There's a vast difference between a puppy mill and a breeder.

A breeder carefuly selects the mating options, gives wide recovery time between litters for each dam, selects out genetic medical issues, and for temperament as well as looks.

As an example, the breeder I got my baby from, damn near twenty years ago, did two litters of corgis a year. That's it. Each one was not only paid for, but there was an interview and contracts regarding not only that she be fixed, but that if anything came up, the breeder would be contacted first.

That's not a puppy mill.

A puppy mill breeds bitches as soon as possible, one after another. The litters are not given their shots, rarely get weaned fully, and may not even be given human contact at all during that time.

Now, there are breeders that don't go the extra mile that ours did. But if you're getting a dog from a breeder and the line is registered, they take at least the bare minimum effort to make sure their "house" stays in good order, otherwise, they can't have show dogs, which means they can't charge the 2k plus some breeds go for. Which is where this conversation started.

Now, are there idiots that don't bother to check the breeder? Yeah. They'll pony up the cash and assume that the price means that due diligence is done by the breeder. But they're idiots, and it doesn't matter where they get a dog from, they're idiots that will fuck things up.

With the amount of volunteer time you put in, you know that health and behavioral issues get dogs abandoned, often killed. Breeding done right prevents the first, and reduces the second.

And no breeder that's legitimate, that's selling dogs from a registered bloodline ia selling at some corner store. They just don't. Why would they? People come to them and sit on waiting lists, and come to their kennels to meet the "parents", because that's a very good way to ensure behavioral and health issues aren't common in the bloodline.

The kind of stores you're talking about are the problem. Well, idiots are the real problem, because buying a dog without doing your research is the nadir of brain power. But the stores can be legislated away by simply making anyone sellings dogs have documentation akin to what a good breeder would have; medical records, health exams, site inspections.

But buying from a reputable breeder? Nah. Those aren't the ones that idiots bring in because they can't be bothered to house train right. Those aren't the ones that get brought in because they're diarrhea machines.

And what really matters is that when people take a dog into their life, they do right by them. As bougie as it may seem, that's much more likely when someone jumps through the hoops to get a registered dog and pays through the nose for it.