Pets4Homes puppy farm dogs

[user1474370788]

Yes they most certainly do. Read this article in today's mirror and never go to Pets4Homes again. www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/1900-dogs-sold-many-sick-8871834

I have 1 from pets4homes and he is brilliant. No health issues whatsoever, I saw him with the rest of his litter and both parents, we went back 3 or 4 times just to make sure he was right for us and he is absolutely perfect.

I have another dog from a KC breeder advertised on the kennel clubs own website and the breeder was recommended by a friend. He has had no end of problems and issues (several inherited the breeder should have told us about) despite going through the exact same process as the other one. Saw him at home with mum and siblings, visited several times etc. The first vet check was fine and he went downhill from there. Bloody nightmare with that one.

My point being, you get good and bad no matter what you do. I did tonnes of research, googled names of breeders for reviews etc and attended breed shows/clubs to get the right information. Maybe I was unlucky or maybe everyone covers up the same sort of things and still breed with bitches that have health issues because its their livelihood.

Just so I don't get flamed we were repeatedly turned down for rescue dogs because of silly stuff like my children were too young despite always living with dogs. And I have cats so that crossed off loads of dogs anyway. One rescue said I lived to near a main road, its 300m away so not exactly 'close' and I was unrealistic about my 6ft high fence keeping a dog safe in the garden

I do wish rescues wouldn't make it so hard. Of course they need the right home, of course they don't want animals returned - that doesn't help the dog at all. But our first dog was a puppy as no one would rehome to us as our youngest was three. She was a very grown up, sensible, gentle 3 so I'm sure a quiet older dog would gave been fine but there was just a blanket ban from everyone we asked. I look back now and think the puppy we ended up buying was probably from a kind of puppy farm - or at least a very poor breeder. I'd done loads of research and yet she used all the tricks. I wouldn't be fooled now but I didn't know then what I do now. It was only once we got him home we realised we'd been told a pack of lies.

Then when we got our current rescues we had to completely refence one side of our garden because it was only 5 foot even though the fence led to my parent's garden which has 6 foot fences all round. Then they refused because we have a gate going through to next door until we got a bolt we could lock from our side - this is to our parents! Both of us have tons of dog experience. We had two dogs already, one of which is 14 (should be evidence of being able to look after a dog) but we had to be very determined to get through the hoops.

I've recommended rescue to so many potentially good families I know but they all end up buying puppies due to the huge barriers. Im sure that contributes to unscrupulous places thriving.

Dh is a farmer and not at all sentimental about dogs. He sold and delivered some machinery to a farm which turned out to be a puppy farm. He said he felt traumatised by the experience; pug and jack russell bitches in cages piled up on top of each other, filthy and whining. There were a couple of poodle stud dogs wandering around. He didn't go in the spaniel shed, just heard their howling.

The owner boasted that he got £1500 each for pedigree pugs, so each bitch had a pedigree litter a year, then a poodle cross litter. No one would have bought from such a farm, so the owner must have had a number of front homes selling them for him. We reported the farm via our vet, who has been instrumental in closing some puppy farms.

whenwillitrain can I ask where you got your Pyrenean? I have one and haven't ever spoken to someone else who has one! I wonder if they are from the same breeder, although I don't think the breeder has had many more litters since I got mine so probably not! They are brilliant dogs aren't they!?

Oh Mamabird, I do t know any others either! I will pm you now!

What an utterly sickening article. However I agree with others that Pets4Homes is just an advertising website, and it does carry information warning potential customers against possible puppy farms. My understanding is that it isn't a free site for advertisers, though I don't know what fee they pay.

Our fabulous Labrador pup came via Pets4Homes and is now 9 months old. I was aware of the site's reputation, but given that we'd been turned down by rescue centres and also the Guide Dogs rehoming service (DS1 is autistic and we also have a very stroppy feline) we still used P4H but with caution. A friend who has always had Labs told me what to ask the breeder about (hips, eyes, details of dad etc) and what to look out for (meet mum, see paperwork etc). A good sign was that I barely had to ask a single question as the breeder addressed pretty much everything on the phone before I asked the question, and when we visited we met mum and granny and were shown the 5 generation KC certificates for mum and granny and also dad (she said he belonged to her friend nearby and could be brought round if we wished, but we were satisfied with photos and paperwork). We also saw the paperwork for hip scores etc. I would be absolutely astounded if they were anything other than genuine occasional breeders who had used P4H purely for advertising purposes, however as the customer it was up to me to be happy with what I saw. DPup is now 9 months old, healthy, happy and we can barely remember life before her. I see no reason not to use P4H - but with a lot of caution. If the website was shut down due to puppy farming then the guilty parties would just find another way of advertising. Horrible but true unfortunately.