To wonder why anyone would buy a puppy through gumtree or the like?

[SummerGems]

I’m not talking so much about why people would buy a puppy from a backyard breeder as that’s a discussion in its own right, but why anyone would log on to their local gumtree, look up the pets for sale adverts, and call the owner and arrange to go and collect a living breathing animal without having first met the “breeder” the dogs or had anything to do with them before jumping in the car and coming home with said puppy, usually at vast expense.

Looking at my local gumtree there are puppies for sale for as much as £2000, and even one for £1700 which is described at being available at “the bargain price of.....” . A bargain? For a living animal? .

Why?

On some level I can sort of see how someone might know someone locally with puppies and end up taking one. I wouldn’t but I can see how it happens. But answering an advert on a buying/selling website and collecting an animal from a complete stranger after handing over often upwards of a grand for what might even be a mongrel masquerading as a genuine breed (i.e. cockerpoo/cavachon/labradoodle and I even saw one described as a pomchi the other day, just why would anyone do that?

Arggghhhhh! Dogs can’t be hypoallergenic. They can be low shedding. But that’s not the same. It’s not always the fur that people are allergic to.
Bumped into a lady with a young poodle cross today. Full on in season. Off lead and running round other dogs.
Please do your research before bringing a pet. Any pet home.

As an example when trying to breed a hypoallergenic mix for use as a guide dog, whilst I do think this a wonderful thing for disabled people with allergies, there may be one dog in a litter who is low shedding and passes the test as a guide dog, meaning the rest where pointlessly bred and thus not always best for the dog. Obviously that's on a much smaller scale but I think this is what you mean.

Yes, and that was the puppy who was bred, with another puppy of the same quality from a carefully selected, non-related litter. It was a long, drawn out process. He didn't just get a few labs and a few poodles and hope for the best. It took years of research and careful selection.

Of course some failed to pass the muster, as do some gun dogs, some guide dogs, some police dogs. There was a proper system in place to ensure all the failed dogs went to the right home and hypoallergic guide dogs were needed. No-one needs a cavapoo, not when he have bichon frise and toy poodles already.

Creating new breeds when there are already so many dogs in rescue being pts because people didn't realise their working breed needed to work is immoral. Buying a dog because it has a cutesy name and is fluffy with no consideration as to its needs, health or why it was bred, is immoral.
Not sure if this is aimed at me, but personally I didn't buy a dog because it had a cutesy name or was fluffy. I also have never had an animal without considering its needs, health or how it would fit into my lifestyle.
Unfortunately this time I couldn't rescue, but as I am not having any more children if I have other dogs they will most definitely be rescues.
I am a reptile hobbyist and I adopt snakes only from shelters, so I realise it makes sense to apply the same logic to any other animal, unfortunately it just didn't work out with dog this time.

Wally Conran has publicly stated he regrets inventing the Labradoodle. Attempts to create them as an established breed have failed, and they paved the way for 'designer dogs'.

www.atomic-canine.com/news/2010/05/man-who-invented-the-labradoodle-regrets-decision/

''“I decided to stop mentioning the word crossbreed and introduced the term ‘labradoodle’ instead to describe my new allergy-free guide-dog pups,” he wrote.

The name caught on and interest in the labradoodle soared, but he began to worry about “backyard breeders producing supposedly allergy-free dogs for profit,” Conran wrote. He felt that he had opened up a Pandora’s box.''

I got my two dogs from a Gumtree type advert. We viewed them first though, saw the mum & dad & they were all registered with KC. So I guess a Gumtree advert isn't always bad?

Side note- my friends mum was adopted, back in 1950's. She was advertised as a baby for adoption (sale) in local paper!

Eek sorry @Wolfiefan I said hypoallergenic because that's originally what was trying to be created, not because I think they are or any other dog is hypoallergenic.
That's horrible about the baby in a newspaper ad, but then she could have went to a family and grown up happy and said 'baby newspaper ads can't all be bad then' ?
I think my opinion is changed on this one

Gumtree is always bad. No reputable breeder would advertise their dogs on gumtree and by reputable, I mean breeding for the right reasons and not profit.

Anyone advertising pups on Gumtree is breeding for profit.

Some are worse than others, some do genuinely love and care for their dogs but lack education. Even those ones are adding to the problem as are the people who buy from them.

There are too many dogs in the world. We don't need more.

@Frequency thank you dearly for taking the time to answer my long posts and questions! I'm feeling stupid so thank you also for not making me feel it more and for being so informative

Guide dogs are a bit of a red herring though... they use crosses because guide dog needs are very specific.

For instance GSDs make fabulous guide dogs, better by all accounts than the more common breeds used... but their stride length is too long, so they’re only suited to some people as guide dogs.

It’s very niche things they’re having to take into account, not things that pet owners would ever have to.

My friend is a dog groomer and hates poodle crosses.

Apparently the curly coat in combination with whatever straight coat it is crossed with produces a coat the felts very easily. If it is no absolutely kept on top of, brushed and cut very regularly, it ends up a felted mat that has to be shaved to the skin.

With an angry owner who doesn’t want a bald dog but can’t understand why “just take an inch off” isn’t an option.

There is no need to feel stupid, agirl. Dogs are a surprisingly complex subject and there are a lot of myths to weed through, notably the good old cross breeds are healthier. They're not.

It's a touchy subject for most people who know about dogs because if you've studied the issue in depth enough to fully understand it it's probably because you are involved in the dog world and to some extent involved in rescue.

Rescue is a heart breaking job. When you're dealing with the umpteenth person that month who wants rid of their puppy today or they're getting John from next door to shoot it because it is displaying perfectly normal puppy behaviour it's hard to remember that most people have their heart in the right place but lack education.

Thank you and yes I can see that they are far more complex than I realised and I have owned dogs my whole life, but as I say from rescues and I've never and never would consider breeding so these subjects haven't often came into question for me.
I can completely see why people are touchy about it, esp if they have seen and helped care for animals in dire situations first hand, I donate and adopt but I am not emotionally strong enough to deal with physically helping animals in great need, so I take my hat off to anyone who does Unfortunately on the subject of most animals though I do find people are often rude and very unfriendly to people who are uneducated instead of trying to help them become more understanding, hence my gratitude.

From experience, if you are looking for a rarer breed of dog you'll actually find official breeders on Pets4Homes. By official I mean not just KC registered but also registered to the breeds association board. They use it to announce litters for waiting lists and I assure you you can't just pop in your car and come home with a pup. If your breeder is worth their salt you'll be expected to give over all sorts of details about your lifestyle and property. We even had to provide official documents from our landlord to prove we had permission to keep a dog.

Agirl - please don't feel stupid You certainly aren't. It's a hugely complex subject that's gets people riled. There's always something new to learn too!

I got my two dogs from a Gumtree type advert. We viewed them first though, saw the mum & dad & they were all registered with KC. So I guess a Gumtree advert isn't always bad

That's very bad. Sorry.

I got my two dogs from a Gumtree type advert. We viewed them first though, saw the mum & dad & they were all registered with KC. So I guess a Gumtree advert isn't always bad?

Jesus.

Anyone can KC register puppies if the parents are KC registered themselves. It doesn't say anything about the health of the puppies or the quality of the breeder. My beagle is KC registered, so is my neighbours. We could breed them and KC register the pups - doesn't mean either of us know anything about breeding. It doesn't mean the sire and dam have been health tested and had the required health checks. It just means two KC registered dogs have had puppies. That's it.

While good breeders are KC registered, the puppies being KC registered isn't a sign of a good breeder on it's own.

I have not had a pet off gumtree but I have from preloved. I do not understand the issue, plenty of breeders use these platforms. I have visited the house, seen parents, seen where and how the animal has been brought up and used my judgement before making any decision. I have never brought a pet home on the day either, it is a viewing and I cannot see why finding the breeder through preloved or any other random website makes any difference.

Decent breeders endorse their KC reg puppies. My girl is endorsed. If we had good reason for wanting to breed (we won’t) the breeder would be open for discussion about removing the endorsements.
And seeing both parents when viewing pups should be a massive red flag.

So we as a family are looking for a dog. We're experienced dog owners but do not want a pure breed, just a mongrel suits us fine. Doesn't have to be a puppy, doesn't have to be "cute and fluffy".

No rescue centre will give us a dog because we have young children. I have contacted 35 now and they all say the same - they cannot allow us to take a dog with young kids in the house.

We do not want to buy from a breeder as we are not interested in pure breeds or even "cross breeds" - our best pets have been Heinz 57s.

I read on here that gumtree / preloved etc are out .. so where do we look then?

wherehavealltheflowersgone can't you just wait a few years until your children are older?

@wherehavealltheflowers gone

Try preloved, don't commit until you have seen the circumstances. Ask for vet reports, if the dogs are well socialised and brought up as part of a household, which you should easily be able to tell, I don't know what the issue it.

@wherehavealltheflowersgone not all rescues have blanket bans against children. Many Tears and Dog's Trust don't. I'm not sure on RSPCA but I would guess they didn't and smaller rescues almost always don't.

The one I used to have did advertise no children under eight on most, if not all dogs, but even that wasn't laid down as law. The way the rescue owners saw it was that if you genuinely cared about dogs and their welfare we would at least know your face. You would be on the local rescue Facebook pages, you would attend the charity fairs and dog shows and/or volunteer. If we knew you, we would be more likely to bend the rules if a suitable dog came into our care.

here's loads of rescue dogs looking for homes who can live with children

At the end of the day, if every rescue you have approached have said no and you've genuinely done more than picked up the phone of your nearest rescue, then maybe there is reason for this other than your kids and you need to wait a few years until your circumstances are better suited to dog ownership.

Try preloved, don't commit until you have seen the circumstances. Ask for vet reports, if the dogs are well socialised and brought up as part of a household, which you should easily be able to tell, I don't know what the issue it.Try preloved, don't commit until you have seen the circumstances. Ask for vet reports, if the dogs are well socialised and brought up as part of a household, which you should easily be able to tell, I don't know what the issue it.

What vet reports? The poster wants a mixed breed. They don't do 'vet reports' for mixed breeds, assuming you mean health checks for common breed issues.

Honestly, if you don't know what is involved in breeding and selling dogs, ask questions. Don't advise other people on a subject you don't fully understand yourself. The chances of finding a reputably bred mixed breed on Pre-loved are precisely zero. Any mixed breed has been bred for profit and profit only. There is no other reason. And any dog who has been bred for profit has not been cared for properly. Vet care for a whelping bitch and pups costs far more than a litter of mongrels would fetch.

And as for being able to easily tell how a dog is raised, you have no clue. Puppy farms use regular family homes as a front. They don't show the reality, they show you what they know will make you part with the only thing they are interested in - cold, hard cash.

Many rescues will home with kids. Try ones that use foster homes rather than kennels. And be prepared to travel.

seeing both parents when viewing pups should be a massive red flag.

Not sure why. Please explain Wolfiefan.
Especially as I just spend a handsome sum importing a beautiful stud dog for my 2 girls. The puppies that they will produce will be top class, and definitely help the breeds gene pool. (But I guess I am just a back yard breeder.)