Cost of dogs

[jellybaby10]

I very sadly lost my 13 year old lab earlier this week and I'm devastated. I would love to get another chocolate lab at some point this year and contacted some breeders asking about potential litters. I got a reply from one saying they'd have puppies available at the end of April and they were £3000 each!

I understand that covid has put prices up due to demand but I didn't realise by that much. Is this normal now?

I've looked at rescue sites and they don't seem to be rehoming at the moment or have rules about children.

Aibu to be shocked at these prices or is it normal now. Please be kind, I miss my lab so much

It's pretty much the norm at the moment op. It makes me really sad because you know prices like this are going to cause even more puppy farms.
I seen a small cross breed dog sell for £2000 the other day. My parents was £300 when we they her. Frightening

Speak to the rehoming centres. We got our dog from a rehoming centre even though we had dd, they put us on a waiting list for a puppy and we didn't wait that long. These days with lockdown I would imagine you would wait even less time.

When we bought our goldendoodle he was already on the highest of what I’d be willing to pay for a dog (£1.6k) and now they’re close to £4K!
You’re not unreasonable! I read an article that there are more 6-8 month old dogs going to rescue as they’re more work than people thought than ever before. It’s so wrong

It’s been like that since March, and shows no sign of changing.

It is normal at the moment. Agree with OP, puppies are coming into rescues now, 8-10 months old. You’d have to go in with eyes open in terms of picking up training/socialisation but I think Dogs Trust fee is about £200.

Sorry for your loss.
But yes it's correct. We got a rescue for this very reason - it was not easy though.

My advice would be register with smaller and more rural ones. We live in a large house no kids and several parks nearby.
We were seems unsuitable by some places as we both work FT

In the end we ended going abroad to get our little girl which sounds extreme but she is a joy.

Some friends of ours got a mix breed for 650 recently so maybe consider that?
Or an alternate breed.

I was just so shocked. Also worries me that the prices won't go back down now and this will be the new norm. I remember looking for second lab only 2 years ago and prices were around the £600-£800 mark.

Have a look online at local rescues. Some of them will let you register with them (after vetting) and will let you know if a potentially suitable match comes in.

It's the going rate for a Lab at the moment.

People are rehoming/selling puppies already. So sad poor puppies. It's a big commitment getting a puppy. I think people dont realise how hard it can be. I have a friend who has just got a puppy and I can tell she is having 2nd thoughts.

Sorry to hear about your ddog OP . I think it's worth paying that much (or even more) if you know the breeder is amazing and will offer you lifelong support and so on. It does mean saving up but worth it to get a really good puppy. If you can't afford that a smaller (but good) rescue is probably going to mean a wait and you might have to take a different breed to what you were thinking of but having a rescue dog myself it's very rewarding.

Sorry about your dog, Op.

Someone was on the news this morning saying that the price of puppies has increased since March but is expected to go down once we are out of this situation.

Popular breed dogs are expensive but less popular breeds a lot less. Have you considered a different breed?

I will contact rescue centres and explain my situation. There's just a massive chocolate lab shaped hole missing. I will also keep looking and start saving. I've grew up with dogs all of my life and they're a part of me but she was my first lab and part of my heart.

I’m in Australia. My friends bought a dog last weekend, got it “cheap” at $7600!!!!!!

I would register with lots of rescues.

They're getting more and more dogs in now from people who got puppies on lockdown and can't or won't look after them anymore.

MIL is a breeder and hasnt put her prices up since pre lockdown but she has a waiting list full of people who registered from then too, not people who are going ' oh, I'm off work for a bit, let's get a dog' ( not saying that's you, OP, just a lot of people at the moment)

Do you think that's why prices have been put up to stop people just buying them as a 5 minute wonder?

It's pure greed at the moment, prices have been rising anyway but covid has caused demand and therefore a horrible price hike. There are lots of breed specific rescues all across the UK and lots have puppies so I'm sure you find a suitable match that way if you go down that route. Each to their own totally, but rescuing was amazing for my family

I certainly do, yes. Considering how many people have apparently bought dogs as lockdown toys then given them up I'm glad the prices are so high. Think how many more puppies would have ended up the same had they not.

I got my lab from a family dog breeder in November for £2k. That was a cheap dog! It's supply and demand. Cocker/caverpoos are going for more as they are the popular breeds.

@jellybaby10

Do you think that's why prices have been put up to stop people just buying them as a 5 minute wonder?

sadly I think it's more a case of greedy breeders/puppy farms looking to make a fast buck - there may be some reputable breeders out there, but as PP suggested, rather than putting up prices they are getting longer and longer wait lists.

Approach rescue centres in your area - or if you are dead set on a certain breed, a rescue organisation set up for that breed.
www.labrador-rescue.org.uk/

Sorry for the loss of your dog, OP. Although we always know it is going to happen, it doesn’t get any easier.

Posted to soon.

Recommend you find breed-specific rescues, or talk to breeders who might have puppies returned to them, and smaller rescues who are more realistic about people’s home circumstances (children).

Also look at ads online, but a lot of people seem to think that the £6000 puppy they bought six months ago is still worth £6000.

Wow, I've just had a look at cockapoo puppies - ours was £600 nearly 4 years ago. The cheapest I can see is £1,900, but most are over £2,500. There is no way we could afford that now.

The prices at the moment are, sadly, utterly insane.

I paid £600 for my puppy 15 months ago. I'm now buying a second dog of the same breed for £3,600. A six-fold increase in price in just over a year!