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.

please try the forums at www.dogpages.org.uk/forums/index.php
Lots of the rescues in the UK list the dogs they have for homing ontheir forums!!
also the rescues on there all work together so if you find a dog that isnt close to you they can get someone from a local rescue to home check and if needs be get a transport run to get the dog to you! - we help with these runs sometimes!

also

www.freewebs.com/manytearsrescue/

good luck!!

Wouldn't it be better to take your MIL with you to choose what will be her dog? Never a good idea to buy someone an animal as a surprise

Some breeders won't let you have a puppy if they know its going to be a present, they want the new owner to be involved. I would think I'd like to be involved if it was me, see where my pup came from etc. Perhaps you could find a litter and then take her along to choose one? This would also give her some time to prepare for one. If you let us know where in the country you are we might be able to recommend some rescue centres worth trying too, I know there are some good ones near me in Somerset.

Having researched more into the whole "free dog shipping" thing, it's definitely a scam.

It works like this: They place an ad with a site like ukclassifieds, with the minimum of information on the "free" (or v cheap) pedigree dog, using a generic google image search sourced puppy photo, and a fake location. When you get in touch and ask questions they email you back and ask where you are based...

Then, as happened to me, they say "oh, I'm 500 miles away from you but can arrange shipping"

Apparently at this point if you say yes, they ask for shipping money upfront, then pet insurance to cover the journey, then they say the puppy has been shipped to the wrong location and you have to pay to get it sent to you.. and of course there is no puppy. Even the phone number they give you to call about it is a premium rate number. Bastards.

So yeah, avoid free or cheap pedigree puppy or dog adverts on sites like ukclassifieds/gumtree, especially if they have virtually no information on the advert, and you can find the puppy pic on the first page of google image search.

James and the banana - where are you located?