More than 1800 people have contacted Dog’s trust to rehome unwanted lockdown puppies

[AlternativePerspective]

And 1 in 4 people admitted they had impulse purchased a pet during lockdown.

how the fuck do we get the message home that a puppy isn’t a toy and that people should think twice three, ten times before rushing out and buying one.

And obviously the increased prices aren’t a deterrent, although those are about greed anyway, because these people are buying them for £££ and then selling them on for the same prices.

www.countryliving.com/uk/wildlife/pets/a35115185/hundreds-puppies-resold-abandoned/

@pyrdhppu

https://www.pets4homes.co.uk/classifieds/3062048-beautiful-lilac-merle-boy-london.html

And the descriptions are just awful.

Tons and tons of puppies.

That is awful. And she got him when she was 5 months pregnant so not as though she didn't know she would have a puppy and a newborn at the same time.

pyrdhppu
Omg more than £5k for the bulldog. I had no idea people had been paying so much!

Designer accessories to sell on when no longer required.

A rescue adult dog is far less work than a puppy! I’ve had several adult rescue dogs in my lifetime. All mixed breeds. They were all really easy. They were already house trained, their recall was established and they were good on the lead. Also well mannered with other dogs and children. Lived long lives and had excellent temperaments. I now have a high energy, pedigree puppy. She requires so much input. Training every day; still working on recall; she still chews furniture given half a chance. She is rarely left alone; yet my rescues were happy to stay at home. I only got this puppy because I’d wanted this breed for years (and she is amazing). But so much work! Rescue adult dogs don’t all have issues. Many are just little softies, in need of a good home.

I found this on Pets4homes, under the “adoption” section.

Cavapoo boy | Hertford, Hertfordshire |

“ Unfortunately through no fault of his own buddy is looking for a new forever loving home he is a f1 cavapoo boy who is 1 years old he is very handsome with a sweet nature we bought him in lock down as friend for our 5 year old boy poodle but our boy will just not except him he is very playful an intelligent he needs some one who can give him time and training he is good in the car good on lead and good with other dogs he is not 100% hyper allergenic but would be a great loving loyal pet for any more information please let me know thanks”.

£1800.

And he might as well have written “this was an impulse purchase and now I want rid but I paid a fortune so think I should be entitled to earn some of it back.

I don’t think this is true. I saw a different article saying the opposite - that the dogs they would usually be expected to get have not turned up and they have way less to do than usual.

I got a puppy during lockdown (turned down for a rescue dog because I have young dds like very many). She’s part of our family now. I do see loads more puppies out there but they all seem to be loved and well cared for. It probably helps that I’m in a naice neighbourhood but people have been saying for some time that there will be a flood of lockdown puppies at dogs trust but it doesn’t seem to be happening. We can see that they are not putting these puppies on their website to rehome.

As many pps on this thread have said, it’s nigh on impossible to adopt from Dogs Trust. If there were really so many unwanted dogs this would not be the case. They say they don’t put a healthy dog down and there are few dogs on their website. So I think this is just fake news.

Also @AlternativePerspective - what reason do you have to think what the person gives as the reason for rehoming in the ad (that their existing dog wouldn’t accept the puppy) isn’t true? Why do you think someone would get bored of one dog (who is now apparently one so no longer a little puppy) when they have another dog?

Yanbu. Pets are hard work. We grew up with a much loved dog who was like another child for my dps. As much as she was loved, I'm put off forever in wanting a dog. The amount of work and sacrifice required for me personally is not something I would want. People don't realise this until its too late.

I looked in my area earlier and there were thousands of 4-12 month old pups looking for homes. Mainly aged 7-9 months and breeds like akitas, bulldogs and shepherds.

If you don't want to reveal your postcode then find any area with 'thousands' of 7-9 month old dogs and post it.

Several people have said this isn't the case in their areas and all that has been offered is an individual dog up for sale screenshot.

I think these dogs are possibly better off sold on than stuck in a shelter for a year waiting for a childless person who never leaves the house yet can afford a large garden with 6 foot fences and has experience of animals but doesn't have any animals etc.

I think it will get much worse when we are able to travel again.

I've just looked on the Pets4Homes website and the only non-puppies for sale are a pair of working cocker spaniels that are nearly 3 years old and gun trained. There are no 6-12 month puppies at all.

This is sad, I hope it’s not true but it’s easy to see how it could be.

We’ve wanted a dog for years and had no luck from rescues so started looking for a puppy in January last year but it’s a huge commitment and I’ve been going back and forth in my head for a year wondering things like ‘what if I go full time in 10 years time’ The people I know with lockdown puppies didn’t really consider any of that. They’re mostly expected back at the office once covid is under control and I think that’s when we’ll really see the influx of unwanted pets. Once people can go on holiday again and work from offices.

@RettyPriddle

A rescue adult dog is far less work than a puppy! I’ve had several adult rescue dogs in my lifetime. All mixed breeds. They were all really easy. They were already house trained, their recall was established and they were good on the lead. Also well mannered with other dogs and children. Lived long lives and had excellent temperaments. I now have a high energy, pedigree puppy. She requires so much input. Training every day; still working on recall; she still chews furniture given half a chance. She is rarely left alone; yet my rescues were happy to stay at home. I only got this puppy because I’d wanted this breed for years (and she is amazing). But so much work! Rescue adult dogs don’t all have issues. Many are just little softies, in need of a good home.

There are no older puppies on gumtree or pets4home in my area. Recipes have very few dogs, and most are older and have issues. I have found it impossible to find a rescue dog that is okay with cats and does not have issues which require a lot of experience. Most people also do not have a totally secure garden with 6 foot fences.

Recues not recipes!

We would love to rescue a dog but we know we won’t be allowed with young children unless it was a puppy. It’s depressing really as I wouldn’t mind an older dog at all but I know most rescues will not rehome with young children, it’s such a shame. If these puppies genuinely do need homes do you think rescues may adapt their criteria?

I have a relative (nc now) who breeds puppies every year from her supposed shih tzu to sell just before Christmas. She apparently had a lot of trouble finding buyers for the poor puppies this time. She's an MLMer too so there's no hope for her really. Myself, I couldn't breed any animal to sell because I wouldn't trust anyone to look after them the way I would. I'd worry so much about them.

Not at all surprising really! The amount of idiots that buy dogs (and other animals) and don't register how much work they take and how a puppy is such hard work! There needs to be stricter policies on owning dogs, licenses, mandatory training etc. Its such a shame its so hard to adopt from the Dogs Trust, I would take one in a heartbeat but I think they would probably say our house is too small and as we already have one dog it probably wouldn't work

Haha, study by the Kennel club, not biased at all!

I'm living in a dogless home for the first time since 1987 (my old girl had to be pts in November). I hate it, but can't even begin to think about looking for another dog until I've had surgery on my knee. I just couldn't give it the exercise they need.

how the fuck do we get the message home that a puppy isn’t a toy and that people should think twice three, ten times before rushing out and buying one.

Annual dog licences, make it really expensive to have a puppy, cheaper to have a dog 2+ and a nominal amount for older dogs.

Also cheaper for rescue dogs.

Dogs that have had 'the op' nominal or 0 amount.

I combed through many rescues and Pets4Homes/Gumtree yesterday.

There are no “lockdown puppies” looking to be rehomed. There may be a handful, but certainly not in any great quantity.

As others have said, people have spent £££ on puppies, they are not going to get rid of them on a whim, and, people are currently at home or at least more at home now, making dealing with a wild teenage dog a bit easier (eg more walks). I agree that when people can get back to going on holiday or even longer hours working out of the home, then we will see more “inconvenient” dogs looking for new homes. And, of course, in a few years’ time when older dogs need expensive vet treatments.

I am concerned that unscrupulous people will be looking to breed from their lockdown puppies, thinking it is a sure fire way to make a good buck. So in about a year’s time we might see a glut of popular-breed puppies.

Some people, having spent £3k on a dog, will see it as an investment. Nine puppies at £3k or more is a nice little earner. I note that people are asking more for female pups.

Just had a look on pets4homes and 8 pups on the first page who fall into the correct age bracket and all 'due to unforeseen circumstances' and everyone is sad.
Really pisses me off. Some people do genuinely have to rehome a pet for genuine reasons but I bet none of these are (worked in rescue and have seen pretty much everything now)
The worst one I ever saw was an advert for a six year old husky/malamute type. The guy wrote something along the lines of 'nice dog, friendly, my girlfriend wants something smaller that doesn't malt (sic) so dog must go asap'
I was raging about that one.

@bpirockin

This really galls me. I have always re-homed dogs but decided that this time round I was going to get a puppy when I lost mine two years ago. With one thing and another being more of a financial priority, when the covid stuff came up and prices rocketed I was stuffed. Absolutely no way could I justify spending the sort of money required for the puppy of my dreams.

So here I am, still dogless, missing my walks and low-level interactions, while idiot greeders churn out babies and then the silly owners who didn't think hard enough before buying, can't cope, and want to re-home and recoup the money they spent. Breaks my heart.

Sometimes the genuine ones are asking for money to ensure they don't end up as bait. If you get a good feeling about the post then email and sound them out. My local breed group has got some lovely dogs out of some sad situations but asking the questions.

@lockeddownandcrazy

The ones who will fair worst are high drive dogs like Belgian Malinois and crosses of these types of breeds where they havent even been socialised properly in lockdown so have become far too much for owners who have just seen them on TV fully trained.

Can agree with this. Our Belgian Mali cross never got socialised as a pup. She's 3. An absolute hand full. In 18 months I've managed to teach her how to eat out of a bowl. Sit, wait, lie down. Some recall. She's feral at times due to crap old owner. She's so much calmer though, long walks , off lead in the middle of nowhere, brain training and training in the garden. We will never go to crufts but a lot of hard work has been put in. People see these dogs , well behaved etc without realising that you have to train them. Still working on lead pulling 🙄