Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2 3

Original poster

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

71 replies

KirstyT79 · 23/04/2021 19:10

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.

OP posts:

Original poster

KirstyT79 · 26/04/2021 22:37

ok. just come back to this thread. i agree with most of what your saying you shouldn't get a dog unless totally certain you can actually take care of it and i think it is dreadful how many dogs do end up in rescues. but i also say that i hope none of you ever feel in such a position of depression where you may have got a dog all be it unwisely hoping to give something to someone else. sadly i do respect and enjoy posting and commenting on other threads but i do suspect many of these comments are coming from people with a complete life family and dc. not everyone does have this. that also doesn't mean that these dog owners who don't care should be allowed to get away with what they have done either but there feels to me a lot of judgement based on no information at all. i stick by my 50-50 belief because you can't just assume they are a twunt because they bought a dog during first lockdown. dogs need protecting but also nobody can condemm unless they know the score

OP posts:

Lockdownlumpy · 26/04/2021 23:06

2 of my neighbours got one.
2 of my neighbours have seemingly failed to train them.
2 dogs now bark in the garden all the bloody time.

Itsamess8456 · 27/04/2021 00:29

We had a dog before lockdown. She's now 3 and is adored. I never took her to puppy training/obedience - I was brought up in the country and we never did it this with our family dogs when I was growing up.

Ddog is well behaved, has good recall, can sit/lie/paw.

I don't think that puppy classes are mandatory.

Miraloma · 27/04/2021 00:36

I know that 'oh in my day' is a very unhelpful term, and I am totally clueless about dogs, but in the 90s there was no puppy trainers or dog walkers, what did owners do before these existed?

I do remember the dog next door from us just howled all day long while the owner was at work which is awful but was ownership just much lower?

LadyWhistledownsQuill · 27/04/2021 00:45

Let's not imagine this sort of thing didn't go on pre COVID. DDog's first owners rehomed him when he got to the arsey teenage stage because they "didn't have time to train him"

No kidding - he couldn't even do a sit, and socialisation was lacking too.

But this was several years prior to COVID.

BeneathYourWisdom · 27/04/2021 07:29

I feel the same OP. So many new owners who have no clue about training, etiquette or recall. So many owners letting their dogs off in the park then wondering why my reactive dog (on a leash) barks and lunges when they jump on him 🙄 I had a woman tell me the other day he’s anti social. No, he’s a rescue who is fearful of playful untrained dogs leaping on him as he thinks they’re about to attack.

Then they want to know why don’t I muzzle him?

The times I’ve called ‘please call your dog away from mine’ or ‘your dog is out of control and bothering me/my child/my on-lead dog’. They look at me like I have to no right to use the park if I don’t want their dogs running up to sniff me. Then moan if my reactive dog pounces on theirs when mine is ON A LEAD!

bunniesanddaisies · 27/04/2021 07:32

People who own dogs and can’t look after them has always been a thing.

But I really don’t see the problem in people getting a dog because covid presented them with a good opportunity.

Fizbosshoes · 27/04/2021 07:41

I know that 'oh in my day' is a very unhelpful term, and I am totally clueless about dogs, but in the 90s there was no puppy trainers or dog walkers, what did owners do before these existed?

I grew up in the 80s/90s (london suburbs) and I think 1 friend had a dog, my neighbour had a dog and my uncle had a dog. The vast majority of people I knew didnt.(so I've no idea if, or how they were trained)
Where I live now (commuter town) it's almost the law to get a dog once your youngest child is around 8.

Youdose · 27/04/2021 07:41

I can see what happened though- less, I’m lonely let’s get a dog and more - we didn’t have time to get a puppy before ( as you can’t leave them alone for ages). Or families who were out all day now have one parent or two working from home permanently.
That’s why we got our puppy now, there is and will be an adult alt home all day every day from now on so knew we’d have the time to look after and train a dog. We’re experienced dog owners though.

bunniesanddaisies · 27/04/2021 07:42

Why is that a problem?

Youdose · 27/04/2021 07:48

People underestimate the amount of work puppies are, they’re like having a toddler around. Can’t take your eyes off them unless they’re asleep and that phase lasts til they’re almost 12 months old and old enough to left alone for a few hours without getting into too much mischief. And even then you have to make sure they’re exercised before you go out without them.

bunniesanddaisies · 27/04/2021 07:48

Sorry that was to fiz

I do think there is a bit of a smugness on MN about dog ownership. It should only be done in very specific circumstances. Jesus Christ himself would probably be told he couldn’t possibly get a dog.

Like most parents, most dog owners do a good job most of the time.

Most people do have a life outside of their dog but they plan that life so that it doesn’t negatively impact on their dog.

Most people enjoy and value what their dog brings to their life. They value it so much they are prepared to pay a lot for it.

I don’t get why MN is so down on this.

Pinchoftums · 27/04/2021 07:49

We have always had dogs and never gone to a trainer or puppy classes. We got a puppy in November and socialised it in the local park. The only thing she freaked out about was going to my parents house (on the way to the garden)as never been inside another building before!

TheOnlyKoiInAPondOfGoldfish · 27/04/2021 07:55

@Miraloma

I know that 'oh in my day' is a very unhelpful term, and I am totally clueless about dogs, but in the 90s there was no puppy trainers or dog walkers, what did owners do before these existed?

I do remember the dog next door from us just howled all day long while the owner was at work which is awful but was ownership just much lower?

I got my first dog in 1988 and my second sixth months later, I went to classes twice a week - of course there were classes! I lived in north London and could walk to mine. They were all over the place.

ForThePurposeOfTheTape · 27/04/2021 08:00

Not a dog owner but I think that the increase in dog napping as a result of a rise in prices of dogs was extremely worrying for owners and probably led to some dubious sellers appearing.

Definitely a case of poor dogs.

Lauren15 · 27/04/2021 08:01

You don’t need puppy classes especially when there’s so much information online. All that’s necessary to look after a dog is to actually care and want to learn.

stackemhigh · 27/04/2021 08:04

People should be fined for this behaviour.

Fizbosshoes · 27/04/2021 08:29

Why is that a problem?

It's not a problem, it's an observation that dog ownership is (seems) way more common than a generation ago.

However the demographic and geography of where I live is also different, so maybe it's always been more popular in the area I live now. (Nearr to countryside etc) I'd certainly never heard of dog creches, dog spas, or dog day care til I moved to my current location but that doesnt mean it wasnt a thing, I just had no idea it existed.

imnotprincessbubblegum · 27/04/2021 08:45

Sorry haven't read all the posts above yet so sorry if I'm repeating anyone. There are plenty of resources online re puppy training. Getting a dog is a long term huge commitment, wether we're in lockdown or not, a lot of research should have been done before getting a dog and understanding all the responsibilities of having a dog.
We did end up getting our Ddog at the beginning of Covid but only because we had been seriously looking since October (so months before Covid was a thing in the U.K.) and found the perfect pup at that time. We watched YouTube videos, read books, read information online...a lot of dog trainers were doing zoom call training classes. We were lucky enough to do in person training classes social distanced outside so our pup was socialised with other pups.
I think people now rehoming "lockdown dogs" would've been the same ones that would be rehoming their dogs once they reach the tricky adolescent stage anyway (lockdown or not).

JeanClaudeVanDammit · 27/04/2021 08:46

I do blame the owners. I can understand why they got dogs, but can’t understand not putting a bit of effort and research into finding out what training is required and whether or not that’s something they’d be capable of doing.

whenwillthemadnessend · 27/04/2021 15:24

Of course there were dog trainers in the 80s and 90s. Ever heard of Barbara Woodhouse

Flip

1 2 3

Swipe left for the next trending thread