To think the price of dogs are likely to fall anytime soon?

[Cloglover]

Just before lock down we were going to get a puppy. Where we live you can get one of the 'popular' breeds for between £5-800. Fast forward to now, the prices seem to have quadrupled, with prices between £2-3k. I absolutely can not justify spending that amount of money. Do you think it's likely that prices will fall, or whether it will become the new norm and I just need to get over the hike in price? I don't want to get a rescue one as I have 2 young children and the only rescue dogs where we live seem to be bulldogs and frenchies and I'm after a cavachon type one.

I think they shouldn’t be too cheap. We’re partying £2k for our kc registered, health checked and carefully bred puppy. For his family line that’s probably not much more than he’d have been pre covid but I know the breeder was concerned that by under pricing them she risked people buying them and selling them on. Most cocker spaniels seem to be £3-4K so ours is lower end. I’m okay with £2k but that was our maximum. That was our holiday spending money we’d put to one side and as that holiday isn’t happening it means we can introduce a puppy and get him fully settled before we go away next summer.

Marnie76

Thank you

I should add we tried rescues over the last 10 months - being inexperienced, not already having a dog, having a cat and dc all ruled us out.
If you really wanted a rescue dog you'd be happy to meet the 'requirements' of the rescue
Oh okay, I’ll put dc up for adoption so we can have a dog then

I think soon they’ll be lots of pups for sale because people’s “circumstances have changed” ie the inevitable has happens and they’ve had to go back to work.

My KC registered fox red cocker was £750 3 years ago. At the time he was more expensive owing to his colour.

£2-3k is utter madness. My advice to anyone wanting a dog is to wait a few months and get an older one. I’ve had many wonderful rescues. I just wanted a WCS this time and couldn’t find a second hand one.

If you work and / or have children under around 10 it’s a nightmare to get a dog from rescue which is a shame as both our families have always worked and had children and always had rescue dogs. This is partly the reason why there are so many dogs in rescue and so many people still buying puppies. It’s not necessarily always people wanting the “designer breeds” etc.

I have used rescues a d I've never found them to be difficult. At one time I had two very young children and both my other half and I worked (granted, I was part time) and there were lots of dogs available to me. Rescues I've spoken to will work with you to find out what's best for everyone. The pound is a place where there seems to be zero requirements, you just turn up so there are places to re-home dogs they maybe just won't be the trendy dog to have at that particular time

Someone on here the other day said her mum was selling 'cavapoochons' for £4500!

My mum breeds golden retrievers and is a KC accredited breeder. She hasn’t had a litter for 2 years but is hoping to breed a young bitch in the spring. She usually has a list of 8 or so people before a litter is born but is having 2 phone calls per day at the moment! She has a waiting list of 20 people and is now turning them away. These are £1500 - this price hasn’t changed in lockdown.

Could you rescue from abroad? We look after friends dogs when they go on holiday but would not have one all the time as we both work and man they get you up early 😂

I have a working cocker, FTC bloodlines, fully health tested, parents worked peg on some of the top shoots etc etc. She was £750. £2k for a cocker is INSANE.

I go on a dog forum for show dogs. The breeders were discussing puppy prices. They pointed out that they have had to put up prices as well, or people would buy the puppy off them and then sell it on for profit.

Rescues will soon fill up with every breed going.

I’ve recently put my name down for a puppy from my current dog’s breeder. She’s not breeding at the moment obviously, but I’m not in a rush.
I won’t be paying Covid prices though. If it’s not a similar price to my current dog I will be waiting until prices come back down.

I honestly don't think there'll be as much of this as people think
I agree. I think many people are going for dogs now because many will now be working from home and that was the only thing that kept them form getting one in the first place.

Yes, they will be idiots who will have got a dog during lockdown not thinking ahead and what happens when they are back in the office, but I think these people are the minority.

@SteelyPanther

I go on a dog forum for show dogs. The breeders were discussing puppy prices. They pointed out that they have had to put up prices as well, or people would buy the puppy off them and then sell it on for profit.

That's what our breeder said, although she would, wouldn't she? But I think that's the case even though selling on a puppy under 6 months is against the law.

I think that given the numbers out of work will increase, sadly, then prices will fall.

If you're wanting a cavachon and the prices have shot up recently, that's a bit of a red flag for puppy farming. Puppy farmers tend to price based on market demand.
Make sure you go to a registered breeder and can see parents in person.

I think prices will come down as there’s a lot of demand at the moment as it’s an ideal time to settle a puppy whilst you’re not out at work, but that won’t keep up.

With regards to a rescue I think you just need to have a bit of patience to find the right dog. I was allowed to adopt a dog as a single parent with two primary aged kids working part-time. I even managed to find the specific pure breed I wanted.

We have a lockdown puppy. The price was the same as quoted this time last year. We had to wait for a litter. It gave us lots of time to plan, dog proof garden etc.

We also joined the breeders "family" group page and we all post at least a photo a week which I now realise may have been to make sure we didn't sell her on. But we love seeing how her siblings are doing so it's nice.

Just did a quick search near me and can’t get over the price of some pups!

Sadly there already seems to be some lockdown puppies for sale already. One gorgeous little lab was for sale at 10 weeks because the owner had realised after a grand total of 3 weeks that they ‘just don’t have the time for him’ and they won’t take less than 2k because they want him to go to a ‘loving home’

I don't think the price will fall in the next year or so. Corona is here to stay and until people can go out and have proper social life they will be buying puppies/dogs.

I expect the puppy-farmers will be squeezing every single puppy they can out of their poor dogs.

For every owner that can't cope and sells their dog on, another owner who has found themselves redundant or WFH will snap it up.

My advice? It the only dog you want is a popular mix breed, then you will have to cough up. If you are willing to rescue or buy a less in demand breed then you will save £££

I don't think rescues will be filling up with expensive 'designer dogs' people will be selling them on gumtree etc to get their money back, especially if they have lost their jobs.

We have been looking for cavapoochons or cavapoos. It’s a minefield trying to figure out which are reputable breeders. Most are asking for £3.2k although the latest person we contacted W wanted £4K. Madness.

@ghostyslovesheets

lots of dogs in charities - rehoming cost very little - although they may not have the right designer mongrel?

We are looking for a dog. We have tried over 20 charities, rescues, rehoming centres but because we have children under 5 and we might be out of the house for a full work day once or twice a week (when we would pay a dog walker for an hour. They won't let us have one.

This is despite being experienced dog owners, large house and garden and household income sufficient to pay insurances, vets bills and dog walkers as and when required.

No wonder people turn to breeders.