To ask you to read this before buying a puppy?

[hibbledibble]

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/dec/01/rescue-me-why-britains-beautiful-lockdown-pets-are-being-abandoned

I warned of the dangers of the huge demand for puppies over the lockdowns, and many told me I was wrong.

Here it is from the horse's mouth: all those cute puppies are being abandoned now they are stubborn adolescents.

Rescues are currently brimming at the seams: if you are looking for a dog or other pet, please look there first (and don't limit yourself to a puppy)

It’s easy enough for people to say go to rescue centres but it’s extremely difficult because of their very tight restrictions. Many places ask for a large secured garden which not everyone has, to have no other pets in the household and no school aged children, and then on top of that people who are mostly at home 24/7 and then they wonder why people go and buy dogs from breeders instead…

Rescues are brimming at the seems because they won't let anyone adopt their dogs
Unless they deem to be absolutely perfect

I think the more important here is rescue or puppy, do your bloody research before getting a dog!

What @lastqueenofscotland says. Rescues aside from Romanian ones wouldn't accept us and yet we have given a lovely home to a pup who is well cared-for, safe, and happy. Meh.

Almost impossible to get a rescue dog if you have kids in my experience. Having said that it has been an eye opener to discover everything that is involved in training a pup and it’s not for everyone. I think many people have realised just how difficult it is especially if they got a dog during lockdown and now back to their normal routine.

@x2boys

Rescues are brimming at the seems because they won't let anyone adopt their dogs Unless they deem to be absolutely perfect

This says it way more eloquently than I could put it.

Having previously rescued 5 dogs in our lives, and having lost one of ours due to old age, we went to rescue one of those " Lockdown puppies". . Couldn't get one. Also turned down by rescues because we actually have dogs.
We bought our first puppy a few months ago.

I'm afraid I agree with the above, we wanted to rescue more than anything, but we have other animals and school age children so we had to get a puppy. Our pup has been a baptism of fire for me but I couldn't give her away, she is like one of my kids now. But I do have the luxury of working part time mostly from home, and we have people to help us if we need her looked after.
I think a lot of people didn't think about the logistics of a dog when lockdown puppers were bought.

Maybe the people now dumping their lockdown toys are the kind of people rescues are trying to sidestep. Unfortunately rescues have to be extremely careful and that often means legitimate homes are missed, but rescues based on fostering are often able to place suitable dogs in homes with sensible dog savvy children.

I spent 2 years trying to adopt from rescue.

I live in a house with land in the countryside, I have a massive amount of space, I don't work, but I was turned down by all of the rescues I approached (and believe me, I tried loads) because our garden isn't securely fenced. Which it isn't, but the 50 acres of fields surrounding it are We just wouldn't let the dog in the garden unsupervised, I told them, but that wasn't good enough.

Anyway in the end I bought a puppy from a genuinely good "breeder" (hardly a breeder really, a family friend who had a one off litter from her working sheepdog and made no money from the puppies).

And I refuse to feel guilty about it. He's asleep next to me now 🥰 and I actually saw one of the dogs I applied to adopt get reposted on the rescue's FB page earlier with loads of broken heart emojis and some blurb about how sad he was in kennels. Well, maybe if they'd been a bit more flexible instead of "computer says no", he'd be asleep next to me now following a walk round the woods and a hairy buffalo ear! But then we wouldn't have our puppy who is practically perfect in every way.

I warned of the dangers of the huge demand for puppies over the lockdowns, and many told me I was wrong

That's not quite true is it?

If its the thread from April, general consensus was that April 2021, as prices were coming down and lock down was easing was probably a bit late.

And the usual problem of rescues having rules so strict, most people can't adopt.

And people pointing put that plenty of these people, may have already been planning on getting a dog.

We had a new doggy addition in Dec 2019. We'll we had 3. Puppies abandoned by the breeder just before Christmas and we fostered the for a rescue we work with Iver Christmas. We adopted one.

The one August this year. Another very young Foster dog that we decided to adopt.

So while I take your point and I think generally you are right. Not everyone who has got a dog since march 2020, did so without planning and thinking, not everyone can Foster, Foster and adoption isn't actually always that easy and some people aren't able to do it. Rescue dogs are not always the right thing for the dog or family. Plenty of people who bought during lockdown did so in a responsible way and ensured their dogs were teady for when they returned for work.

I do agree people should only be getting dogs when they have thought about it for a long time, researched and planned.

But I find the whole lockdown dog purchase = irresponsible a little bit ridiculous

We want a second dog next year. We've been dog owners for 11 years. We will be buying a puppy for two reasons:

• We want a specific breed, based on our research into, and experience of, the exercise requirements and personality types of different breeds. This breed is rarely available in rescue centres.
• It's imperative that the dog we choose works with our lifestyle and alongside our current dog. So we need a 'blank slate' that we can mould to our requirements - not a dog with psychological damage or separation anxiety.

It's THIS kind of planning and thought that prevents dogs from being rehomed in the first place. Millions of idiots got puppies they couldn't commit to last year, but it's not the responsibility of other, more responsible, dog owners to fix that problem for them.

Rescues have their policies for good reason, to give the dog the best chance of having a long term home and having all their needs met. If you have young kids and aren’t at home much, you’re not necessarily in a great position to have a dog. People don’t want to accept this so buy a puppy to get around that and sadly that often results in dogs being rehomed or being kept but not getting much attention. There’s a lot of people who like the idea of a dog but not the reality of it. Read the thread on here of people who can’t cope when the dog is just being a dog.

I have said before that I volunteer for a breed rescue organisation (a common breed), and we have not had this flood of lockdown dogs. Not at all.

I have said before that I volunteer for a breed rescue organisation (a common breed), and we have not had this flood of lockdown dogs. Not at all.

Great. But that’s not the case of the rescues here unfortunately.

I have pet rabbits and no experience with dogs, but I was able to adopt a dog who fits in brilliantly. I think if you look hard and at all the little rescues near you as well as the major ones, you will find a dog that suits you and vice versa

Ours is a dogs trust rescue. They had policies but we found them very sensible. Dog was approved for 11 plus child in house. DD was 10 almost 11 - we were honest they said she seemed sensible that was it. They let us do 2 visits in 1 day as we had travelled. We did dog adoption class at a closer centre. We’d never owned a dog. Vet reference was simply us proving we’d registered him at a vet. No home visit (and it was pre covid)
It all sounded a lot more daunting than it was.

All rescues where I am seem to be overflowing with Staff and Chiweenie variations. Not everybody wants this kind of dog.

Yeah I am not sold on the whole 'flood of pups' thing either. People can make money from them so I'd be surprised if crap owners aren't just selling them on. But I also think that many who got lockdown pups had probably been thinking about it for a long while and saw their golden opportunity ... Not initially during the stay at home period, of course, but later when things opened up and pups could be properly socialised yet many were still working from home.

It's all very well saying rescue centres have their reasons but it's infuriating when those reasons end up being 'because'.

I work from home. No kids. Our small garden is completely safe. We live minutes walk from green space and a dog park.

No because the garden is too small.

No because I occasionally go out if the house.

No because taking the dog with me wouldn't be right.

No because we wouldn't let the dog have the run if the while house, downstairs only.

No because, because, because.

I bought a breed I had always wanted. And now have a well adjusted, well exercised 3 year old who comes out to work with me quite happily.

But for the best part of 30 years I was told "No, because" by all local and not so local rescue centres

Thing is, someone can read everything they can about a dog before getting one (and should), but it doesn't get across the reality of living with one. Much like reading a parenting book and then when baby comes it's a huge shock.

If someone isn't coping, what are they supposed to do? I would rather someone hold their hands up and say they made a mistake, rather than live miserably, potentially ruin their family, make the dogs life a misery etc etc.

Fear of being judge is probably making a lot of people hold onto their dogs right now. Wouldn't life be better for the dog if it was with someone who really wanted it?

I'm not saying any of this is ok, it's really awful especially if people didn't do their proper research beforehand. But people make mistakes. Does they mean they just live with them forever, even if everyone, and the dog itself is miserable?

I would love to rescue. I've volunteered in a rescue centre and had two rescued dogs previously. But every rescue I've looked at has a long waiting list or all the dogs there are marked as "adult only home" (or even more extensive and abstruse requirements) or both.

We have thought long and carefully about our breed requirements and what a dog would require from us. And yeah, in my particular set of circumstances I don't want a dog that's already been traumatised or developed separation anxiety or bad habits.

Rescues are ridiculously picky, nobody with kids under 12, nobody in cities no matter the size of the garden, someone at home in the daytime etc etc

Also I wanted a puppy I could train properly not one someone else has failed to bring up properly

You can't rescue any animal now unless you live away from a main road, with 30000 acres of land, no children, no other pets, wfh or not at all and have a degree in animal psychology.
It's frankly ridiculous- that's why rescues are overflowing.

The most pointless "I told you so" thread ever.

My local rescue only has large dogs, mostly older and with health problems. Naturally enough we would like a youngish healthy dog, we just lost our old boy and really couldn't face adopting a dog only to lose it within a couple of years due to age or poor health, but even if we decided to go for it, none of the dogs can go to families with children under 16, for some it's 18. Our youngest is almost 13 and the rest are adults, there is always someone home, we have a large walled garden, and we are experienced dog owners. So our only option is to buy a puppy, or do without. We have chosen to do without for now, and have adopted a cat instead. But at some point in the near future we would like a dog, what are we supposed to do?