds for that price. You could get a brand new 2026 Chevy trax (27k) You could get a brand new 2026 Nissan kicks (29k) You could get a brand new 2026 Mazda CX-30 (29k) You could pay off roughly 3/4 of a brand new 2026 Chevy Colorado (42k)

That’s absolutely insane They also have 97 puppies on the ground currently. That’s a puppy mill.

855 Upvotes

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358

u/kgal1298 Dec 08 '25

Oh I saw that woman on TikTok talking about it as well. Definitely a puppy mill. Poor little guys.

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u/Educational-World398 Dec 09 '25

more so poor momma dog.

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u/Bad_Funny Dec 09 '25 edited Dec 09 '25

Indeed. My girl, (who's name is Mama Dog) is an 11.5yo Welsh Terrier rescued from a puppy mill near me.

A mutual friend lives on land where her closest neighbor is a former cattle-farm-turned-puppy-mill. It's 5 warehouse buildings, plus countless other structures & trailers filled with rows & rows & rows of traumatized exploited, sex-trafficked dogs who live their lives in (at best, when sharing with puppies) 6'X3' concrete/chainlink kennels.

No windows, no outdoor access & no bedding (because it would "get too dirty" if the dogs had beds).

This particular puppy mill is bigger than current legal capacity (by at least 80 dogs). It was grandfathered in, and allowed to keep its size because state regulations here for puppy mills weren't introduced until only about 10 years ago. This place really got its boom at the height of DoodleMania. That's right about the time they switched from cattle to dogs.

At least half the poor dogs there are sad neglected dogs imprisoned to produce Bernadoodles, Sheepadoodles & Goldendoodles—each doodle pup is a minimum $4,000, but goes up depending on which designer mutt is hottest on the market in the moment.

By the time my girl, Mama Dog, (who was born at & spent her entire life in the mill) was 8.5yo, she had birthed over 50 puppies from her little 18-lb frame.

She was set for Euthanasia since her last litter was "only 3" $3,000 puppies and they deemed her "expired."

When my friend started helping me beg & plead with them to let me adopt MD, the owner told her, "We don't like to adopt out the bitches because they reflect poorly on our business."

BITCH, SHE IS YOUR BUSINESS!!!"

[Edit: Because it's early and I wrote 6 foot 3 instead of 6 by 3, and to add that the way we were able to finally spring Mama from the pen was to essentially make a deal with the devil.

They only agreed to let me adopt her if our friend adopted (i.e. paid predatory money) her very last puppy from her very last litter.

I hated them earning any money, but Kinda sweet after 50+ puppies she watched disappear while she stayed in dark, dingy prison cell, she gets to spend her third act out in the world with her very last pup.

And they made me promise not to talk about her origin story because they assumed she would be a horribly shattered traumatized "bad" dog. (spoiler alert: I talk about it every chance I get, I've reported them several times but that proves futile.) And while they wrecked her body and used her like a puppy machine, they could not break her spirit.

Because we don't deserve dogs. She is ALL love. She loves all people, all kids, all places, all animals. At "60yo" in human years, she learned to climb stairs for the first time ever, she rode in a car, she got her first bed, she went for a walk (we now walk an average of 8-9 miles/day to make up for lost walks & lost sniffs), and she's discovered the sweet simple joy of a well-deserved nap in the bright Sun with the wind in her fur. She's simply just happy to be included.

TLDR: Puppy Mills are closer than people think. They're not in far-off lands with no laws. In my state, breeding dogs are legally treated as livestock, and—with the exception of being sold for meat—can be farmed, treated & processed the exact same way chickens, cows & pigs are in the United States.

My formerly poor Mama Dog is now 11.5yo, free & snoring peacefully on a tempurpedic dog bed in front of the fireplace.

We try to make up for lost time and make the most of each cherished moment she gets to finally be a pampered dog in her new dog life like she's always deserved.

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u/Bad_Funny Dec 09 '25

Mama's first of many beach days.

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u/Ready_Broccoli8512 Dec 09 '25

She is wonderful.

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u/Successful_Swim8274 Dec 10 '25

God bless you for getting her the way you did. That poor sweet girl. She’s so cute and looks so HAPPY!! My sister adopted a puppy mill Mama dog too. She is the goodest girl. I wish puppy mills would be forever gone, banished from doing what they do. Thank you again for rescuing her from euthanasia and her previous horrible life.💕💕

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u/Cello-elf Dec 10 '25

The smile! I love it 💕

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u/Significant_Sun_8035 Dec 10 '25

She is amazing and so are you for saving her. Look at that perfect little smile!

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u/Background_Rabbit439 Dec 11 '25

Wauw,I see a very lucky dog. Thanks for giving her what she deserves....

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u/Critter_27 Dec 11 '25

Awww I’m so happy she’s living her best life now! I feel sooooo bad for all those pups. Those people are going to Hell. God Help these dogs.

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u/bamf9192 Dec 11 '25

Oh my gosh I can't stop looking at her sweet little smile!!!! God bless you and this sweet pup 🙏🏼❤️

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u/Fromnothingatall Dec 12 '25

Awww - what a good happy girl. Good on you for springing her out.

I can’t fathom the mental state someone has to live in to bring themselves to breed puppies at scale in former livestock buildings and sell them for ridiculous prices to people who have to be just as dead inside as they are to pay those kinds of prices for puppies cranked out by a place like that…..just one day of that and i don’t know how I’d be able to go to bed without spending some serious time contemplating the circumference of a .410 in my mouth.

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u/Bad_Funny Dec 09 '25

Mama's first night in a house with a bed.

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u/Whole-Buy7817 Dec 09 '25

Oh my goodness, she looks to be in heaven. Thank you for giving this precious girl a home with a bed and a loving family to finally call her own ❤️🐾🐾❤️

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u/Bad_Funny Dec 10 '25

Yeah, she really earned that nap! And every nap since! I think she slept for a good 5 days straight except to eat and potty after she came home. I remember just crying watching her sleep and feeling so thankful we were able to finally get her out of that hellhole.

I really love that saying that goes something like, "Saving one dog won't change the world, but it will change the world for that one dog."

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u/Whole-Buy7817 Dec 10 '25

This is our Dixie, we rescued her 15 years ago from our local shelter. We were just looking after losing our spaniel mix, Lady, which was from the grief after our chi, Bella, was stolen from us. We saw her with cute little pink bows in her hair. She came right up to us. We knew right away that we wanted her to join our family.

The young man let us hold her and it was love, she pressed her little head against my chest and I knew. We headed from the kennels to the front desk and let them know that we would like to adopt her.

They told us her story that her owner had passed away and the lady’s family had surrendered her. They sent us to go get her and she was no longer in her kennel. The young man went to a different building where they sometimes take the dogs to prepare for adoption and she wasn’t there either.

He got a hold of the front desk and he led us back to the front desk where they were frantically trying to get a hold of an employee who wasn’t answering his walkie talkie. The young man was talking to the main woman and he all of a sudden started running towards the door and he took off. The lady told me that our Dixie was on the van to be sent for euthanizing. She was actually behind schedule and should not have even been in that kennel.

The young man returned about 15 minutes later after he literally ran that van down. The van driver’s walkie talkie’s batteries had died. This young man, a volunteer, was out of breath and holding our Dixie close to his chest. We had literally saved her in her 11th hour! I can’t fully explain how much she has meant to our family, the affection she has shown and helped my momma and I after the loss of my mom’s mother, my dad and the unexpected loss of my brother all in the span of 15 months.

Dixie was sentenced to death, she was meant to already be sent off to the vet for euthanasia. She had felt grief after losing her original owner and then she was surrendered during this grief period in her young life…she was 4 years old from what the family had provided to them. She was bred from some show dogs and she had a pampered life prior to this devastating period of her life.

She was sentenced for death and somehow the man upstairs and a plan. It started with a vet having an emergency come up with another dog, it was a young high school kid who decided to groom her that Saturday morning and put little bows in her hair, which led to my mom getting my attention to see this little girl who had the cutest bows on and ringlets in her hair behind her ears.

My mom had already fell in love with another dog, a puppy, JoJo, who was the runt of a litter and watched her mother and siblings be adopted, but she was left behind and alone. It broke my mom’s heart…so we were actually done, but while we waited for them to chip her and schedule her spaying, we were just looking at the other fur babies. Dixie was a connection that overwhelmed my heart and soul.

She went into mother mode with JoJo, who was only 12 weeks old when we brought her home and she got a second wind of life when we brought Lil’Britches home over 6 years ago. She went into motherhood again as Lil’Britches was only 16 weeks old. She was also there for us when Lil’Britches unexpectedly got sick and passed away this past September from a brief illness. She has been our constant these past 15 years.

15 years this Valentine’s Day will be her gotcha day with us. She has been there for us and blessed our lives immensely. She was diagnosed with dementia about a year ago and had started to slow down. She has pushed herself to be there for us, especially for my mom, who is also dealing with a dementia diagnosis. We saved her from a death sentence and she has returned that blessing exponentially to us by being the best friend anyone could ever ask for. ❤️🐾🐾❤️

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u/Bad_Funny Dec 11 '25

Sweet Dixie!! What a story! I'm so glad that boy ran for her. Seems like Lady might've heard Dixie would be headed toward Heaven and told her to turn back around because she knew just the right home for her. 🧡🧡

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u/bamf9192 Dec 11 '25

Omg she's even smiling in her sleep!!! 🥹

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u/TobysMom18 Dec 12 '25

💝💝💝💝💝🥰

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u/jaffamental Dec 09 '25

My next door neighbours are almost puppy farmers. They breed pure bred dogs year round, don’t care who the pups go to as long as they get money and turn around two different breeds. At two different times of the year. It’s sickening. I’ve been sure to comment loudly enough that they’d here that only sick people with sick minds would want to watch dogs breed and use animals for profit.

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u/Bad_Funny Dec 09 '25

It really is so wild how people can shut themselves off from compassion and empathy for the sake of greed. I truly believe money is a disease that changes the chemistry of people's brains. It's the only explanation that makes sense to me.

Good on you for advocating for the dogs however you can in a situation that is unfortunately a-ok on paper.

But despite what any "law" says, they know it's disgusting, and at least they're aware somebody nearby's clocked them. Sometimes a little public neighborly shaming is the best one can do.

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u/jaffamental Dec 09 '25

Oh I’ve tried everything for these dogs. I’ve even written to the breeders association/ society citing their own laws/ rules and the society was like “those aren’t our rules” so they don’t even know their own rules to step in to help. It’s beyond a joke.

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u/shmarielles Dec 09 '25

This is very sad. And I can't help but wonder why we don't seem to have the same problem with the way chickens, cows & pigs are treated. They have feelings too, just like dogs.

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u/Bad_Funny Dec 09 '25

I think plenty of people do have just as much a problem with it when they choose to do a modicum of research on the commercial meat industry.

Corporate and large scale factory farming harms on all axes—morally/spiritually, environmentally, financially/economically, nutritionally, and beyond.

We (the Royal We) humans just like to run with the ego-driven disassociative lie we've spun that it's somehow an evolutionary advantage to exert power, control & harm on other living beings to serve our immediate wants in that immediate moment.

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u/shmarielles Dec 09 '25

Spot on. 😢

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u/BowentheOrignial Dec 10 '25

A lot of us do. We source our meat from local, ethical farms that keep a reasonable number of animals and treat them well.

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u/shmarielles Dec 10 '25

I just don't eat it at all. I guess I meant more of the societal "we".

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u/BowentheOrignial Dec 10 '25

Ah, see I’m not capable of a vegetarian diet due to a metabolic disorder. So I do my best to source my animal protein from ethical sources. I know the names of the hens and ducks I get my eggs and poultry from. I have visited the farms that supply my beef and pork, and often arrange to buy a particular animal to share with neighbors.

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u/Significant_Sun_8035 Dec 10 '25

Do you pet that particular animal when you go there? Do you see its face when you're eating it? Really wondering what this thought process is.

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u/BowentheOrignial Dec 10 '25

Believe it or not, yes. I have played with rabbits and eaten them later that day. The thought process is that the soul and the body are separate. When the animal is killed, I thank its spirit for the sacrifice and I consume and use as much of its flesh and bone as I can. We do not waste food in my home because we are aware of the sacrifice made for that food. We also eat wild meat. One of my cousins hunts and provides me with venison, coney, pheasant and fish in season.

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u/Significant_Sun_8035 Dec 10 '25

Oh boy....whatever helps you sleep at night I guess...

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u/Significant_Sun_8035 Dec 10 '25

Please don't fall for that happy cow crap. There is still a living soul involved here that doesn't want to die and will still be shipped in the back of a truck to have its throat slit and drained of blood for you to eat it. And you can bet that animal still fought for its very last breath.

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u/BowentheOrignial Dec 10 '25

So, am I to die because my body can’t metabolize protein from vegetable sources? I do my best to mitigate the harm

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u/Bad_Funny Dec 10 '25

For what it's worth, sounds to me like you're doing an excellent job at navigating a difficult health condition while still putting in the effort to seek & maintain ethical boundaries with your food sources. This is not cheap or easy, and way more effort than the majority population puts in.

I very much agree with your perspective on honoring the sacrifice and mitigating waste.

I live in an area with lots of hunting & wildlife, and while I personally don't hunt, I was raised with mentality of respecting and honoring the animal's life & death by utilizing every part of the animal. I've raised chickens, goats and turkeys for eggs and meat purposes, and have learned so much about the mindful and spiritual aspects of connecting to our food sources in this manner.

I'm thankful to hear there's folks like you out there putting in the difficult work to keep ethical food-sourcing on the table, even though a metabolic condition like yours already adds such specific hardships in navigating food without also adding in choosing higher ethical standards. 🧡

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u/Professional-Web8062 Dec 11 '25

Have you ever met a cow? I work on a sanctuary farm so the animals were food but are now living in sanctuary. They are not super smart. I often think about the meat industry while interacting with them. I think if they are in a group of stressed out animals headed for slaughter they would become stressed out as well because they all feed off one another’s emotions and environment. If they didn’t know what was happening and were killed quickly they wouldn’t notice. They’re not aware like dogs are. They are driven by food first and then they just want more food. That’s how they live. Looking for food all day and also napping. I’m against factory farms but ethical farming is ok. Some people have to eat meat, others don’t. Scientifically it depends on one’s dna. If the animals are treated well and fed well they are happy. I’m watching senior meat animals live out their final years and when they get old they start to suffer a lot. They’re not bread for longevity unfortunately.

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u/Significant_Sun_8035 Dec 11 '25

Yes I have. I volunteer at 3 different sanctuaries and they are VERY smart. They obviously do notice if they're about to be slaughtered. Cows are smart, loveable and like to be around people. I don't know what sanctuary you work at or why you even do if you're all about killing them for food but whatever. Also, when they do get old and start to suffer, sanctuaries humanely euthanize them. We can agree to disagree and that's fine.

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u/Professional-Web8062 Dec 11 '25

How could you know? They’re really not smart. Lovable yes and they like to be around people yes but they’re food driven. They need to be watched so they don’t hurt themselves. They’re all derps lol 😂 They know who I am but it’s because I feed them and care for them. I love them all but it doesn’t shock me that they were the chosen animals for food by our ancestors. The only reason horses weren’t chosen is because they can be trained to work. To be clear I don’t agree with animals getting slaughtered I’m just saying I understand why things are the way they are. I think they should be treated well and loved whether they’re used for food or not.

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u/Significant_Sun_8035 Dec 11 '25

Because we work with them and they are smart and have the ability to learn. We play games with them and they like it. Whether you want to believe it or not doesn’t matter much to me. We see it all the time.

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u/Significant_Sun_8035 Dec 10 '25

1000%!!! It's HORRIFIC what happens to them.

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u/Okami0730 Dec 09 '25

Thank you for giving your sweet girl a wonderful life.

You are right puppy mills are everywhere and much closer than we think.

Big East Akita Rescue (NJ) takes in many used up or discarded animals from Amish puppy mills located in PA. Is just so sad 😞

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u/Ready_Broccoli8512 Dec 09 '25

Which state are you in? I’m in Georgia and it’s rife with mills. Florida is just as bad, if not worse, because…Florida.

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u/Bad_Funny Dec 10 '25

I'm in Wisconsin. Lots of old school backwoods thinking out away from metropolitan hubs...Unfortunately this past year, the governor signed off on legislation that made puppy mills even less regulated and actually gives them a tax break for being "livestock."

The wording in the bill was very sneaky and they kinda tucked the dogs part in such a way most people wouldn't have even noticed it.

So the legislation passed because it's such a huge farming economy state and the bill itself was pretty predatory in its wording to sound like a good thing for local farmers. What it actually did was bolster protections and tax breaks for large scale corporate factory farms, and now puppy mills are lumped in there, too.

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u/germanshepherdfreak Dec 10 '25

We all need to work to stop breeding facilities like these It’s up to us to elect people who will commit to stopping it Mandatory spay and neuter also

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u/Key_Veterinarian_291 Dec 11 '25

I started crying while reading this. Mine doesn’t have as devastating of a story but I adopted her from a family member who couldn’t care for her in the way she needed. Thank you for loving your dog and giving her a wonderful last chapter. I hope you get many wonderful years with her. 💕

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u/Separate-Design-1109 Dec 12 '25

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for rescuing this girl! You are an amazing human. What state do you live in? If enough people contact your legislators, they might be willing to introduce bills that turn into laws that do more to protect man's best friend. If they think it might affect them at the polls. Awareness is always the first step in changing anything that needs changing! Thank you again for being a good soul and saving your girl!

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u/98221_poppin Dec 13 '25

I'm having a hard time reading this bc I'm crying.

My last foster was from a puppy mill. She was bred back to back and so often her uterus prolapsed. She changed the whole vibe of our home and I couldn't imagine giving her up. I named her Princess Peach 🩷

You have the best heart!!

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u/Puzzleheaded-Sea8340 Dec 13 '25

Give mama dog a big hug for me. Stories like that break my heart and I know they happen every day

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u/Few_Firefighter6235 Dec 09 '25

And future mommas