pets4homes website

[cuntinghomicidalcardigan]

Is there any reason I shouldn't contact someone offering puppies for sale on this site? I know about needing to see at least the mum, check they've been raised within a family home etc. They're not pedigree (not a trendy cross) so no problem with papers etc. Is there any reason they might not be legit?

Whilst there are some decent breeders who advertise on P4H they are very few and far between. The breeder you're interested in might be ok but I'd go with your eyes very much open.

It's obviously aimed at pedigree breeders but this KC checklist, especially the second set of bullet points, gives you an idea of the minimum standards any breeder should be aiming for.

This website has information about the sorts of things the breeder should have been doing with the puppies, obviously depending on how old they are. There's a lot more to raising well balanced puppies than just having them in the house, the breeder should (again, depending on the age of the puppies in question) be putting in the effort to get them used to different sights, sounds and smells.

Depending on what breeds have been used there may well be health tests that should have been done on the parents. You can find lists of the relevant ones for most breeds here.

I'd check to see if they advertise regularly, or have different litters on at same time as would indicate a backyard breeder.

A good breeder will also have had the puppies vet checked, wormed and fleaed before they go and allow you to visit the puppy a few times before collecting it.

Yes & no. I know of 2 or 3 legitimate breeders ( of Saints presumably it's similar for all breeds) that advertise on P4H. The majority though are folk who've had an accidental litter, those who have decided to let the bitch have 1 litter 'for the experience'. Then an awful lot of byb/puppy farmers/ puppy mills.

My H has 'banned' me from p4h because it makes me angry.

www.pets4homes.co.uk/classifieds/1179843-6-border-terrier-x-jack-russell-pups-for-sale-doncaster.html

What do people think of this one? I'm undecided, but not sure where to find a puppy from really. I don't need a pedigree, just a little buddy!

Rescue dog? Loads and loads for rescue.

My last two dogs have been rescues, I'm looking at getting a puppy this time so it can grow up with my 1yo and 3yo. I will ring the local rescue tomorrow though and see if they have any.

We got our gorgeous little puppy from someone advertising on p4h website, hard to tell really if legit but we saw the mum and her papers/health checks, puppy was in a home with other children and looked happy and well kept so we just thought, well as long as we have seen as much as we can and she looks happy, lets go for it! We have been lucky because she is a lovely temprement and been fairly easy really! I would say go with your gut instinct. I know people say go with resuce centres but we never saw a puppy in the time we looked and particularly wanted a puppy so children could experience training and helping it learn etc, we wanted it brought up 'our way' IYSWIM and didn't want to risk any unwanted behaviour/issues with 3 children also in the mix! At the end of the day, whether these people are breeding for the right reasons or not, these puppies are alive and in the world and needing a home too, otherwise they may end up in rescue centres as well. Trust your instinct and check as much as you can first. Do you know anyone else with a similar type dog you could ask where they got theirs from? A lady in a car pulled up alongside me and asked where we got our puppy from the other day as she was looking for one just like her, maybe you could scour the streets for dogwalkers!!!

Another place you could look is local pet shops and local vets, they usually have noticeboards with business cards for local breeders or the staff in those places may be able to recommend a breeder.

I second the option of rescuing though. People say all the time that they couldn't find a puppy in rescue, which may be true, but the fact is that puppies often end up in rescue or are frequently even born in rescue, it just means that you may have to wait awhile until one turns up, and you may also have to travel. I did a search yesterday and there were a few puppies dotted around the country in RSPCA rescue alone. I also know that HoundsFirst have a litter of pups that need homes at the moment. It is harder to rescue a puppy than an adult dog (can take longer waiting for the right pup, may need to travel further to get it etc), but totally doable, and considering you will then have the dog for so long it doesn't seem like such a big deal to wait a few months or travel a bit further to get one.

Good idea about the vets, I will pop in tomorrow

All my local rescues and pounds (council pounds kill their dogs once their time is up) have puppies in every week. I wouldn't be supporting breeders when there's already swathes of unwanted puppies in existence.

I browse (like puppy pics) on there every now and then, a habit i started when looking for a pup. A year later i see the same photos, same stories, same places. Its one big puppy farm advert. I'm sure there are the odd private sellers on there but its really hard to tell the difference
We went for kc assured breeders who we met many times and still meet up with them plus the owners of his siblings