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?

I got my beautiful boy from gumtree ... never had a problem with him so glad I got him

Well that's alright then isn't it! What about his mother? Would it matter that she's potentially living in a filthy barn churning out litter after litter until she's worn out and disposed of?

Just because your gumtree dog was healthy doesn't mean they all are or that your dogs' parents were healthy or happy animals.

Puppy farmers aren't stupid. It's no longer about handing over cash in a parking lot - it's big business. They hire houses, pay families to pretend the puppies are from their family pet. Often the "mum" is a stunt and not the mother of the litter, who is probably in a dark shed somewhere, possibly already pregnant again.

KC paperwork isn't proof that your dog didn't come from a puppy farm. Anyone can register a litter of KC puppies - it doesn't mean they're healthy or from a good breeder.

People are just impatient and don't seem to care about the health of the mum, or where their puppies really came from. Older puppies who are sold because their owners "can't handle them" are often rejects from litters that didn't sell at 8 weeks old. They sell 'em cheap because they're either no good for breeding from or because the alternative is to drown them. Puppy farmers only care about money - if a pup can't make them money (either from being sold or being bred from) the pup will die.

You aren't rescuing your pup from awful conditions by buying from a puppy farmer. You're enabling and encouraging these people to stay in business by putting money in their pockets. The only reason they continue doing what they do is because people are stupid and impatient enough to keep buying from them.

dontalltalkatonce
Did you check the Lost and Found register? Your cat sounds like someone else's stolen pet

Upstart I thought that too!!

As someone who is very interested in owning a dog for the first time,
where is the best place to begin looking for a puppy or slightly older dog. Any advice very welcome.

scunner
If you know what kind of dog you want, you can start with the breed rescue thats nearest to you.
Research the breed defects and find out what health tests the breeder needs to have done.

probably in a dark shed somewhere, possibly already pregnant again.

@adaline except dogs have seasons roughly 6 moths apart and puppies are generally re-homed at 6-8 weeks. The rest of what you said is highly likely, tho.

www.thekennelclub.org.uk/services/public/findabreed/default.aspx

@scunner give the quiz a go as a starting point if you’re not sure of the breed you want. It’s also handy to show you breeds you’ve never thought/heard of. It comes up with totally odd choices for me, however, so possibly not too accurate!

Last week I had my head bitten off on one thread for agreeing with an OP who did not want her child taken out by grandparents’ friends whom she had not vetted. For me the ‘what ifs’ were too great. Yet, when people want to buy a puppy, there’s a chorus of sanctimonious ‘what ifs’ : what if the mother dog was mistreated, what if this, what if that. And this thread seems to come up over and over. What exactly is the OP’s AIBU here?

I got my dog from Gumtree, desperately wanted to get a dog, ideally a rescue, rescue centres wouldn't look twice at us because we worked full time (even though we were comfortable enough to pay dog walkers etc.). Took on an 18 month old, who I think proved too much work for the original owners, and she is lovely, best dog we could have chosen for us. But we have had to put the work in! Trainers etc. And we did do our research into the breed before hand. I no longer work full-time (due to other circumstances), but we have kept on her dog walker, because she gets soo much out of her 'pack walks'.

Thank you for the replies. Much appreciated. I’m so glad this subject came up as I had no idea that Gum Tree and other sites are used by many sellers who cannot be trusted. The issues discussed are an eye opener for us inexperienced folks.

I used pets4homes. I specifically did NOT want a pedigree dog, and did want a puppy. But I did have specific breed criteria's for what I wanted.

We meet the mum, and one of the breeders other dogs, but not the dad as he belonged to breeders df. The puppies had all had vet checks and microchips. The breeder clearly adored his dogs and was fantastic at handling them.

Shock horror though... The breeders whet a young couple in a council house making a bit of money cash in hand through their dog breeding.

Our dog is great, and the vets compliment him everytime he had a check up.

For those people who disapprove of pets4homes, where should I have looked for a dog? Where should this breeder have advertised his litter?

The litter shouldn't have been bred in the first place!

You should go through the breed club or attend dog shows and meet the breeders themselves. Get to know them and the breed. Then eventually get yourself on a list and wait for your breeder to have puppies. This can take over a year but too many people don't want to wait that long.

Shock horror though... The breeders whet a young couple in a council house making a bit of money cash in hand through their dog breeding.

I think that’s a bit shit, tbh. To breed only for profit is no better than being a puppy farmer. A decent breeder isn’t into making money and probably makes only a modest amount after eye tests, hip scores, paying out for microchip, worming, good weaning food, docking if it’s a working breed, careful looking after of the dam etc.

We got one of our two cats from Gumtree, and I still don't know whether it was an ok thing to do (though I'm very glad we have him!). He was a two year old neutered male being offered for free, so I was very confident that there was no farming going on, though I do know that the advice would have been for his previous owners to ask for money. We did initially start with our local Cats Protection and they said we were completely unsuitable because we live near a completely averagely busy road.

Why the assumption that they were breeding only for profit, they were breeding two of their working dogs together for their own use, but obviously couldn't keep the entire litter, so clearly where going to sell them!

You should go to a breed club I didn't want a pedigree breed, my dog is a very rare (non designer) crossbreed. I don't believe in genetic inbreeding, it is sick! We wouldn't accept it for humans, so why do we see it as the gold standard for dogs.

Oh cool, RIPWalter, you got your dog from a for-profit breeder making some bucks from their poor bitch. A high percentage of your dog's siblings have probably been through a rescue centre. Congrats.

Clearly you know nothing about decent breeders, if you think good breeders do that. Goodness me.

My neighbours bought two bulldogs from Gumtree. One is obv a bulldog. The other is twice his size and not a bulldog colour, so not a bulldog. May be some sort of mastiff cross.

More worrying, they were both sold on as 'good with children' and the one that is not a bulldog, is not good with neighbours children, to the extent that he may have to move on again.

Pig in a poke.Please don't do it.

So all these KC registered breeders give their dogs away for the cost of just the microchip and first vaccinations? Thought not!

Some KC reg breeders are effectively puppy farmers. Some breed very selectively and rarely (not inbreeding)

I agree.

We wouldn't accept it for humans, so why do we see it as the gold standard for dogs.

What are you talking about? The whole point is that decent breeders don't inbreed - they look at the genetic lines and ensure that their puppies are the healthiest they can be.

If you didn't want a specific breed, then why not go to a rescue centre or the local pound? Rescues always have puppies (although these are rarely advertised online) or young adult dogs looking for homes.

@Maelstrop

If "a decent breeder" isn't in it for the money then what are they in it for?

Have you ever actually sat down and read a pedigree dogs family tree, or read about genetic coefficients?