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/

DH is a vet, and said they're run off their feet with lockdown dogs. He is fed up to the back teeth of the contact stream of French bulldogs owners have no idea how to look after.

Sadly it is not just Ddogs suffering, I recently rehomed a pair of “lockdown” Guinea pigs. The owners realised when the weather turned cold that it was “unfair” to keep them. I went to pick them up on a bitterly cold day, they were living outside and had no proper hutch cover, barely any hay and were very underweight. They have gained more than a third of their body weight since coming to me.

The lady said the children lost interest when the weather changed and they didn’t want to be out in the garden. People definitely don’t think ahead, and I think the weather could be a factor with the dogs as walks are less appealing at this time of year and muddy paws make extra work. I love my Ddogs, but they are a huge commitment and people who have bought on impulse from bad breeders are not prepared for that.

Constant, not contact

itchyfinger
This is strange though, we have been trying to adopt a dog from our local dogs trust and there are never any suitable for houses with young children, and very rarely puppies. Where do all these pups go?

No rescue worth its salt will rehome to a family with small children - 3 reasons.

1. small children - even lovely gentle children - can easily hurt a dog without meaning to

2. rescue dogs, adults and puppies, are usually hard work for at least the first few weeks - adult dogs can be anxious in a new environment and frequently forget their housetraining for a while; puppies - well, puppies a blooming hard work full stop.

3. they need to be sure that the dog is safe to re-home; an animal which has suffered abuse is very alert to any sudden actions and is often resource aggressive until it knows it is safe - no-one wants a three year old to get savaged because s/he has dropped a toy beside the dog and bent suddenly to pick it up, or got too near a food bowl

A decent rescue usually stipulates "older children" (or even "adult home only") and often "needs to be an only pet" so that all energy is concentrated on the new dog.

There are exceptions. obviously, but they are very careful to do their very best for dog and family.

We will utilise doggy day care if we have to and we have the funds to cover that.

And how many doggy day care places are there near you? What do you think every other lockdown puppy owning family is thinking?

I have two VERY BIG rescue puppies - they came from a rescue centre after our last dog died in lockdown 1. They have been going to day care (as I have been shielding and they needed the socialisation) - there daycare has a waitlist of 100ish dogs at the moment wanting space from offices that have already reopened.

You cannot just send a dog to daycare either - they have to get on with the current daycare dogs etc.

People say that they've thought things through but they really haven't looked at the wider lockdown puppy situation.

@GoLightlyontheEarth

Why are none of these dogs showing up in rescue then? There are virtually no dogs in rescue centres. I know, I’ve been checking constantly.

Most good rescues aren't re-homing during lockdown

Where do all these pups go?

They are being resold currently - they have been brought as a commodity and now they are being resold for profit.

It's sick.

Stupid cunts the lot of them. We all knew it was coming. Fucking twats.

This gives me the rage. What is WRONG with people ? where are their brains,? they must have known that the lockdown was not for ever, sooner or later we will all go back to our workplaces.

I would bring in dog licences like a shot with an annual inspection.

I would also like to see a register of people charged with cruelty for the world to see.
Also all dog breeding to have to be regulated with massive fines for breaches and puppies confiscated.
The fines could pay for the inspections.

I don’t think it’s true either. Animal charities are very effective money raising machines and this is exactly the kind of story that will get the cash rolling in. Why would anyone give up a young dog to a rescue when supply and demand means they can sell it for hundreds of pounds or even more?

It’s simplistic to blame people for buying a dog they can’t cope with. Many people have a baby on impulse! The amount of articles and tv shows that I’ve seen about how great dog ownership has been during lockdown means that even I, no great dog lover, am starting to think I should get one!

@WoolyMamamoth

We will utilise doggy day care if we have to and we have the funds to cover that.

And how many doggy day care places are there near you? What do you think every other lockdown puppy owning family is thinking?

I have two VERY BIG rescue puppies - they came from a rescue centre after our last dog died in lockdown 1. They have been going to day care (as I have been shielding and they needed the socialisation) - there daycare has a waitlist of 100ish dogs at the moment wanting space from offices that have already reopened.

You cannot just send a dog to daycare either - they have to get on with the current daycare dogs etc.

People say that they've thought things through but they really haven't looked at the wider lockdown puppy situation.

This is bang on. When (if) we go back to the office there will be one day a week where one of us isn’t working from home (as was the case before lockdown). As soon as ours was ready we started her going to day care once a week so she can be used to it and as you say, she needed to fit it with the other dogs and they wanted to be sure she was happy there as well. Daycare isn’t right for all dogs either.

If they were giving them to responsible rescues it would be ok but they’re being resold online as the owners try to recoup some of their cash.

A friend has just re-homed one advertised on Gumtree - FREE TO GOOD HOME

Owners just wanted rid - didn't care where the dog went. They'd tried to sell her - no-one was buying and they just wanted her out. A beautiful little unfettered bitch (shih-tzu xJRT). This dog (which is as nervous as hell and has destroyed her bed, and soiled everywhere) could easily have ended up as a bait dog - used to train fighting dogs to kill - or been bred from by an unscrupulous breeder, pouring more puppies into the already overfull market.

She's lucky - she's fallen on her paws. Most of them won't.

Meanwhile I cannot find a suitable pup for love nor money.

Experience dealing with challenging behaviour, had our previous dog for 15yrs, big secure garden, doggy door, worked from home even before lockdown so no chance of me having to go back to the office, lovely local walks, 2 kids who both grew up with a dog. I have been looking for months.

I hate that people are just able to get a dog on a whim

(I've seen these around - first-time dog owners who won't let their puppies off leash, panic when another dog comes near them, and have NEVER left the dog in the house on its own.)

This is an interesting point. So many rescues and people these days seem convinced that there must be someone home always and leaving the dog at all is terrible. I do rather wonder if this doesn't ultimately contribute to problems.

Well that's no surprise to any sensible dog lover with a brain. It's also the fuckwits who sold dogs during lockdown. There was a thread last week about rescuing from abroad and I was strong in my opinion as to why we shouldn't - this just reinforces my reasons.

Hopefully because a lot of these dogs are young the problems aren’t too set

The opposite is likely to be the case. These dogs will likely be a few months old, up to six-eight months. A key period in their development, when behaviours become set. They probably (because of the nature of lockdowns and restrictions over the last year) won’t have had the best start with regard to socialisation with either other dogs or humans. They might not be used to the normal outside world - eg traffic and being comfortable around normal levels of noise, being let off lead to learn things like recall and how to ‘be a dog’ around other off lead dogs etc. Things like that will depend on when, where and how they’ve been exercised and trained of course, but if they were bought by people who only got a dog because ‘lockdown’, then I’d not hold out much hope. Those buying them might not have been able to access the kind of help they usually might, due to restrictions, like a good behaviourist or trainer etc etc. There’s going to be a lot of these dogs who aren’t just unwanted but are also, now, the kind of dog only people with experience are going to be able to rehome.

I love dogs and I sometimes feel so guilty we don’t have one as our boys would love one too but it’s not fair unless you can really put in the time and effort to look after them properly.

@GoLightlyontheEarth

Why are none of these dogs showing up in rescue then? There are virtually no dogs in rescue centres. I know, I’ve been checking constantly.

Because people are selling them on Pets4Homes and Gumtree instead. They just want to re-coup some their costs.

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. Many lockdown dogs are now reaching the adolescent stage and people can't be bothered anymore. It's too difficult and they no longer have a small/cute puppy so they want rid.

Why would anyone give up a young dog to a rescue when supply and demand means they can sell it for hundreds of pounds or even more?

Because the supply FAR outstrips the demand.

This is like the housing boom - people paid far too much fr property as prices spiralled. They all thought that brisk and mortar never one down in value - they were wrong. One day, all of a sudden, the bottom dropped out of that market and thousands were left in negative equity with properties they couldn't afford to sell, or to live in.

This will happening - probably is happening - with puppies.

Paid £5,000 for a dog.

Get sick of it - try to sell, but no-one will pay £5000 for a half grown pup when they can get a cute li'l baby for the same price.

SO the dog is reduced in price until someone wants it, or it is dumped.

Or someone buys it and breeds from it, so the whole circle starts again. And it is bred from and bred from until its health is destroyed, then it is dumped.

Or they get sick of it, and it is sold on. And again. And again.

And every time it is sold it becomes more and more anxious, and less and less "lovable", and more and more difficult to control because it's frightened and doesn't know what's happening to it.

These stories rarely have a happy ending, unfortunately.

Are the numbers of dogs going up across the country? It feels like there are more and more, and dogs are getting more and more annoying when out. But I might be getting grumpier

Very sad that dogs are bought and then unwanted. I wish people had to have a licence really, doesn't have to be too heavy, but it feels like the lack of any oversight is allowing a lot of problems to emerge.

@Judashascomeintosomemoney

Hopefully because a lot of these dogs are young the problems aren’t too set

The opposite is likely to be the case. These dogs will likely be a few months old, up to six-eight months. A key period in their development, when behaviours become set. They probably (because of the nature of lockdowns and restrictions over the last year) won’t have had the best start with regard to socialisation with either other dogs or humans. They might not be used to the normal outside world - eg traffic and being comfortable around normal levels of noise, being let off lead to learn things like recall and how to ‘be a dog’ around other off lead dogs etc. Things like that will depend on when, where and how they’ve been exercised and trained of course, but if they were bought by people who only got a dog because ‘lockdown’, then I’d not hold out much hope. Those buying them might not have been able to access the kind of help they usually might, due to restrictions, like a good behaviourist or trainer etc etc. There’s going to be a lot of these dogs who aren’t just unwanted but are also, now, the kind of dog only people with experience are going to be able to rehome.

THIS ^

@TheHoneyBadger

Could you link to the page with all those young dogs?

I don't want to out my local area, but I just popped my postcode into Pets4Homes and searched by "dog" and then "4-12 months". No other search limits.

[quote WoolyMamamoth]@JamesMiddletonsMarshmallows I hid it - it was called Name our New Puppy or something ...

Apparently it's a responsible litter because they met the breeders and the mum and dad and they've been waiting for six months.

In my eyes no litters are responsible at the moment. ZERO.[/quote]
I totally agree.

When I was young dogs were affordable and you had to work hard to convince a breeder that you're a suitable owner. Now, my friend who works FT out the house as a single mum paid £2k for a mongrel, sorry cockapoo, and thinks it's fine because she met the mum and dad

@GoLightlyontheEarth

Why are none of these dogs showing up in rescue then? There are virtually no dogs in rescue centres. I know, I’ve been checking constantly.

Taking Dog’s Trust as an example. Dogs don’t just come in one door and then out the other to a new home. And a lot of these dogs may need additional support for a significant period of time before they are ready for rehoming. From the Dog’s Trust website:

When dogs come into us whey will be checked by our vets and assessed by our behaviour team, so won’t be on our website straight away. If a dog requires significant behavioural support or vet treatment, they may be with us a while before they're advertised online.
Other dogs may be reserved while we carry out virtual home visits, references, etc before they go home.Based on supporter feedback we’ve made some changes to our website, so as soon as a dog is reserved, they will be removed from the rehoming section.

@GoLightlyontheEarth maybe the rescue centres have stopped advertising the dogs to stop people from bored lockdown adoptions.