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“Lockdown puppies”

13 replies

sweetkitty · 23/05/2020 15:54

Maybe this should be in AIBU but is anyone else FB full of people getting puppies right now. “My holiday is cancelled so I’ve bought a pup to cheer myself up” “Lockdown puppies are the best” “I’ll be at home during toilet training etc.”

Now I know there are lovely owners who were looking for a pup this year but I bet there’s loads who weren’t. Is it really the time to buy a pup when you can’t get to vets easily for inoculations/health checks? Also your at home right now but what happens in 6 months time when the cute pup is a boisterous teenager and needs to be left during the day?

I’ve seen it with kittens and rabbits too, pet charities are already putting on info on neutering etc. Personally I think there’s going to be a huge number of animals up for rejoining in 6 months time.

OP posts:
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weebarra · 23/05/2020 16:04

We had been looking for a pup for ages and ours was ready two weeks ago. We didn't want to leave him with the breeder for too long.
He's settling in really well and getting his second jabs next week as the vet is still doing them. We've been taking him out (in our arms) to socialise him which we'd have had to do before his jabs anyway.

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MrsTumbletap · 23/05/2020 16:23

Vets are doing injections, I don't think there would be many now not doing them. Why would they when they there are lots of others that are? They would be losing money.

They come to the car, take them in, then bring them back.

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BiteyShark · 23/05/2020 17:21

I work full time and stayed at home for just over a month with my puppy. After which he went to daycare and still does and he is 4 this year.

If I had got my dog now it would have been even better as I anticipate being at home for a lot longer than a month.

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Wolfie11 · 23/05/2020 18:31

I got my puppy at the beginning of April, he was booked since November last year. I had brilliant training classes booked and so much planned for socialisation but we haven’t been able to do any of it. I’m lucky that my situation (DDog can come to work etc) has meant that we have still been able to get lots of socialisation in and I’m not a novice owner by any means so he’s doing really well. I do fear there are going to be a lot of under socialised dogs with behaviour problems when this is all over. I’m still worried mine will be one of them 🤦🏼‍♀️! Lots of people will be using this time sensibly but there are definitely many people who have decided to get a puppy on a whim, from very questionable breeders too 😔.

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dontdisturbmenow · 25/05/2020 11:52

Or the other way around, this is the perfect time to be able to spend much time with your puppy and training it.

Vets are opened and have been doing injections. Of course there will be idiots getting a pushy now because they are bored, but many had been considering it, had a plan for looking after it but this was a great opportunity to spend more time with their puppy.

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fivedogstofeed · 25/05/2020 13:56

I just read on a breed rescue page this morning that since the beginning of lockdown they have had 500+ messages from people wanting a dog or puppy ( mainly puppies). This is being replicated in rescues everywhere. The demand for puppies right now is mindblowing.

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Maestro7 · 25/05/2020 14:07

Vets are open and doing injections - it’s no problem. Socialisation is fine - we’ve been saying to dog owners we meet on walks that he is a new pup and not much opportunity to meet other dogs and they’ve been very good at letting their dog come over and mix with him. He has probably been close to around 20 dogs now which isn’t bad. He’s met horses sheep cats and cows on walks and seen ambulances buses tractors and lorries so no issues there. People too he has seen loads. Put him on a long lead and the neighbours kids go crazy to pet and fuss over him for a while. In fact as lockdown is easing and more people are around he’s nearly too friendly as anyone he has met and run over to thus far has been excited to see him! We have loads of time to train our pup and are leaving him on his own for increasing amounts of time to ease him into when we are gone to shops etc and he can start going to day care from mid June so he will go there a few days a week.

Altogether it has been a great time to get a pup. We also weren’t planning to get one before lockdown. We always wanted one but hadn’t the time to take weeks off at the start. We got our pup from my sisters friends parents two days after she text us and told us her friends parents had some ready to go. Picked him up the day before lockdown!

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DrKnickerbocker9 · 26/05/2020 19:50

We had been planning on getting one at the start of the summer holidays so when lockdown happened we decided to bring it forward then we would have more time with our pup before going back to school/work in September. She has cheered us all up no end! The children bound out of bed in the morning to play with her and she loves them!

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Mollymalone123 · 26/05/2020 22:32

It will be so sad to see these poor dogs dumped back at rescue centres as predicted by a lot of animal charities -once people go back to their usual work/school balance

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Windyatthebeach · 27/05/2020 16:16

We got our planned dpuppy in Feb at 14 weeks old.
Socialising her is impossible right now.
We have been using treats - see a ddog, give treat =no negative stupid hyperventilating barking!
Third day she saw a ddog and sat patiently awaiting a treat. Am i being taken for a mug I wonder??

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ShadowsInTheDarkness · 28/05/2020 08:19

Our pup came with a signed health check from the vets, and has had all jabs and weight checks etc without issue. So some vets are still operating as usual. We are very rural though so not a huge busy practice.

We had made the decision to get a dog long before lockdown and most breeders have a waiting list or similar. Lockdown has certainly made some aspects of puphood tricky. I have certainly seen lots of posts on Facebook dog groups reporting that dodgy breeders are currently churning out stolen puppies for ££££s due to high demand which is worrying. We would be in a position to get a second dog as a young or adult rescue in a year or two years time and follow our breed specific rescues on social media so if they have a surge of relinquished dogs which desperately need homes we may push that forward.

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Glenthebattleostrich · 28/05/2020 08:26

We actually put off getting a puppy during lockdown a see didn't feel it was fair on our current dog to have that extra stress when her routine is all to pot.

We have put it back until later in the year when things are more settled and to be honest, we will be able to pick up a young dog from rescue after these idiots realise that actually dogs are bloody hard work and quite expensive.

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GeraltOfRivia · 28/05/2020 12:14

To be fair to the OP I read her post not to mean she thought anyone getting a puppy in lockdown was daft. More that there seem to be a lot of people out there who hadn't made plans for a dog and are doing so on a whim because they're home a lot. This meaning that it's likely unsavoury breeders will be the ones with immediate availability and then when life gets back to normal a large number of dogs will end up in shelters in one go.

I really don't think that getting a planned pup at this time is what was being targeted. If you already intended it then timing seems idea.

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