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Originally Posted by RockyCody
Everything that you are saying - can STILL happen to a 'breeder' born pup. They can still have issues and end up breaking their legs, they can swallow/eat stuff, they can have horrible temperments and aggressive behavior. I really feel like your dog ends up the way you raise it, period. Obvoiusly you can't control genetic things in your dog - so I understand why getting the pup from a breeder can 'guarantee' a healthy pup. But even then...you never know.
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Oh, the chance absolutely exists that you end up with a horrible temperment dog with bad health issues even if you do get one from a breeder. It is still a gamble, but what I wrote was that you can SWAY the odds more in your favor by choosing a pup from adults of sound temperment who have passed all health checks. You don't have the ability to do this with an adopted dog so it is more of a gamble.
I absolutely agree that how you raise a dog has a huge impact on its future behavior. But I have also had the opportunity to see genetically fearful and aggressive pups (exhibiting fear and aggressive behaviors FAR exceeding those of normal responses and at extremely early ages). I have also seen how different pups that don't have the benefit of proper socialization (during the critical developmental phase from 3-16 weeks) are from pups who have. These dogs could not become normal, stable dogs no matter how they were raised after adoption. Would they get better? Yes, but it would never be the same as if they had been genetically stable and properly socialized from the start. Were these extreme cases? Absolutely, but they do clearly illustrate that "the way you raise it up" once you get it isn't the only thing affecting the temperment of a dog.
And when I was talking about health costs, I was referring to those costs associated with inherited health issues such as surgery for hip dysplasia, medication to treat heart conditions, etc. not costs associated with issues like broken legs, or obstruction surgery which can occur with any dog.