Foreword

      by Dr. Phil McGraw

      I have spent most of my life, actually since I was twelve years old, focusing on and studying why people do what they do and don’t do what they don’t do. Think about that concept for a minute. If you have real insight and understanding into what motivates people, you have the ability to influence their thoughts and behaviors—not in some nefarious evil way, but just by talking about things that matter to people who care.

      That is exactly what Madeline Bernstein does in her groundbreaking, “call to action” book, Designer Dogs. Madeline talks about things that matter to those of us who care, and we all should. We can all have a role, whether passive or active, in the lives of millions of innocent and loving puppies born in America every year.

      I jumped at the chance to write this foreword because I want to challenge everyone who picks up this book to ask himself or herself, and implore friends and family to ask themselves, why they are acquiring or considering acquiring a dog. There are right reasons and wrong reasons. And your selection of which dog to add to your family is just as important as the decision to get a dog at all.

      Be honest with yourself, weigh the decision carefully. If you are acquiring a dog as you would an item of jewelry or to complete your macho image, and you are making your selection based on what is in at the moment because of some movie or because some person you admire has one, here is some advice: don’t do it.

      Furthermore, if the dog you think you want is some high-priced designer dog, then acquiring that dog is nothing short of an act of cruelty and abuse. That dog has been unnaturally forced into existence and is very likely unhealthy and unhappy. For every designer dog purchased, a mutt in need of adoption is left in a cage wishing someone would scruff up his ears and take him home.

      Thirteen years ago, I had the privilege of adopting my “shadow,” Maggie. She was an eight-week-old “snowball,” thought to be a Lab/husky mix. spcaLA found her under a foundation at a commercial building site. I think she grew up more Jindo than anything, but it made no difference. When I picked her up and we got in the car, she climbed up on my shoulder and wrapped herself around my neck—and my heart!

      For the last thirteen years Maggie has devoted her entire existence on this earth to being by my side. If I go upstairs, she goes upstairs. If I go to the studio, she goes to the studio. If I travel to Europe, you guessed it, she goes to Europe. That’s all she asks, just to hang around where I am. She is the gentlest spirit you could ever imagine, until she perceives a threat to anyone in our family. You don’t want to be that threat! She would fight Bigfoot if he had a chainsaw! Just little Maggie, the mutt.

      She won’t fit in a teacup. She has never been in a movie or a TV series. She can’t seem to get both ears going in the same direction at any given time, but she is the best dog to ever stand on four paws. You cannot get her strength of character or commitment mass made in some puppy mill or by some profiteering dog designer that overbreeds in a way that shows he has a weak constitution.

      I said earlier that I am fascinated by why people do what they do and don’t do what they don’t do. I asked and answered that question before I contacted the amazing and devoted Madeline Bernstein and her organization, spcaLA, and found Maggie. My “why” was that I wanted to give an orphaned dog a safe and loving home and I wanted a companion to hang out with. I had no idea at the time that I was rescuing my best friend ever.

      When you finish reading this insightful exposé, I pray that you will turn your back on the overbred and unsafe designer dog breeders appealing to the in crowd and go get yourself a real friend, one that needs a home.

      The world works on supply and demand. When you read what Madeline has to say, you can help dry up the demand by simply not being a buyer. When you finish reading Designer Dogs, talk about