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?

Yanbu

I think it's a certain type that would seek an animal from the likes of these sites.

Pretty thick and Ill Informed IMO

I confess! I bought my pup from gumtree, but I did my research and kept my eye open until the right dog came along:
Wanted something small, didn't care about breed or designer 'mixes.'

When he came up I read the blurb and then went to check him out before I committed. But then basically he was supposed to be taken by the owners daughter, but her dog went for him, so that wouldn't work.
Both mum, dad and his litter mates were there. And when I agree to take him the daughter burst into tears because she'd miss him so much. And indeed I have kept her up to date on his progress.

But I am well aware that this is an exception.

(Meet Ash.)

Recent legislative changes mean that ALL puppy breeders must now be registered with the local authority, puppies must be see with their mum, and must be st least 8 weeks old when regimes. Please report any breeders that you see not adhering to the new legislation

veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/content/181/17/433.1

I got mine from pets4home and mum and dad were there as were the puppies. Can't say the owner was overly sentimental but he was a happy puppy and is now a happy dog. This is a different scenario to backyard breeding as they were family pets.

@RedHelenB how is that not backyard breeding? Flinging together two random dogs and flogging the puppies online.

Erm, that is backyard breeding.

So it’s obviously fine to use a backyard breeder off gumtree if you happen to get a good dog out of it...

Most of our dogs came from gumtree and the lime. HOWEVER all were accidetal breedings, none cost more than £50, all were visited by us multipe times at their home when they were about 4-8 weeks old, and collected later (once really old enough). We want puppies because they are easier to train, and want crossbreeds because they tend to be healthier.

mumofamenagerie you've made me cry! Thank god you've got her now.

These are my two I got from preloved pets and kennel club (as said in a previous message) black and white is my boy from puppy farm. Liver and white from a little family home. 😍 best puppies ever

HOWEVER all were accidetal breedings

Sure they were. That's what they all say.

want crossbreeds because they tend to be healthier

No they don't.

Face
Palm
Accidental? Rubbish. I don’t want my cats to have kittens. So they’re spayed. And weren’t allowed out until they were. I haven’t spayed my bitch but she isn’t allowed off lead (or around any dogs that could be off lead) when she’s in season. TBH I just keep her away from dogs altogether. It’s possible.
A crossbreed may be healthier. Or it may inherit the health issues of two different breeds. And the likelihood is that someone breeding cross breeds doesn’t have the relevant testing done on the parents before breeding.

What is the definition of a "back yard breeder"?
I guess for many on here it is people with 1-3 dogs who happen to decide to breed from them. (Weather they do health testing, show the dogs or breed pets for pet homes... ) these back yard breeders might actually know a thing or two about dog breeding. And to some dog breeds, (and other animals) these people are vital for the genetic health of that breed. Because without them, the gene pool would be very low and the consequences would be catastrophic. (= That is why health testing was introduced in the first place. To "correct" all the crap breeding the so called professionals have done over decades to get the next best in show winner.)
We need genetic diversity to preserve the a range of bloodlines, to reduce the inbreeding with it's health implications.

Yes, accidental. It happens, not saying it should but it does. And £20-£50 for a puppy doesn’t even come close to costs. Several visits to family with your eyes wide open (and walk away if things look strange!), making contact with other dig owners in the area, making sure you only collect once the dogs are really old enough, and avoiding popular cross breeds goes a long way. I would never buy „pedigree“ anyway, but certainly not from any sort of website. 90% of the dogs on these sites are from puppymills, but some are not.
Healthier - yes in my experience. Our previous dogs were 19 years, 17 years and 15 years when they had to be put to sleep. no mayor health problems ever. All accidental
breeding (Irish wulfhound/border collie mix anybody? or german hunting terrier/ german pointer? or Labrador/irish setter?)

It’s not an accident. It really isn’t. If I had an entire male dog in my house I would end up with pups. But I don’t. Because I don’t want puppies.
Just because you have been lucky enough to have healthy dogs it doesn’t mean everyone else who buys from BYB will. And the parents?

I did and yes I am an idiot, it’s turned out ok but it could have been very different
In my defence I was about to take 6 months off work so it was a good time for a puppy and we wanted a specific breed and a puppy
I contacted lots of breeders and asked loads of questions, discounted any who didn’t ask me questions too
Saw the pups with their mother in a domestic environment etc etc
Turned out to be a front for puppy farming, I was gutted when I found out but he was home with us by then.
It took work and £ but he’s a lovely dog now with no health issues ( touch wood) but I do deeply regret it and with hindsight it’s all so bloody obvious
So while some people don’t care where they get their designer cross breed or whatever from there are people like me who despite being supposedly quite intelligent do get duped. Having said that if I hadn’t looked on pets4homes or whatever the site was called it wouldn’t have happened so yes, I’m an idiot

Also, I had tried 2 rescues who let us down badly and after having to explain to dd twice why the puppy we had been promised wasn’t actually coming after all I was ABSOLUTELY getting one this time, which made me overeager and easier to dupe

@Wolfiefan mums were fine. I‘ve stayed in contact with the owners of the mums (who were all
spayed after having the puppies) and met up frequently. The owners if the mums all fell under the naive but well meaning category (they though its easy to keep their digs in while in heat - it and wanted to avoid surgery). Dads were in one case a stray who jumped the fence, in another case a pedigree dog on a walk, and next door neighbours „too young to make puppies“ dog (he wasn’t too young). Not exactly good dog ownership and very, very naive, but no neglect either.
it takes a lot of comittment and time to get tbe good ones, but it’s possible. easier to go to a good breeder though - but then you get a pedigree dog

That’s not a good breeder. And if they didn’t care about the money they would hand pups over to a charity.
Rescue or pedigree. That’s the only choice I would be happy with.

The mums were all spayed. JFC. How can you not see the issue?

@Wolfiefan point is, they were no breeders. i don’t buy dogs from breeders.
And handing puppies to a charity???? Stuck in a cage for potentially weeks with not a lot of human contact? I‘ve volunteered in shelters, there is little time for dogs even in the better ones, and even fewer foster places. I would rather vet people myself (which is what these people did).
in summary we agree though - most dogs on websites are from puppymills and to be avoided. The exceptions are hard to find and require significant more effort to find than finding a breeder or go to a rescue.

They let their bitches have puppies. What else are breeders?
Puppies in rescue will receive expert socialisation. And home will be properly vetted rather than handed over to someone who seems nice. Did you have a home check? Doubt it.

Yes they visited my home. and i visited their home. before and after i got the puppies home. Everything else would be naive.

It’s naive to say they’re not breeders. I can’t believe you think them flogging puppies because they CBA to spay bitches is ok.

its also naive to believe in expert socialisation at charities. And that pedigree breeding is responsible in most cases (i would say it is in the minority of cases - as with all
dog breeding)
Lets agree to disagree on that, but let’s agree that a thorough vetting process from BOTH sides is necessary when getting a dog (or any other animal for that).