NEED SOME ADVICE QUICKLY- Asked after a "free" puppy to adopt, now owner is talking about shipping it to me? shipping a puppy??

[JamesAndTheGiantBanana]

I'm clueless about all this, the puppy isn't for me, it's actually for my mil as a birthday present. I asked about the puppy because location wise it was only an hour away from mils, so not too stressful for the pup.

But now the seller has said she is in Scotland, 500 miles away from mil (I told her where mil lived) but has mentioned "shipping" the puppy. I don't know anything about puppy breeders but is that usual practise?? Seems a bit odd to me, since the puppy is a) pedigree and b) supposedly free, that she would encourage us to arrange a 13 hour road trip for the puppy.

Am I missing something? is this normal practise, or what? Why did she say she was an hour away from mils in the advert if she's 500 miles away? Feels weird.

Don't do it. It sounds fishy. Don't get a pup without first seeing it with its mum and siblings in their home environment.

It sounds dodgy to me. 13 hours on the road for a puppy no way!! Bloody dog breeders! She's lied about how far away from your mil she lives. Why is the puppy free?

Why would a PEDIGREE puppy be free ?

people don;t give away pedigree puppies that would sell for £££££

contact local kennel club to find a reputable seller

does your MIL want a puppy?

no way. don't get involved. No animal lover would ship a puppy. No decent breeder would agree to even sell a puppy if they hadnt even met you. Avoid.

I've also read somewhere that this is a con.

You can get animal couriers.
I have looked into it when we were getting a puppy off a MNer.

But as for the free pedigree puppy bit. I'm a bit

Have you asked for its papers?

id stay well away-as others have said why would a pedigree puppy be free plus surely you need to see/meet it?

lulu, yes she definitely does, she's been talking about getting one for a while, it's her birthday coming up, we thought it would make a nice present for her as she's lonely and not picking up since her dd died suddenly.

Yeh this sounds very fishy to me too. I was surprised to see a pedigree puppy advertised as free. To be honest we're not bothered about it being pedigree, we wanted to adopt a rescue dog for her rather than buy a dog from a breeder, but saw this advert and responded.

Think we will avoid, something about it doesn't feel right, I agree with whoever said no animal lover would put their puppy through such a long journey. I wouldn't.

More to the point perhaps someone should be investigating this officially. Consider calling the RSPCA and reporting them. If the conditions are bad then you will help the puppies/dogs that are there, and if not, well at least you have peace of mind that things are ok after all. Unless they are "shipping" via an official courier then it all sounds very concerning to me re welfare.

why not go to an RSPCA rescue centre and adopt a dog for her from there?poor mil, that must have been very stressful

there is no puppy

No dogs were harmed in the making of this thread

lulu, I have been looking on online rescue centres but haven't found a small cuddly dog suitable for mil. A wealth of powerful staffies though lol

Yeah, don't worry folks, I won't be touching that poor puppy with a bargepole, seems far too dodgy. I was just clueless so I thought I would ask the collective! Thanks all.

She specifically was looking for a puppy or young dog. She has nothing to occupy her time right now as she's retired and her old dog died recently, a couple of weeks before her dd. I've spoken to her other daughter, her nephew, my dp, everyone is in agreement that she would love a puppy or young small dog. I'm just doing the searching because we are the only ones with internet access.

Yeah, hoping this will cheer her up and give her some companionship.

Have you looked on gumtree? I've often seen dogs looking for new homes there, but again you'd have to vet them very careful - go and see mum (and dad if poss) if pups, and to check out the dog on its home grown if its an adult

Haven't tried gumtree, just ukclassifieds and some dog rescue sites. Will look now! There's a pup advertised nearby who I have asked about, hopefully I'll be able to see it at home first and meet its mum etc.

The main thing with finding a pup is to treat it a bit like finding a nursery - are you happy with the environment? Carers (in this case, mum, dad and the people), the food, the space, how do the other babies (puppies ) look, etc. Trust your gut A good breeder will give you a 24hr window to get the pup seen by a vet and checked over, and should refund/replace the puppy if something is up. It's worth asking about if they don't offer, although it'll only ever be a verbal contract