Trying to get a puppy

[Agapita84]

Hello,
Has anyone try to get a puppy from pet4homes?
I have been looking for a puppy (FYI, I am not going for the adoption route for personal reasons).
Every time that I tried to get in touch and suggest a video call to see the puppies with their mum, before I make any deposit, sellers do not even bother replying. Then they are even putting in their description only loving family homes will be accepted. How can this be? If they don't give you an opportunity? Within minutes, they stop answering their phones.

Because a huge number of sellers on P4H are backyard breeders who aren’t responding because you’re asking for things they probably can’t deliver.
If you give a damn about dogs, don’t buy on sites like P4H, Gumtree or Facebook.

I am looking for a grown up dog at the moment and not having much luck. Shelters are closed. I've also looked on pets4homes. One advertiser said they had 50 odd enquiries in the first hour. So it might be demand. Might also be puppy farms or scammers - your asking for a video call so you can see pups with mum is difficult for them to deliver on.

Everybody wants a puppy at the moment so there are hundreds (literally) of responses to every ad. It may be just you are too far down the list (although I’m sure there are some that can’t offer those things too)

Nope. I've never tried to get a puppy off sites like that because as someone else has said, a lot of them are dodgy. I can't believe people are still trying to get puppies this way when there has been so many horror stories in the news recently about this very topic.

Do your research. Find out what type of dog you want. Find a legitimate breeder in your local area and get a puppy from them. You might have to wait until lockdown is lifted but this is the best way for everyone. That way you'll get to see the mum and the pups. You don't have to adopt an adult dog from rescue centres either. A lot of them have puppies available pretty much all the time.

Demand is huge at the minute, and prices are too. I saw a Jack russell for £3k. Not KC reg, no papers.

Backyard breeders and puppy farms will be in overdrive. Now is not a good time to be buying puppies.

Selling groups popping up all over FB as well.

Many also are scams, send you pics and videos, you can’t see pup irl cos covid, take your £500 deposit and disappear never to be heard from again.

I don't usually pile on to these threads - but I'm not sure now is a good time to be buying a puppy unless you already have a link with a breeder/know someone whose dog is having puppies.

The price has gone through the roof and there are so many scams about.

I rather imagine if you waited till lockdown has stopped, people realise they can't cope with puppies/adolescents and working there will be many puppies up for adoption who are perfectly lovely puppies.

I agree @dangercake. I have come to the conclusion that the best thing I could do is be patient and wait. When the madness is over I could give one of these poor Covid puppies a forever home when they inevitably get rejected. It's very sad.

The puppy market that has become apparent due to covid is disgraceful. I hope there will be a petition for more regulation following this, poor puppies!!

We would also love a dog and have been thinking about it for a good 4-5 years. Having looked at the prices it is completely unaffordable and the local shelter only have dogs that aren’t suited to living with children!

Don't get a puppy (or any new pet) right now we are not living normal lives and especially don't buy from internet sites

Find a reputable breeder through the kennel club and make enquiries

We got are puppy off pets4homes and collected her yesterday she came from a loveley family home but we did go.and see her befour we put the deposit down

There's already tons of young dogs on freelistings for sale because owner's have "gone back to work" (or it's just "circumstances" but you know what that means).

Now is not a normal time to get a dog unless you're always going to work from home, own your own home (so no "oh my landlord said no, or I'm moving and can't take with...") and are just generally stable in everything you do. Good jobs, stable home, no moving home planned in the next year.

Prices of puppies are RIDICULOUS right now, people are properly breeding for profit and NOT the health of the dog. For a lot of puppies to be born now, the dogs will have had to have been bred during lockdown so the breeders knew exactly what they were doing. A lot of reputable breeders have not bred during this time or have waiting lists two years long...

Rescues are beginning to rehome again - and I've already seen them ending up with pups and young dogs for the above reasons.