Collecting a new puppy

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My friend is worried about the following situation

Puppy due to be collected in 10 days. Not a rescue due to other circumstances meaning they wanted a puppy that would definitely get along with their other animals and children. They did donate to a rescue also.

The breeder has a v small house and 5 dogs of their own so have said there's no room to keep all of the puppies there for potentially months while we go into lockdown. They don't have a garden either.
My friend is working from home in a big house with a big garden and has annual leave booked to help puppy settle in, but the journey to collect the puppy isn't a necessary journey.

What would you do? Should she go and get a non-contact swap of puppy? They can put directly into a crate into the car without any contact.

Stay at home.

I’d go and get it now. Is it far?

I'd go. Can't explain logically why but it's no good for the puppy to be stuck there

The breeder sounds irresponsible with a tiny home, no garden and 5 dogs though! Not worth the risk them dumping it or giving to someone who will come sooner.

It's half an hour or so drive, but is 8 weeks old in a few days so it's still technically too early to be taken away from mum.

I worry the puppies will end up living in awful conditions for the first few weeks and months, which means it will be so much harder to get it socialised with their existing animals and children.

They are completely torn - they have been distancing by choice for weeks and hoping they'd be able to get their little dog :(

Bloody irresponsible breeder (and therefore people buying from them knowing that!)

But no she can’t go out to collect a dog. It’s not an essential journey

Agreed @quickquestion

Wholly irresponsible I agree, but they were happily walking their own dogs several times a day until lockdown, but these are of course unprecedented circumstances

I'd go. Not good for the puppies otherwise.

I don't think they have a choice really. They need to do it a long as there is no contact.

Stay at home

The breeder sounds terrible
Why is she paying for and supporting a terrible breeder.
Ours is 6 months now, if I said I couldn’t handle it anymore the breeder would take it back in a heartbeat.

She shouldn’t go get the puppy as it is against the rules.
She also shouldn’t get the puppy as it’s been bred terribly and you are certainly supporting terrible care of it’s mother if that is the home she is left living in, and likely will be made to breed in again.

I’d just pick the dog up.
Upsetting that your, er ‘friend’, is buying a puppy from such irresponsible breeders who she has such little confidence in.

They need to stay at home, each unnecessary contact massively increases the risk to everyone.

"Asking for a friend"

Yeah, right.

Stay at home and don't support a puppy mill.

Why are you buying from a breeder like this??

Stay at home, come on how hard is it?

I'm hoping to adopt a rescue in the next two weeks, they're desperate

The breeder and your friend should each drive 15 minutes to an agreed pick up point. The breeder places a pet carrier containing the puppy, in the assigned spot and gets back in the car. Your friend, wearing gloves, wipes down the outside of the carrier with disinfectant and places it in her car, then drives home.

The breeder has their own dogs that are very well looked after, in fact one one of them was a returned puppy. Perhaps I've made the breeder sound much worse (I had all of the same concerns as all of you but she had been to see them many times and they are all registered etc)

They do get several walks a day and trips to the park, play time with their children and all of that, but of course now that can't happen.

It also definitely is my friend, she rang me crying yesterday about it and showed me a text exchange screenshot. I have enough with my two little puddings!! for what it's worth, I told her to go get the dog

@drybird that's what I suggested to her, it can be done no contact. But it is still a trip out of the house

Thanks all for your input

Stay at home

‘She’ shoukd NOT have bought from that backyard breeder. She has 5 dogs & no garden. Fucking hell ‘how much more of a clue did your ‘friend’ need that it was irresponsible breeding - the poor mum dog-probably popping out litter after litter in those shitty conditions.

Report to the RSPCA but now more than ever they’ll be inundated, but they might get to it later and that’ll be better than doing nothing

I think I’d combine collecting it with an essential shopping trip. A genuine one. Straight into the car, take NOTHING but the puppy into the house & give it a good wipe off not a bath (that might be too traumatic for it) leave everything in the car for as many days as possible then bin/bleach it.

but your friend is an absolute IDIOT for buying from a ‘not even a back yard breeder’