Abandoned dogs that don’t end up at Animals Sense Sostre or one of the city’s other animal refuges eventually go to the pound. Currently, Barcelona is planning to build a state-of-the-art animal shelter on Montjuïc near Sot de Migdia. Some estimates have put the construction budget as high as €7.5 million. “A lot could be done at Animals Sense Sostre with that kind of money,” Díaz commented. However, for many it seems that only a certified doggy will do.
For those who can’t be satisfied with less than a genuine Yorkie, Chihuahua or Westie, Mister Guau (pronounced ‘wow’) Center has the biggest selection in Barcelona. Grouped by size in large glass cages, puppies at Mister Guau scamper around in sawdust, charming on-lookers. The most expensive puppy at Mister Guau is a caramel-colour Chihuahua for €2,500, and the cheapest a discounted yellow Labrador retriever for €400. “I have two Chihuahuas: Lola and Mary,” said Marta Rodríguez who is one of the owners at Mister Guau, and whose father started the business in 1995, watching it grow from a small shop to a chain with six stores and 98 employees.
Mister Guau Center’s clients are not the same sort of people who might adopt from Animals Sense Sostre, and it is clear that their dogs and products are high-end. Besides selling dogs, Mister Guau also offers every service imaginable for one’s pup including: dog-sitting (at a dog retreat in the countryside near Sitges), a walking service, lost dog help, obedience training, dog ‘match making’ and a hair salon where some dogs get streaks of hot pink added into their fur. Mister Guau also has an adoption service, and at the time of this writing there were 30 dogs on their list. “Sometimes people buy a dog from us and then a few months later they realise that they are allergic to the dog. We help them find the dog a home free of charge,” Rodríguez explained.
It may be that would-be owners find themselves allergic, or it may be that they find that they are not cut out to train their puppy correctly. Both Leire Díaz and Santi Vidal agree that the number-one issue when it comes to owners abandoning their dogs is poor training. “When I see a badly behaved dog, I don’t blame the dog, I blame the owner,” said Vidal, who founded his company, Blue Nit Dogs, in 1997, and when not training drug and bomb-sniffing dogs is dedicated to teaching dogs and owners how to get along. “I never use the word ‘no’ with dogs. My method is 100-percent positive reinforcement.”
Latest Comments
ditto
Posted by Jennie August 07, 2011 15:31:44
Agreed...
Posted by Megan June 24, 2010 13:41:54
Misleading
Posted by Jeremy Newman October 11, 2009 00:23:09