The price of puppies

[Got99ProblemsBut]

Or dogs in general at the moment?

I can totally see how/why it’s spiked due to lockdown, but it’s still feels incredibly ridiculous. Do you think it will lower again after the pandemic?

I would love to adopt but already have a dog, cats, and children under 10 so there’s never any lovely rescue dogs suitable for us as they tend to need quieter homes Although I still keep an eye out!

I’m just browsing and waiting, thinking that some people might not be able to handle their lockdown dogs and those might need a forever home. Or they’ll hit the awkward 6m-1yr stage that people tend to change their minds at

Just to add I’m not getting a “lockdown puppy/dog” because I have new found free time or anything as I was home 24/7 before all this started, just want a companion for my dog and have a very dog-loving/focused family

YABU - The price of dogs today is appropriate

YANBU - Thousands of pounds for a dog that cost £350 before lockdown is a huge increase

The price of puppies is only extortionate if you go to greeders.

Go to reputable breeders via the breed clubs and KC website or Champdogs etc and prices are what they have always been.#
I haven't found a single litter bred by a reputable breeder to be overpriced yet... but if you are buying designer crossbreeds out of the freeads, yes, you'll be ripped off. Exercise some self control and do some research.

You should all be embarrassed to be buying puppies when there are so many dogs and puppies needing homes in rescue centres.
Shame on you all.

@WiddlinDiddlin

The price of puppies is only extortionate if you go to greeders.

Go to reputable breeders via the breed clubs and KC website or Champdogs etc and prices are what they have always been.#
I haven't found a single litter bred by a reputable breeder to be overpriced yet... but if you are buying designer crossbreeds out of the freeads, yes, you'll be ripped off. Exercise some self control and do some research.

I was just coming here to say the same. Reputable breeders on my breed groups are charging the same as last year and we have paid pre-Covid price. Our groups are disgusted by the price of puppies now and are heavily discouraging their breeders from increasing prices and members from paying too much.

They also recognise the increasing demand will lead to dangerous and unethical breeding practices and the rise of puppy farms.

I know my post was long but I mentioned this- a lot of dogs waiting to be re-homed are not good with children, need to be kept on their own and can't tolerate other pets, have separation anxiety issues etc. Believe me, I have a friend who was desperate for a dog to replace her old dog that died. She got turned away from a rescue centre because she and her partner would have to leave the house sometimes to go to work, oh and they had cats. They have a dog walker and lots of friends who help with the dog when they travel, but they had to buy a puppy because the rescue centers wouldn't let them adopt.

I feel no shame in buying a puppy. We tried the dogs trust and the only dogs available to us with a 9 and 17yr old came as a pair. One was a Siberian Husky and one was an Alaskan Malamute, both big dogs, over 6 and utterly gorgeous. We went to meet them twice and fell in love with them. We were given the go ahead to adopt them and provided all necessary documents.

The day before the adoption we were told that our garden, despite being huge is not suitable as one side of fences isn’t safe as they can jump really high. We said we would get them replaced ASAP but they said they couldn’t wait and would go to the 3 waitlisted families instead. Our kids were heartbroken.

My son’s MH was already bad before lockdown and he has wanted a dog for so long. He’s now on antidepressants at 17 and getting the puppy is going to be so good for him.

How dare you say we should be ashamed of ourselves.

Check out lurcher Sos - they have several dogs currently that are cat friendly. I'm desperate for a third but am not allowed

Hang on until we are fully out of lock down, and everyone is back to work. You can guarantee owners will suddenly discover their dog is inconvenient and expensive and they can't get kennels when they go away, resuce centres will be full.

gettingolderbutcooler Mon 09-Nov-20 20:56:07
"You should all be embarrassed to be buying puppies when there are so many dogs and puppies needing homes in rescue centres.
Shame on you all."

Having looked into this myself, the rescue dogs advertised are almost always not allowed to be rehomed in a home where children under the age of 16 are present. That wipes out a lot of family homes as an option.

Both of our dogs were rescues. I am convinced that we are the absolute rarity; a family with DC, cats and other pets who also managed to successfully rehome rescue dogs. Most rescue dogs aren't suitable to live with children and as brutal as that is, it is why so many people prefer puppies.

We have recently spent 3k on a puppy, not a fashionable breed but a rare pedigree breed.
We also have a toddler DC and an old ragdoll cat.
I would've loved to rescue but all adverts for rejoining said no children or no cats.

Puppy prices haven't gone up if you buy from a KC assured breeder.

If you want a puppy from someone out to make money then yes the unscrupulous backyard breeders online are whacking prices up.

Agreed, we were planning to get a dog for a long time (prior to all the covid nonsense) but looking now at £2k plus, prices have soared

The pup I was offered for a 100% markup was from a KC assured breeder, @crazycatgal

I'm torn, on one hand I think the cost should be a lot to stop people from buying a cute puppy on a whim.
However, if it becomes so profitable to breed dogs many people will do it purely for the money without any regards for the dogs and puppies well beings.

We have two very loved dogs, both the dreaded flat faced breeds, both unwanted by people we knew once they passed the novelty puppy stage. From what people have said here, our family wouldn’t have passed rescue checks as we both work outside the home and have young children. I know they need to make sure idiots don’t get hold of animals but if restrictions are preventing dogs from going to perfectly good homes and pushing people to buy puppies instead maybe this needs to be looked at?

@Floralnomad

What kind of puppy was only £350 before lockdown , aside from a rescue I’ve not seen a puppy that cheap for ages .

Border collies Welsh collies jack russell from the Internet obvs you obviously wasn't looking at dogs before lockdown

@whyareyoulying

We have recently spent 3k on a puppy, not a fashionable breed but a rare pedigree breed. We also have a toddler DC and an old ragdoll cat. I would've loved to rescue but all adverts for rejoining said no children or no cats.

seen you coming....

@WitchesSpelleas

The issue I have with it is not the cost itself, but the encouragement it gives to irresponsible backyard breeders and puppy farmers. As with the pp's example:

my friend's brother has just "puppied" his beautiful King Charles Cavalier she's had 10 pups at £2000 a "pop" he's rubbing his hands together as they normally only have up to 5 pups and has already booked the same stud for the next round.

That poor dog.

Hope they are declaring it to the tax man

@Orkneys correct I wasn’t looking at pups , I’m still not , but they were generally more expensive than that when we were looking which was years ago . My sister paid £250 each for JRT x borders and that was 19 yrs ago .

We love lurchers and I have been wanting to add a third for some time. Like OP I have small dc, other dogs so rescue centres said no.
I stayed glued to a website and we found a litter of 8 in our area for £250 each.
Lovely family, great pups and our boy is doing tremendously well. If you haven't considered a lurcher please do.
They need 20 mins running exercise 2ce a day and are very lazy after that. Great with kids, loving, beautiful and cheeky. I highly recommend and they dont cost silly money.

Oh and the family had an 'accident' with the mum who is a working dog so not a backyard breeder.

I also wanted to add that if you are buying a purebred puppy, be careful of breeders who describe a pup as having 'DNA tests'. That means nothing, what you need to know is that both the parents have been tested and the results of their genotype of any relevant diseases is clear. You can check the test is valid by asking for the parents KC registration numbers and entering them into the KC website, they should be recorded there. I was nearly duped by someone selling 'DNA tested' pups and when I asked to see evidence it was sketchy and it was for the mother and one parent of the father. The mother's result was a photocopied piece of paper and didn't come up on the KC website. I walked away which is hard to do, especially when you know the breeder will be able to sell that puppy at an inflated price under that false pretence without any problem because people don't understand.

Yanbu my Dsis spent €2100 on a cocker spaniel she is beautiful but way over priced.
Pounds don't rehome pups for some reason.

@giggly

Have a look at this amazing charity.

www.facebook.com/WorldAnimalFriendsAdoptMe/

I've got all my cats from there over the past few years.

People always come on these threads and recommend a particular rescue, but then when I look at the rescue, there are never any dogs that can be rehomed with children.