Just a reminder, don't buy from pet stores and puppy mills. Puppy mills treat their dogs cruelly by having them in poop-filled cages and don't take good care of the dogs (give them very little water and food, no going to the vet to see if they are healthy), and pet stores receive the puppy mill dogs and sell them just to make a profit. Buy from an animal shelter or reputable breeder that has dogs with healthy genetics in their family trees and bloodlines and AREN'T aggressive.

My Shih Tzu, "Benji" may be an old guy, but he was bought from a reputable breeder- he's now thirteen and still healthy. Not bought from a puppy mill or pet store. JayJay, a dog I had in the past, was also bought from a reputable breeder and was healthy for a long time until he died, lived for 10+ years.

I hope to adopt healthy dogs from an animal shelter some day. That being said, I'm disgusted about Paris Hilton spending $13,000 on a tiny unhealthy two pound Pomeranian with the name "Mr. Amazing". She could have rescued a dog with that amount of money.