To not realise how much money is in selling puppies?

Completely agree. If people had to witness the rescue dogs getting put to sleep in order to qualify for a breeders expensive puppy I bet less people would buy them.

It should definitely be regulated more.

This is, frankly, bonkers. No one sells newborn puppies. They are, however, ready to leave their mothers much earlier than human babies and that is normal and natural. Whether or not there is money involved makes no difference to the dogs.

You can have up to £1000 self-employment income per year without needing to declare it. More than that, and if it’s not declared, it’s fraud.

The price of puppies shot up over lockdown and hasn’t really fallen back yet. There are reasons why not everyone should get a rescue, and for some it’s preference for a puppy. I love my rescue dog but he is high maintenance and high cost.

The money in it has, unfortunately, drawn a lot of criminals into it. There are some seriously unpleasant stories around unfortunately.

I say it because you don't seem to have much knowledge of how and why dogs are bred. You were willing to consider a random litter, suggesting you maybe hadn't investigated breeds, and hadn't done your due diligence around breeding/breeder standards. Puppy farming is a massive issue, and if you're not confident you could identify it, you shouldn't be getting a puppy. I'm glad you have decided to look at rescues and hope the centre can guide you.

@bellamountain I am always suspicious if the dog breeder has a big fancy car, designer clothes and flash home, expensive holidays etc etc. They are certainly doing it for the money

This tells you nothing. In fact it can be more suspicious if the house is a bit run down, some puppy farmers rent houses to show the pups to prospective owners to act like they're bred in a home environment, when actually they're kept 10 miles up the road in kennels with multiple other litters.

You're wrong, and @LameBorzoi is right

My dog is a rescued dog from a backyard breeder. They dumped her at a rescue at 8 weeks old when it became apparent she had major genetic issues.

Speaking to the vets, there are two other dogs of her breed been through with the exact same issue at other rescues, one a year older and one a year younger.

Get a rescue or a reputable breeder only. Backyard breeding should have huge penalties. They are deliberately creating dogs with health issues and expecting local charities to foot the medical bills.

There’s always a risk with rescue dogs. People aren’t honest about their history when give them to the dog home, they could have been abused.
As much as I would love to get a rescue dog I wouldn’t for this reason.
We did go to a rescue for a cat (obviously not the same issues for cats as for dogs) and they said no as I lived too close to a big road and I had a traditional fireplace the cats could climb up. I would have blocked it up or removed it and the cats I had previously had both died of old age and not from being hit by cars, they had had lovely happy lives with me. Unless you live in the middle of nowhere there will always be a road.

Because it's cruel.

Every species experiences the world in a different way, and had different needs. You need to understand those needs in order to give them a happy life.

A dog's maternal bond is done by about 8 weeks. They just have different social drives than humans.

Baseline14 she sounds like the breeder who we got our dog from! We paid an premium for our dog but what the breeder did for those puppies required so much time, energy and money. We also got a significant amount of extras as part of our cost - free insurance for a while, access to training apps, premium food and so on. I think most reputable breeders don't make a huge amount of money because the output required into raising balanced and well cared for puppies looks to be huge.

My neighbor had 4 dogs, rarely walked, bred the bitches back to back, so 4 liters a year, £1500 + per puppy, and people would pay that amount..

That's how they funded a new kitchen/paving of garden/caravan/cars.

They've been doing it for 8 years, covid hit and the price charged went from £400 to £2000...

I've reported them to police, hmrc, rspca and council and now they only have 2 dogs...still don't walk them and don't think they are breeding them the same.

They had 1 jack Russel bitch, bred her and kept a male puppy then bred the bitch with her son, her teeth were huge dragging on the floor because she was being bred every season. Using the money they got for breeding those 2. They got a bitch labradoodle bred her, kept a male puppy and did they same..they deliberately choose the breed due to seeing how much they could get for it.

You're just thinking about this in a way that means you don't have to feel guilty or acknowledge how fucked up it really is. Why not compare animals to humans?

Of course I wouldn't like it, because I'm not a dog.

I'm also not likely to get into a fight to the death with my adolescent daughter, because I'm not a dog.

Don't treat animals like humans. It's cruel to the animals.

Do shutup, it's awful and people like you just enable it. Would you like it if your baby was sold ethically so your owner could go to Turkey for a week?

Dogs should only go to homes with children if they are known to be safe around children (safe for them too - some are terrified of kids). This is not something you can guess by breed, it has to be proven either from the dog's life before it went into rescue, or through foster care.

The more experienced dog people who are willing and able to foster, the more rescue dogs can be appropriately homed. It's just a million times better for the dog, the rescue and the prospective family than trying to assess from the stressful environment of a pound.

What a load of nonsense.

Applying human ethical standards to animals is idiotic and harmful. They have different ideas of the world, and therefore different needs to humans.

Mother dogs are generally utterly fed up with the pups by 8 weeks, and are only too happy to have some peace and quiet.

Same they deserve only the absolute worst things to happen to them. Total heartless scum.

In my view people who breed animals and are happy to sell a mother's babies are total sub human scum and deserve nothing good in life. How on earth anyone can sell an animals new borns is beyond me. Why humans are so fucked that they think they're superior to other races is beyond me. Imagine if this was done with humans.

Done properly... there isn't a significant amount of money in breeding dogs.

That is - researching various lines - attending shows or working events/competitions to see various dogs/enter your own dogs (this gives you an outside, expert opinion on your dogs abilities/conformation, we all think our own dogs are wonderful of course, we need an outside view too)...

Raising and feeding your dog - travelling to the stud dog - stud fees (price of a puppy usually) - vet fees (breeding related costs are not insured generally) - maintaining a kennel affix costs, annually, you may also need local authority licensing which costs...

Feeding a bitch in-whelp and raising a litter costs a fair bit - you need to have a good 2 to 3K on hand in case you need an emergency C-section during whelping - all the kit puppies need costs - registration costs..

Good breeders do not piss off to work and leave Mum alone, so thats someone home with the dog and then dog and her puppies for a couple of months, not earning..

And yes then theres tax on that income..

Once you calculate all that, there isn't a huge profit.

But if you cut corners of course - no research, use the dog up the road, no showing, no competition, cheap food, no extra vet checks, cross your fingers and spit in your hat that you don't need any emergency vet care, and leave mum alone 9 to 5, 5 days a week... then yes, people do profit.

Really check that they are a good breeder - do they health test? Do they socialise and habituate puppies to typical family life (Smart Pup or Puppy Culture programs for example?), why did they choose the stud dog they used? How has the bitch and dog done in work/competition/showing (after all these dogs must have some attributes that make them worthy of reproducing beyond 'both the same breed'... )...

If answers to those questions are not inspiring... you're taking a massive and expensive gamble. If you are up for a gamble, you may as well gamble and go to a rescue and save a puppy who undoubtedly came from an ill prepared corner cutting breeder just like the one you're swerving... but for a fifth of the price.

Unfortunately so few do it properly. Specialist health testing (wolfhounds should be heart tested prior to mating and puppies liver shunt tested.) They shouldn’t be having too many litters from one bitch or litters from young or older girls either. Puppies need to be supervised in the nest for about a month with mother. Left alone she can easily stand on one and kill it. The washing and feeding and getting them used to household noises etc etc. it’s a full on job. And you can easily make a loss.
I don’t think people should be randomly breeding their pets just to make money. Decent breeders care deeply about their dogs and the breed and invest time and expertise in getting it right.
We have cats and have always rescued. But a wolfhound was my dream dog. So I went to a breeder. I had an interview and a home check and she took references. Nearly 8 years on we are still in close contact and see each other regularly.

Done properly, you really don't make money from breeding dogs - it's really expensive to do! A hobby for those who are well off to start with

I’d report the bastards.

I know a dog breeder and she has 5 dogs. It's her business breeding them so she pays tax of course but there are so many things to pay for that they can't be making all that much.

The vet fees, vaccinations, microchipping, premium quality food plus raw food, KC registrations. She also sources owners before the pups are born and gets a full history on them to find the right pup for them. She speaks on the phone to them weekly to show pups with the mum and how they are growing. She sleeps on the couch for weeks while they are in the whelping box. The costs for their facilities must be pretty high too.

I can think of a lot of easier ways to make 10 extra grand a year than breeding puppies.

It’s hard work and expensive looking after puppies!

Well a lot of breeders don't care about your child's safety or if your home is suitable for the dog. I rescue and being honest a lot of Westies are biters. Often because people have left children mishandle them but they are one of the breeds that have a high tendency to bite.
People love to get labs thinking they are a calm easy child loving dog. They are hugely energetic and a lot of people can not provide them with enough exercise (hence why so many are overweight) a lot of the time people buy lab pups (this also happens with other breeds just using your example) and don't have the time to give them the exercise they need, the lab is bored and understimulated. They redirected that energy in to a nip and start to learn to nip as a way of either getting attention or redirecting their energy- the lab is then surrendered to rescue for biting and can not be rehomed with children. It's more common than you think.
There's also a rise of bad dog trainers who teach people to do things like get your child to stick their hand in the dogs food bowl to "show it who's boss" big surprise then when the dog becomes food aggressive and distrusting of children.
Rescues can't run on this dog hasn't bitten a child so can be homed with children, we have to make sure everyone is safe so can only home a dog with a child if we know for sure that dog is suitable to live with children.

It's very hard to match up a dog with a home with children when the adults are set on certain breeds or a certain dog. It is much easier if the person comes to us and says we have children of these ages live in this area have x amount of time for walking- then we can point you towards the dogs that would be suitable instead.