to think its so sad the term lockdown dog is now a thing??

[KirstyT79]

hello. i'm writing this thread due to the news report about so called lockdown dogs. people who felt so lonely that they paid for a puppy that has now turned into a fully grown dog which they can't train. i don't blame the dog, but not sure i totally blame the owner either. lockdown has meant you have had to try to train them yourselves. no agility classes or puppy training available unless you knew someone who was in the family to help you. so genuine question does the coronavirus make you think about what may happen in the future? maybe a lot of lessons could be learned.

Personally the only sympathy I have is for the dogs.

That's exactly the point is that the owners have chosen to get these puppies knowing that training classes/puppy parties etc weren't running and so wouldn't be able to socialise them and if they can't train themselves then they wouldn't get the training required.

I'm a dog groomer and all the puppies that I have seen haven't been from lonely households looking for companionship, it's been from families who thought that getting a puppy would give them 'something to do' during lockdown while they were stuck at home. Unfortunately, a lot of these people didn't bother to think about what happened when they go back to the office/kids back to school and they're either leaving the dog at home all day alone, saying they can't afford daycare/Walker or getting rid of them as they can no longer accommodate.

Equally, as a result of the high demand of puppies there has been a massive increase in puppy farming with people paying ridiculously over the odds for puppies, think about how the poor dogs are being overbred and treated horribly in these situations just to accommodate the increase in puppies.

I do also know a few people that have gotten puppies over the past year that have been training them properly, socialising, grooming and made plans for back at work etc so it's definitely not that everyone is the same and there are still responsible owners which I have no problem with and am glad they're happy and settled with their pups. It is perhaps just because I work with dogs I'm seeing it more than I otherwise would but I have no sympathy for these owners, just the dogs that are getting left behind

There are some people who did think ahead and plan for work etc but then in terms of socialisation, in fairness, how many people who bought a pup in first lockdown would have thought we wouldn't be back to normal for a year or more?

don't condone but i do wonder if maybe they thought they wuld have gotten the help after the summer last year? i love dogs but i would rather stay dogless if i couldn't support them and help them in training

There's plenty of training available online. Plenty of YouTube videos, they've even got TV shows dedicated to people who didn't train their dog right that these people could have watched. Loads of websites, forums to ask questions, Facebook etc. The amount of knowledge on your phone is immense.

The people who didn't bother are lazy. They shouldn't have any animal really. They got a dog because they were stupid and didn't think about the long term of what happens when they go back to work, can they afford a walker every day etc.

We would love to get a dog. However, we still don't know if we can work from home permanently. So we haven't got one yet because a walker would cost us too much every day.

I have zero sympathy for people who made these fast decisions with no thought of the potential consequences. Same for those who sold their houses and moved to cheaper places on the basis that they are now working from home during covid. What if that doesn't stay true next year, what if your company wants you back in? Gonna be one hell of a commute to London from Scotland.

I only have sympathy for the dogs. They didn't ask for this, they didn't ask for a stupid owner. They don't want to end up in a rescue centre hoping for a new home, or and up being put down because their owner didn't train them. Only victims are the dogs.

Clarke. i agree with what you have said or at least 99 percent. but all these what if scenarios you talk about. what if the world ends? you can't always live your life with what ifs you just sometimes take opportunities when they appear. it is different with dogs though. they do need so much taking care of which has been forgotten

Poor dogs.

I have no sympathy for owners who didn’t get the help they needed. They should have been more responsible in the first place and looked into what dog training entails, how much dog walkers cost for when we return to the office, the cost of vets fees and insurance etc, basically used their loaf before letting their heart rule their head and getting a dog.

So because they might be a bit lonely during lockdown for a year, some poor dog will have to be lonely in a house by itself for ten hours a day FOR THE REST OF ITS LONELY LIFE just so that selfish owner can see it for an hour a night once they’re working again.

Aye right. Great reason to buy a dog. Selfish owners.

(And I do not mean the above to the responsible owners. Who have taken on a rescue or a pet they’ve wanted for ages and have a good knowledge and have plans for doggy day care etc the days they work in future)

I got a puppy in the most recent lockdown (which is still ongoing) - I did delay until March as I never thought we would still be locked down by May . However, i bought an online course and puppy’s training is coming along nicely. I’m on a few trainer waiting lists for when group classes recommence. I also have broken lockdown rules expressly to socialise my puppy, but obviously can’t recommend that...I will be working at home for at least the next 5 months so that viewpoint its a good time to settle in a puppy. then I’ll get a dog walker.

I only have sympathy for these poor dogs taken on by owners who were too stupid to realise lockdown/ working from home wouldn't be forever.

My friend is a dog walker and is now inundated with people who are desperate as they are going back to work. She is very responsible so will only take on an allowed amount of dogs. She has told me so many she sees have no training at all, this is not acceptable.

FFS at least watch some YouTube reputable training videos if not sure!

sad thing with posts like i have made is that people think they are perfect. i don't condone the whole lockdown dog mentality but how many of you did let your heart rule your head and then later realised that it may have not in hindsight been the best decision? i bet 10 squid that someone did unless all mnetters are perfect? i actually think its 50-50 50 percent probably didn't give a shit whilst the other 50 percent probably did genuinely think that the first lockdown would be the last and they would be able to conbine youtube training videos with taking them to agility classes.

Nobody’s perfect. But people should engage brain before making life changing decisions. A dog does change your life.

So what’s it to you anyway OP?

Have you bought a dog and now it’s pissing all over the house and dragging you up the street or whatever and you feel that if you’d had more support in real life this wouldn’t have happened?

I bought a ‘lockdown puppy’ in January. For our family it was perfect timing so we were able to be at home for the challenging first few weeks. We have provision in place of things change and we have to return to the office with my parents providing day care , I wouldn’t however have felt comfortable leaving them with a dog that wasn’t housetrained which is why we haven’t purchased a dog prior. We have done online puppy training classes via zoom with an experienced trainer and we walk the dog local routes where he sees plenty of other dogs and people. I don’t think we could have asked for a better start really. I think if you have a plan and think it through the pandemic shouldn’t be a stumbling block for buying a puppy

Someone I know through work has an 11 week puppy who they are trying to rehome. He said it was much harder work than he thought and they realised they (well his wife) cant go out for long periods of time (he works ft out of the house)
I have to say I did judge him slightly as I'm not sure those things should be a surprise!

elieza. i am a dog person but don't have one atm because i live in a flat where there isn't that much space and hardly a garden hense why i wouldn't get one until my living circumstances were more appropriate but that doesn't stop me caring unless you think you have the monopoly because your a dog owner. i'm simply saying the pandemic has made people maybe think differently. especially if they are elderly without family and needed company whilst forgetting the fact dog's need so much care that they have got blind sided by it. think some people need to realise that how wrong situations may be, life is not black and white

YABVU and naive. There was plenty of opportunity for people to train their dogs, they just couldn’t be arsed.

Being “lonely” is not an excuse for being a poor, incompetent dog owner.

We got our puppy in December. We had been planning a dog for a few years previously kids are now teens the time was right and lockdown had no part in that.

We found a one to one trainer which was allowed and paid £100 for 5 private lessons.

We have paid another £100 for puppy training that lasts 11 weeks. All the pups in the class are about the same age so not all owners aren't bothering.

He is insured fully vaccinated and we have pans for work which isn't an issue any way as I only Work very part time

Please do t assume we are all the same because we have a young dog.

One of my neighbours got a puppy during lockdown.
I saw her the other day and asked how the pup was getting on. She has sent it to live with her sister as she has to go back to the office now and her sons sport that he competes in at County level so she is driving him all over the place.
Thankfully she has found the dog a good home but what the hell did she think would happen when/if Lockdown was over?

I can see why people got puppies during lockdown, especially if they were planning to get one anyway. I have several friends who were on waiting lists for puppies before the first lockdown and ended up with a lockdown puppy just due to the timing of the litter. I also know of several breeders who stopped breeding due to the lockdown puppy madness that seems to have gripped people during the past year.

Unfortunately there are now too many people with unsocialised and untrained adolescent dogs who are creating complete mayhem. Sadly a lot of them will end up in rescues within 6 months,

@Looubylou

There are some people who did think ahead and plan for work etc but then in terms of socialisation, in fairness, how many people who bought a pup in first lockdown would have thought we wouldn't be back to normal for a year or more?

That's fair enough for the people that bought puppies in March/April/May last year but after it had been months people should have known but continued to buy anyway

Absolutely heartbreaking for the poor dogs that are now going to be left alone all day. Makes me feel a bit sick if I think about it.

I don't think its any better having a dog walker come for an hour a day. So the dogs left say 8am-12pm then an hour with a dog walker then 1pm-5pm. Owner home for a few hours then its left alone when they go to bed. That's almost as bad.

If your leaving your dog alone for more than a couple of hours regularly don't bloody get one for God sake.

I got a dpuppy last Feb.. Before covid even arrived.. No classes or socialising..
Been bloody hard.
She has her first 1-1 this weekend then classes start in mid May.. The trainer said pre Covid they did 2 adult classes a week.. It is to be 4 a week from May due to demand.. Very sad but at least our dpuppy's aren't a lost cause... Old ddog, new tricks and all that!

look i agree its truly a heartbreaking situation but sorry i am still not convinced its black and white. the same as any part of life is not black and white. some owners maybe did think they could cope with having a dog with the family at the same time as returning to work but your right about how people don't even seem to look at breeds and appropriate for living with a family.

Not sure why you needed two threads to post the same thing. But I totally blame owners if they haven't thought this through. Nobody needs trainers, agility classes or puppy classes. I have managed 63 years of living with dogs without ever availing myself of any of those things. It takes work, but so does living with children. It is entirely possible to socialise, train and play with a dog without someone teaching you how to do it, and if you need help there are literally millions of books and websites.

If people aren't looking after their dogs needs, it is totally their fault. Whose fault do you think it should be?

@KirstyT79

Clarke. i agree with what you have said or at least 99 percent. but all these what if scenarios you talk about. what if the world ends? you can't always live your life with what ifs you just sometimes take opportunities when they appear. it is different with dogs though. they do need so much taking care of which has been forgotten

If the world ends, we've got bigger problems than dogs having a home.

But in reality, a lot of the issues arising were predictable. You can't predict losing your job most of the time, but with covid happening for some industries it was likely. Why take on an additional expense? For those who were put to wfh, they know or knew eventually they may or will be back in the office, so why get something you can't look after or afford when not in the house 24/7?

There are things you can't predict, bad health, sudden loss, loss of job in normal times etc. Those people I feel sorry for. They didn't want that to happen.

These idiots who can't look after a dog now they are back at work? I wouldn't trust them with a rock let alone another life.

YABU

Dog ownership should not be a heart over head decision. All the information about dog ownership is there to see with a quick Google. If people weren't 100% sure they could definitely cope longer term then they shouldn't have got a dog, or at least waited until the pandemic was over and life neck to a more permanent way of living.
Having a dog is not a necessity, it's not something that can happen accidentally, it's a costly and drawn out process. There's no excuse to make a poor decision on it.

Of course even pre pandemic there were owners who couldn't cope and rehomed / abandoned their pets but it now feels like dogs have become some kind of lifestyle accessory for a lot of people who aren't set up to be dog owners eg don't have an adult at home, don't have enough space, don't have the will or ability to walk them adequately etc.

There's been plenty of training available. We got a dog last May and have done online training with Dog's Trust, followed by a couple of private sessions with a trainer through WhatsApp for a specific issue we were having. We also signed up to one of the Absolute Dogs 30 day training challenges. Walking the dog twice a day has allowed him to meet other dogs and get socialisation. The only thing we now need to do is get him used to having people in the house. If an owner hasn't put the effort in to train their dog then I do blame them as there's been plenty of help available.