Physical and Behavioural Issues
Physical Health Issues
Puppy mills' common goal: Maximizing profits. Female dogs are bred at every opportunity, with little to no time to recover in between litters¹. Puppy mills are filthy; it is not unusual for dogs to live in small crates full of their own excrement. Dogs who are unwell may be allowed to interact with the uninfected, causing puppies to succumb to diseases. Such conditions also dramatically increase the risk of viral, fungal or bacterial infection². According to the ASPCA, “Because puppy mill operators often fail to apply proper husbandry practices that would remove sick dogs from their breeding pools, puppies from puppy mills are prone to congenital and hereditary conditions.” Further, genetic screening almost never happens. This means that dogs with severe hereditary issues are allowed to sire hundreds if not thousands of puppies. While many of these diseases are not obvious when the dog is young, they often show themselves in the proceeding years³. Health problems resulting from puppy mill practises include⁴:
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Epilepsy
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Heart disease
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Kidney disease
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Musculoskeletal disorders (hip dysplasia, luxating patellas, etc.)
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Endocrine disorders (diabetes, hyperthyroidism)
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Blood disorders (anemia, Von Willebrand disease)
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Deafness Eye problems (cataracts, glaucoma, progressive retinal atrophy, etc.)
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Giardia
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Parvovirus
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Distemper
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Upper respiratory infections
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Kennel cough
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Pneumonia
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Mange
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Fleas
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Ticks
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Intestinal parasites
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Heartworm
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Chronic diarrhea
Genetic Deformities⁵
Genetic deformities such as cleft palate or an overly large underbite are common in dogs who were bred in puppy mills. These unfortunate animals are obviously not the ones that are shown to the public. They are often kept in cages and used as breeding dogs until their productivity declines, at which point they are “disposed off” (i.e. abandoned or killed).
Behavioural Issues
"Dogs separated early and purchased from a pet shop showed much greater tendency toward toy possessiveness, fearfulness on walks, attention-seeking, stranger aversion, excessive barking, destructiveness and play biting. Dogs from pet shops not separated early from their litters had fewer of the same behavior issues, which leads to one to conclude early separation combined with temporary housing at pet stores is particularly inhibiting to a puppy's social development." A study done in Italy and just reported in Veterinary Record, the official journal of the British Veterinary Association provides yet more evidence puppies should not be separated from their mother and littermates too early.
Aggression and Temperament
It is in the best interest of puppies to remain with its mother and littermates until they are at least 7 to 8.5 weeks old. It is of utmost importance to continue training and socialising your puppy when you bring it home. However, the crucial socalisation period starts from as young as 3-4 weeks old. From around 3 weeks old to 12-13 weeks old, a puppy’s brain is primed to accept new experiences with minimal fear⁶. Hence, its experiences during this period has the capacity to impact its brain and have a profound impact on its character, temperament and behaviour. Unfortunately, puppies that come from puppy mills have their basic needs neglected and miss out on this crucial socialization, leading to higher chances of behavioural issues.
Past research have found that dogs separated early from their mothers and purchased from a pet shop showed much greater tendency toward toy possessiveness, fearfulness on walks, attention-seeking, stranger aversion, excessive barking, destructiveness and play biting⁷. In addition, the stress felt by the puppy, and the mother during pregnancy, can also influence his life-long behavior and mental state.
Research presented at the British Society of Animal Science found that dogs from puppy farms or less responsible breeders were:
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More likely to be aggressive to strangers, members of the household and dogs
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More likely to be fearful of new objects
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More likely to have noise phobias
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More likely to suffer from separation anxiety
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Less likely to be rated high in trainability.
Lack of Bite Inhibition⁸
One of the most important things that puppies learn from the important socialisation period with their mother and littermates is bite inhibition. This refers to the amount of pressure or force a dog exerts with his teeth behind a bite. Responsible breeders often have long waiting lists and their puppies are often already spoken for long before they are ready to leave their mothers. At puppy mills however, sellers know that small younger puppies fetch better prices than the older ones. They hence remove puppies from their litters too early (between 5-6 weeks) despite the fact that this jeopardizes their physical and emotional well-being. This results in them missing out on the important lesson of controlling their bite. People who purchase dogs from puppy mill dogs may find that the puppy bites often and hard. If this occurs, the puppy must be sent to a reputable puppy class (utilising positive reinforcement) ASAP to teach proper manners before it gets out of hand.
Toilet training issues⁹
All puppies need to be taught how to relieve themselves in an appropriate manner and place. Dogs naturally prefer not to soil the area in which they sleep and eat. The puppy mill environment is not natural, as the dogs are often raised in cages with their own feces. This cultivates dogs that are devoid of “natural doggy tendencies” such as avoiding the soiling of their den. This presents unique challenges to new “pawrents” trying to potty train their dogs. In general, these dogs take a much longer to toilet train than dogs from good breeders. In fact, many good breeders have the dogs nearly toilet trained before they even leave the litter!
¹ Retrieved from https://www.perropet.com/2018/09/10/puppy-mills-in-singapore-2/
² Retrieved from https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/commentary/everyone-finds-puppy-mills-repulsive-why-do-they-still-exist-10314926
³ Retrieved from https://www.aspca.org/barred-from-love/puppy-mills-101/hallmarks-cruel-breeding
⁴ Retrieved from https://www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/common-illnesses-in-puppy-mill-dogs/
⁵ Retrieved from https://www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/common-illnesses-in-puppy-mill-dogs/
⁶ Retrieved from https://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2017/08/17/puppy-mills-behavior-problems.aspx
⁷ Retrieved from https://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2017/08/17/puppy-mills-behavior-problems.aspx
⁸ Retrieved from https://pethelpful.com/dogs/Risks-of-Removing-Puppies-too-Early-from-Mother-and-Litter-Mates
⁹ Retrieved from https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/pets/dogs/puppy-mill-rescue-dogs