... Or is the price of puppies absolutely insane??

[Tootletum]

I've been looking to get a dog for about a year, and now that I know I'll be at home for good, had started looking at prices for a spaniel or a viszla. The average asking price for a non KC registered purebred seems to be £2500, and even the lady advertising some accidental mongrel whippets wanted over £1000!!! Who is paying these insane prices???

I've just managed to get a rescue dog - a very popular breed abandoned in a town centre.

I got him because I didn't ask specifically for him, I asked for any small outgoing dog (as mine is that)

He is only ten months old, wasn't micro chipped and has clearly been dearly loved as he's so affectionate

I have been PHENOMENALLY lucky but I do have all that a rescue want, no young children, secure garden, at home all the time.

@LaurieFairyCake He’s a doll!

Completely agree Existential. All the folk who bought a pup to amuse and exercise the kids during lockdown are going to discover that an adolescent dog can do serious property damage when they have gone back to the office without considering what it might do all day while you're out. Dogs are pack animals; they become your pack, and if the pack isn't there for company all day every day, it's really very bad news for the dog's MH. Unless the temperature is above 22C my dog comes with me in the car. I live quite rurally, I look for shaded parking and I don't lock my car if I am in doubt.

Just to further add to my last post - breed societies will also have details of adult dogs that need to be rehomed through their own breed specific rescue. Breeders also rehome their adult dogs - ex show dogs, brood bitches etc.,

If you don't necessarily want a purebred dog/puppy then please consider a normal rescue centre, although I understand they may be unwilling to rehome a dog with children etc. due to not knowing the dog's past.

"Loads of unwanted puppies" is a situation that happened when there were huge numbers of terrible backyard breeders and most people didn't spay or neuter.

How did people think this was going to last forever? Eventually you spay and neuter, you pick up the strays off the street and sterilize them too, and suddenly there actually aren't enough dogs to meet demand and prices soar...while people still repeat the thought-terminating cliche "adopt, don't shop" as if the situation that created the excess puppies hasn't been addressed bit by bit for 20+ years!

He is that stopgap

I do think it's as people describe- he's not a baby anymore and it's likely as he's reached adolescence they weren't as interested

The rescue neutered him. I have another dog for him to model his behaviour on. He has a run at doggy daycare with other dogs his size and then snoozes on me in the afternoon.

If only people just focused a bit on meeting their dogs needs. He's genuinely adorable company and just stares at you with love (for your biscuit)

I suspect that anyone irresponsible enough to have let their bitch produce 'unwanted puppies' is in fact rubbing their hands with glee as they list them for £3000 each on Gumtree.

Don't go pure breed. Always have health issues. Rather than thinking it pushes people to unlicensed breeders, why shouldn't it push them to rescue dogs instead and ensure only people really serious about having a dog, save up to buy one?

Interesting stopgap because I'd rather buy a puppy (albeit not at inflated lock down price). I'd would add that I wouldn't ever contemplate having a French bulldog or a pug because of their compromised respiratory systems. Heinz is a possibility.

I saw a lilac french bulldog for £8k........ surely people are not paying these prices. The whole litter of pups would have made her a cool £32k. Shocking.

What is the best way of making sure that I am buying a puppy that is not from a puppy farm?

I saw a lilac french bulldog for £8k.

Please go and get a rescue dog. All this cockatoo, cavapoo, chorkie nonsense really annoys me. They are so overbred purely to make money. The going rate for a cockapoo is three and a half grand. It’s ridiculous.

Pure breeds do not always gave issues, mongrels are not always 100 per cent healthy, that's a myth. People can educate themselves, go to a licensed breeder and gave the patience to go on a waiting list. Adopt isn't the only option, buying a puppy isn't always unethical. Surely empty rescues and people going to good breeders who care about their animals is a good thing?

stripes galore research. Read everything you can and talk to good breeders. People passionate about their dogs will talk your ear off. For instance, if you want a French bulldog, five minutes on the British breed web site will tell you that 'rare' colours like lilac are rare because they carry genetic abnormalities and no decent breeder will breed these colours. Any one who does is a backyard breeder who doesn't give a shit beyond how a puppy looks, puppy mill, or dogs bred in Eastern Europe and sold in 'fake' homes. NEVER buy a puppy if you cannot meet the mother.

If I may say, there are breeds that are good family dogs and many that are more difficult. Some dogs are easy to train, and others are .... less so. Labradors are the biggest number of all the pedigree breeds, because they are (mostly) easy going, easily trained, want to please, gentle and like small children. They are cute and soppy, but the puppy you get is going to turn into an exercise fiend at 11 months old, and will need a minimum of 5k daily to stay sane and fit until it's at least five years old.

Xingming
Alot of people don't have time for dogs but want one so get them anyway
Dogs end up left locked in the house for hours on end
Not being walked enough
Over feeding
Pug dogs still being popular even tho they have lots of health issues because of their breeding

Of course there are people who get dogs and give them a great life but I genuinely feel there is more that don't.

Lots of shit parents too many

Ohh there are plenty of shit parents

A minimum 5k walk daily! My boy would tell me to get stuffed if I tried that with him. He is a lab cross German Shepard and very much enjoys his walks and his snoozes. But no way would he want 5k a day walk.

@IJustWantSomeBees No it's other people keep telling me they're risky. I'm sure a shelter would be able to advise, indeed, and I wouldn't be planning on getting one of the higher aggression breeds anyway (although I love alsatians and particularly malinois, they have a bad rap). I guess really it's nostalgia for all the work I put into raising our border collie. My parents left me to it at 15, and he didn't turn out too bad, apart from the herding of bicycles. They divorced when I was 22, and my dad begged my mum to let him keep the dog, as he was "so lonely" . He then decided shagging an air hostess in Frankfurt was more fun, and gave the dog back to the sheep farm, without telling her or us. Maybe that's partly why I'm a little torn about it, they don't have to be mistreated dogs to have sad histories.

One of my 2 boys came from a rescue as a puppy. He is fab, a Doberman mix who worships my 2 kids (10 and 8 at the time).

Updated lockdown version of a classic song:

" How much is that dog you've seen on Gumtree?
The cocker-poo-cava-chon-pug?
You'll have to take out a second mortgage
The seller's pegged you for a mug "

I love the idea that all proper breeders have the dogs best interests at heart. My first dog was a boxer with a tail. We loved her so we looked into getting another but we wanted one with a tail as disagree with tail docking. This was before the law changed on tail docking. We had breeders swear at us, hang up the phone and tell us to get a mastiff. Breeders try and produce dogs that match the breed standard and health doesn't to me seem to be a priority.

As to rehoming from a rescue. It's now the case that charities are importing dogs to the UK to find homes. If there are so many dogs already in rescue needing homes why the hell are we importing more?

Out of the 11ish dogs I have had since a kid 4 have been privately bought pupsbthe rest rescues. Our last gsd was a rescue, fab for us but most would have put her down young due to digestion issues however she lived to 11 and was spoiled rotten. Another rescue we had had no bowel control, an old farm collie with nerve damage. He got a year before his time was up. We have also hd dogs that were not to be rehomed as too hyper not able to live in a house etc, all settled well and were loved family pets until the end.
Now though we have a collie pup, we wanted a rescue but can't get one as we have kids and work. Didn't even want a pup 😂 but he is a super dog, great with the kids. Chews and eats everything in sight, pees when he is excited but will be with us forever. He cost £300 from a working dog farm and is worth every penny. Yes I would have preferred an older dog but that wasn't to be.
I havebto say though Instill don't see the appealbof a puppy, give me an older, settled dog any day, a bit like kids 😭

I recommend Many tears charity. They have many puppies with photos and videos. We adopted a puppy from them and our dog is very friendly, loves children.
We made £180 donation to the charity.

I got my dogs 14 years ago - they both cost over 1k each. I’m not surprised tbh.