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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

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

96 replies

Cloglover · 02/08/2020 19:34

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.

OP posts:

RubieRose · 03/08/2020 09:38

How do you find a reputable breeder? Is it not safe to buy from petsforhomes?

I spent 18mos calling and emailing 'reputable breeders' and didn't get anywhere. Either told no puppies available or just didn't respond at all, no offers of waiting lists or anything. It's no where near as easy as posters on here make out.

I think it's very much an 'in' club and you have to know the right people.

Trashtara · 03/08/2020 09:45

How do you find a reputable breeder? Is it not safe to buy from petsforhomes?

No, it isn't safe to buy from petsforhomes - they are a front for backyard breeders and puppy farms.

Reputable breeders can be found by talking to local vets and checking the kennel club website.

EdwardCullensBiteOnTheSide · 03/08/2020 09:46

Allowing the prices to be so high encourages money grabbing people to breed them for an income. At these prices just two litters a year even could give someone a good wage of 20k a year, but most likely the poor dog will have more than that before its not able to anymore.

WhoWants2Know · 03/08/2020 09:59

I know a breeder who had 11 dogs stolen during lockdown. (Mum, a couple of dads and 2 litters) Managed to retrieve a couple by spotting them on gumtree for sale.

But the theft meant she lost the money for those dogs and that she also had to spend a fortune on additional security. All of those things are reflected in the price of a pup.

midnightstar66 · 03/08/2020 10:23

I honestly don't think there'll be as much of this as people think. Most people I know who got a dog over lockdown had been planning for a long time, and took lockdown as a sign or opportunity and have planned for back to work or work from home/ have a stay at home person already.*

I agree. Yes there might have been a handful of irresponsible people but even then if they've bought an expensive puppy they are going to re sell, not hand it in to a rescue but most people will have thought of what they will do. Personally we got our pup at the start of lockdown and as above we'd been planning for a while hoping to get one at the start of the summer. Being off work from March was perfect as we've had several months with her rather than several weeks. To get a rescue id need to move - live in a flat AND have an indexed garden, get rid of my dc and leave my job. Also lots of people might well be working at home for the foreseeable future.

EmmaGrundyForPM · 03/08/2020 12:35

@Trashtara

How do you find a reputable breeder? Is it not safe to buy from petsforhomes?

No, it isn't safe to buy from petsforhomes - they are a front for backyard breeders and puppy farms.

Reputable breeders can be found by talking to local vets and checking the kennel club website.

Reputable breeders are licensed by the local council. With our breeder, i also phoned her vet before paying a deposit to ask whether she was above board or if they had any concerns. We visited 4 times before we brought him home and every time saw him with his mum.and siblings. If I had had any doubts i would have walked away

WhentheDealGoesDown · 03/08/2020 13:10

Visiting the dog before buying is another reason putting me of getting one at the moment, whether it be a rescue centre or private seller, it is just all so difficult with distancing and such like, hoping next year will be a lot easier to visit and look properly

sashh · 03/08/2020 13:14

We have been looking for cavapoochons or cavapoos. It’s a minefield trying to figure out which are reputable breeders

I doubt 'reputable' breeders breed cross breeds, they are not an actual breed.

I can't imagine someone who has spent years breeding a certain pedigree suddenly deciding to add a random dog of another breed.

Crankley · 04/08/2020 18:17

sashh

Totally agree. I just can't imagine a reputable breeder who may have spent years breeding poodles, for example, suddenly deciding to add a spaniel into the breeding stock. Why would they suddenly, knowingly breed mongrels?

1Morewineplease · 04/08/2020 18:36

@JudyGemstone

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

Blimey! That much for a mongrel ?

SheilaHammond · 04/08/2020 18:48

We’ve adopted from our local Greyhound Trust which rehires retired racers. They were very flexible and reasonable about the conditions. Most focus was on getting the right match for the dog. We’re delighted with our new dog.

SheilaHammond · 04/08/2020 18:48

*rehomes

Figmentofmyimagination · 04/08/2020 18:59

It’s apparently driving an increase in dog theft, with eg people being followed home by vans to check out where they live ready to steal the puppy later. Lots of worried owners where I live, reports of creepy vans, burglaries etc. And in the guardian last week an article about a kennel break in when 17 young pedigree dogs were stolen from holidaying owners. Can you imagine explaining that to your children. Heartbreaking.

Ideasplease322 · 04/08/2020 19:16

There was a poster on recently whose mother was charging £4.5k Each for some type of mixed breed poo puppy. Shocking.

I have noticed prices start to drop. Cocker spaniels are back down to around £1,000 each when they were over £2k a couple of months ago.

I have also noticed a lot of 5 and 6 month old puppies for sale - a lot of allergies and changing work commitments. Makes me really cross. People wanted puppies during lockdown and hadn’t planned how they would cope when they had to go back to work. Poor puppies

Cryalot2 · 04/08/2020 19:25

Firstly Cranky a cross breed is not a mongrel. We have dog licences here, your dog is either 1 pedigree 2 cross bred ( a mix of no more than 2 breeds) 3 a mixed breed of more than 2 breeds ( they do not use the deregotary term mongeral )

Op
Choose a dog which suits your lifestyle. Speak to a local vet or dog trainer.
Some breeds do not like being left alone for periods , some are not good with children . So firstly do that.
You could try fostering to see which suits your lifestyle.
They are a lifetime commitment. There will also be expenses. Kennels ,vets food and insurance. Then there will be walks and training and such.
I love my wee lady and would pay anytime for her. She is not well at the moment and I just wish she was her normal self.
Good wishes and may you find something special .

GreytExpectations · 04/08/2020 19:50

Not all rescues are that strict. I find it hard to believe the PP who claims they went to 20 rescues and got turned down for the reasons listed. My dog is a rescue and I have friends and family members that rescued from different charities and they have kids and/or full time jobs and haven't had the situations described on here. I think people just want a cute little puppy so try to act like rescuing is impossible.

Funny enough in my village the cross breed, little fluffy dogs seem to be the ones not trained well who pull on the leads, jump around and have no recall whereas the breeds you'd often associate with rescues (stafffies, greyhounds, bull dogs) always never seem to be a problem on walks. Just an observation from my point of view.

AmICrazyorWhat2 · 04/08/2020 19:58

I know a couple who’ve been trying to adopt a small rescue dog and they literally can’t get one. The rescues centers around us found homes for all their dogs when lockdown started so there’s very few available right now. That’s not a bad thing, of course, if the dogs are happily adopted.
I agree with PP’s, though, the centers will fill up again and prices for non-rescues will probably drop.

Trashtara · 04/08/2020 20:29

I think people just want a cute little puppy so try to act like rescuing is impossible.

You're talking about me. We actually want an older dog.

Reasons rescues have turned us down- we have cats, we have a child under 1 (now 18months) we have a child/ children under 5. We both work out of the home, our garden is not currently secure (it's being worked on), we don't currently have a dog, DH has never had a dog. Honestly the list is endless. Any rescue which has said they'd consider us didn't have a dog available that's ok with cats and kids. Most rescues don't test dogs with under 5s.

Bergerdog · 04/08/2020 20:53

I own a rare pedigree breed and prices haven’t gone up at all during lockdown because the breeders generally only breed very rarely and only to better the breed, not for profit.

No way would I pay 2k for a crossbreed with no health testing!

FizzAfterSix · 04/08/2020 20:57

RSPCA are reporting huge amounts of dogs being dumped everyday since the corvid drama started 😥

stayathomer · 04/08/2020 22:34

I think people just want a cute little puppy so try to act like rescuing is impossible.

Sorry no. Any dogs that are child friendly are gone in the blink of an eye. The rescues can totally afford to be picky as, being blunt, and sadly, the dogs that come into them are either nervy or not safe to have with families or the breeds are not in the list of family recommended dogs. Hence the labradors, retrievers, beagles, shnauzers etc are taken before most people even see them and the rottweilers, Huskies and the like are left. And it is so sad but we have been looking for a long time and we have the space and a person at home

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