⚠️ WARNING TO PUPPY BUYERS – FOREVER PUPPY

[Doda79]

⚠️ WARNING TO PUPPY BUYERS – FOREVER PUPPY
I would like to share my personal experience with Forever Puppy (foreverpuppy.co.uk).
As a dog breeder who takes animal welfare and responsible breeding very seriously, I am extremely disappointed with how my concerns were handled.
I reported a puppy advertisement that I believe contained potentially misleading information about the puppies' breed and parentage. I explained my concerns and informed the platform that related advertisements had been reported and removed elsewhere.
Unfortunately, the responses I received did not provide a satisfactory explanation of how the disputed information had been verified or what investigation had taken place.
This has left me with serious concerns about the level of protection offered to prospective puppy buyers.
When people purchase a puppy, they need to be able to trust the information about its parents, breed, background and health.
Based on my personal experience, I cannot recommend Forever Puppy, either to people looking to buy puppies or to responsible breeders wanting to advertise their litters.
I encourage everyone to research breeders independently, verify all documentation, and never assume that an advertisement is trustworthy simply because it has been accepted by a puppy advertising website.
Puppy welfare and buyer protection should always come first.
I am sharing my experience so that others can make informed decisions before purchasing a puppy.

No-one should be buying a puppy when there are so many dogs in animal rescues needing homes.

It’s pure vanity.

Virtue signalling at its finest 🙄

Perhaps @BobbleBear is simply making a good point.

Thank you for the heads-up.
We are looking at getting a puppy - yes I know rescues have loads of dogs, and all of our cats have been rescues, but as first time dog owners most rescues won't consider us.

Why did you stop at one advert @Doda79?

It seems to me like you could have reported almost every breeder on there for unethical breeding. And why were you on there? Were you advertising your pups? Sorry to say but it doesn't seem the place that anyone who takes animal welfare and responsible breeding very seriously would be. Maybe you were just researching?

but as first time dog owners most rescues won't consider us.

Nonsense @WobblyJogger
The cats would make it more difficult though admittedly.

It's not nonsense, it is our experience. Local rescues only seem to have dogs who require experienced owners.

A rescue dog isn’t suitable for everyone. There’s risks of having them near children as you can’t be sure of their history.
They can be harder work as they can’t settle in a house so well. If they are older they can have health issues.
Also cat and dog homes can be really strict, when we tried to rescue a cat they won’t let us as our son was 12.5 not 13 and we lived near a ‘busy’ road - our previous cats were fine and lived to good old ages and the road wasn’t particularly busy.

It’s not virtue signalling to say that it’s not suitable for your family.

Reputable rehoming services or breeders from Breed Clubs i.e. The Standard Poodle Club of Great Britain etc.

Anything else is folly including the Kennel Club no matter if they put 'Royal' in front of it or not. Breeders are not vetted there, properly, so they are not ethical.

Don't go to Facebook, TikTok, Pets4U etc.

Fair enough if it's local rescues but you did say most.
Rescue centres often do put unnecessary obstacles in people's way when they are trying to adopt but first time owner shouldn't be a barrier for most rescues. Accept that those local to you have dogs that need a more experienced owner.
Have a look further afield and I'm sure you'll find a suitable match 🙂

The whole puppy trade needs sorting out. Breeders should be licensed and registered with mandatory health checks and inspections.

The rescue where I got my dog from has just posted their latest rescue - a puppy mill bitch who was bred from continuously, despite having health issues. They found out during her health check that she was currently pregnant at eight years old. She looks so poorly and sad too. Luckily for her, she's landed on her feet with this rescue who do the most amazing job with every animal that comes to them. They also make a huge effort to ensure that every rehome is properly vetted and matched.

I bought a dog because i wanted a particular breed. My parents bred them and I’ve always had that same breed. My father has dementia and my mother’s dead so I couldn’t take one of theirs. They're on the endangered native breed list and I feel passionately that we should preserve the ancient breeds.

personal circumstances mean i can’t breed a litter of pups so i bought one from a family friend who does breed them.

or do you just think we shouldn’t have ancient breeds any longer?

This, plus if you breed your own lines for showing etc you don’t want to keep all the puppies! You careful select the puppy to keep with the best health, attributes, temperament for why you hope their main purpose is.

Responsible breeders build up contacts to keep the breeding coefficient low and not breed extreme features etc. it’s not a sideline or business for those of us like this, it’s a very expensive “hobby” that very much restricts your life etc.

@redboxer321 Thank you for your comment. However, I would appreciate it if you refrained from making assumptions about me or questioning my integrity without knowing the facts.
First of all, I would like to make something absolutely clear. I am not a member of Forever Puppy, and I do not advertise or sell puppies through that platform.
I came across a particular advertisement that raised serious concerns regarding responsible breeding practices and animal welfare. This prompted me to investigate the situation and report my concerns through the appropriate channels.
My post was never intended to criticise every breeder or every advertisement on that website. It concerns a specific situation based on my own experience and the information available to me.
I strongly believe in responsible breeding, transparency, honesty and animal welfare. I also believe that prospective puppy buyers have the right to be informed about potentially concerning practices.
The fact that I have highlighted one particular case does not mean that I am responsible for investigating every breeder on the internet.
I find it disappointing that instead of focusing on the animal welfare concerns raised, you have chosen to question my personal motives without knowing anything about me or my involvement.
I would respectfully ask that we keep this discussion focused on the welfare of animals and the protection of prospective puppy buyers rather than making unfounded personal assumptions.
Thank you.

Yip. I had to go on a waiting list. And she knew me and knew my family (they all showed together)

Our dog came from a rescue and we'd never had a dog before.

I didn't make assumptions @Doda79 I was asking questions.
Of course you are not responsible for reporting all bad breeding practices but it seemed to me that there were many bad breeders on that site.
Anyone buying a pup from a site like that has not done even the most basic research.
Anyhow, well done for reporting the breeder in question. Hope it helps.

I would never buy a puppy if I suspected it was from a puppy mill because find the idea of putting money into these cruel gits pockets abhorrent but I would consider a dog from a newspaper as rescue. Many of these poor animals are used as bait dogs and that's not the owners fault. It's the buyers. Despicable