Part of me wanting a puppy is because I want it to grow up knowing only me as her mom and because I get to have her longer. Adoption is also a good option because older dogs get to find human families that will take care of them. Personally, I would go for both and if only I'm economically stable right now, I'd adopt an older dog from a shelter a few miles from here. I've already looked up their websites and found a male older dog that I would like to take care of if I can afford to. There are lots of adult cats and dogs out there needing a home and I did notice that most of the abandoned animals are cats.
When we had our first puppy, it was a learning phase, from the food up to grooming. But in a year's time, I have learned the chore of taking care of our dog properly. Jedi grew up to be a healthy dog with a nice coat. Like a pride of the family, I would be telling stories about Jedi to my colleagues. In short, Jedi became famous in my office.
When Jedi was 4 years old, an office mate in another department offered me a dog. It was a 6-year old female, pure pekingese that is being culled from breeding. In other words, the dog had served its purpose so it is being given away for adoption. I would have taken it because it was cute. However, my husband disagreed for several reasons. First is the age - being 6 years old already means the dog will have a shorter time with us. Second is the culture of the dog. As they say, you cannot teach an old dog new tricks. And I agreed. So there's no dog adoption for us unless it is a puppy.
You need to weight the pros and cons between buying a puppy or adopting an older dog. Giving an older dog a home is great act but you don't know about their past. I know that my mom tried to adopt an older dog while I was about six or seven. At first, the dog was really nice and friendly until it was adopted. Once it was home, it would chase me around the house and corner me while growling and biting. It slowly became to aggressive to have in the house and around me that my mom was forced to give him back. The shelter only then told her that we were the third home to return him because of aggressive behavior. So, even if you bond with a dog at a shelter, it might become another dog when you get it home. If you aren't prepared to deal with any of the psychological issues that you dog may be suffering.
The only exception might be adopting puppies from a shelter or a home that can't keep a litter. This might be ideal because you can rescue a puppy and give it a good home for perhaps a cheaper price than buying a dog. There are usually posts on Craigslist for puppies in your region.
Buying a dog from a pet store has benefits because most dogs have papers and a history. While there are some ethical issues with puppy mills, you can do some casual research to find out if your store buys from ethical breeders or not. The price is another point that can hurt if you get a purebred dog. But you get a puppy or dog that doesn't have a history of bad habits.
Personally, I would go shopping in both pet stores and shelters. Meet as many dogs and puppies as you can and see if you bond with any of them. If those fail, try looking into Craigslist to see if there is a dog for you there. You might be able to find a dog that is already trained and has its shots or new puppies. When you meet the right dog, you'll know. But I would make a list of things you are willing to deal with and things you are not. From that list, picking between adopting and buying should become more clear.
I know that there are a lot of people who goes for adoption. However, I prefer buying a dog from a legitimate seller. When you buy a dog, you get the necessary papers and medical records which, for me, is the most important thing. I want to make sure that my dog is really healthy before I buy it because complications would be both hard for me and the dog, as well. It would hard for me financially to buy the medications and as a result, the dog would be in pain. And I don't want those things to happen. So even though it might cost me a little bit more, I would still go for buying a dog.
