Dog theft - am I worrying for no reason or WWYD

[RebeccaWithTheGoodHair]

Our new pup is now ready to go out so I took him on the school run yesterday as DD is v proud of him and wanted her friends to meet him.

I am aware what I'm going to say next may sound offensive although I don't intend it to. However I was stopped by a group of traveller parents on the way back who asked to see him and wanted to know where he came from. The guy asked how much he cost and unfortunately DD blurted it out. It is quite a lot of money. Although he is a cross-breed he does look pure bred at the moment.

Dog theft is rife in our area so I'm wondering if I'm paranoid to be slightly concerned about this.

I imagine they know where I live as it's on the way to school. When I left this morning I shut all the windows and locked the cat flap - although it is a fairly flimsy plastic one and could easily be kicked out and the pup lifted through.

I have 2 big dogs who would bark and kick up a fuss if anyone came to the door, although one of them is pure bred and potentially looks like she's worth a bit herself (she's probably not as she's quite poorly and a rescue who I'm pretty sure came from a puppy farm originally - however that wouldn't be obvious at a glance).

Does anyone have any advice/thoughts on how I could make sure he's safe? Dog theft has never really been something I've come across before so I'm not entirely sure if I'm over-thinking it just b/c I've seen a fair bit about it in the local papers recently.

Never leave them outside shops, keep an eye on them in the garden.

Like any theft all you can do is try and protect against it. I keep an eye on my dog if he is in the front garden and have an alarm on the house. Never leave them as LilCamper mentioned tied up outside of a shop etc.

Sensible advice - thank you! I don't have a house alarm - figured my two big'uns would put most potential burglars off! But dog theft is obviously different to wanting to nick the TV or something.

It's more whether we are now on the radar as it were, I'm not sure exactly whether you become a target. I imagine they wouldn't be foolish enough to try and get him immediately after all those questions but at the moment I feel I'll never be able to go out and leave my windows open again!

You need to make sure they are up to date tag and chip wise too.

I listened to the Editor of Dogs Today magazine on quite a few radio stations yesterday on the subject of dog theft. She reckoned that the figure was around 60 a week get taken.

She also recommended putting the fact they are neutered on their tag makes them less desirable.

60

Shit!

He can't be neutered yet as too young but I'll certainly get that put on his tag and not put his name on either. In fact I think I'll do it for all three of them.

God, what happens to them though? Heartbreaking to think of them taken away from their families.

My tag has my name, address and phone number on it. My dog though is so bloody friendly you don't need to call his name.

Unlike yours which is too young mine will be neutered in a couple of months which I figured would make him less desirable which for a male dog you can easily spot if they aren't.

Beverley said yesterday that they don't really know what happens to all of them as it is a largely under reported crime and UK law sees dogs as 'chattel', as in property much the same as your handbag or mobile phone, and not as sentient beings that are part of the family.

Females are used for breeding, dogs can be sold on for profit on Gumtree etc.

I've just ordered 3 new tags with our name, 2 numbers and saying they are neutered and chipped. Plus that my girl is on daily medication.

Will get the puppy neutered as soon as he is old enough (which I would have done anyway).

FFS - who would buy a dog on Gumtree when rescues are chokka with dogs needing homes?

Wise move adding the meds, that expense will put would be thieves off.

Lots of uneducated owners out there.

Just have a look on Dog Lost to see how many have disappeared.

We are supposed to put our addresses on our dog tags, here, NI. NO WAY am I doing that. You might as well had hand out your address to any dog thief that gets close enough to read it. All they have to do is pretend to want to pet your dog, then they've got your details. I'd rather pay a fine.

Rescues are full of dogs needing homes, but they are naturally fairly choosy about who can take them. Many people are turned away from rescues for various reasons - no garden, working full time, young children etc. Some of these people will then look for a dog on Gumtree etc, as people advertising dogs on free ad sites tend to be less particular about where the dog is going.

Tbh I think lots of people ask those kind of questions about young puppies. So it probably is nothing.

However always best to be cautious, especially with a young designer cross puppy (presuming he is because you said cross breed but quite a lot of money). Make sure house is locked, don't leave dogs in garden, etc.

Never put your address or the dogs name on a tag. Mine has a mobile number and our surname and the fact she is chipped/neutered.

It's a bit beside the point but I miss not being able to put the dog's name on the tag. I used to put them in the dog's memory box but it's not quite the same having a surname and mobile number!!

Never put your address or the dogs name on a tag

Whilst you shouldn't put your dogs name on, you are legally required to put the owners address on.

I think in England it's a legal requirement to have house number and postcode?

Could you confine the puppy somewhere he can't get near the cat flap when you're out?

I think I'll join the others and risk a fine rather than put my address on it! Seems a bit like putting out a FB update saying you're off on holiday

And you know what it's like - I put the dogs at the back of the house where their beds are so they can't get into the main bit of the house as the puppy still messes and my girl can open all the other doors and let herself around the place: sofas, beds she feels she is entitled to them all!

I love dogs - they make life so much fun trying to second-guess what mischief they are going to get up to!

Don't get him done till at least 18 months when he's fully developed! Nobody can look at a dog and think 'ohh he's been done, I won't steal him'. They'd steal your dog and dump him once they realised he was of no use to them. That's the sort of horrid people they are.

As for advice I second what everyone else says. Don't ever leave them tied up anywhere even for 2 minutes.

Don't leave them in the car.

I do tend to go in the garden with my pup because anyone could open my gate.

Make sure your social media accounts are private if you upload any pictures. I know that may sound a bit odd, but someone in my town had her dog stolen after someone saw pictures of their dog on her fb!

It's not silly to worry at all, I'm the same with my kitten. I paid quite a bit for her and she loves to sit in the window. She's strictly indoor because of her breed but if she got out I very much doubt I would see her again.

Not sure where you are Op but it is rife around here too. We had an awful case recently where a spaniel was stolen from someone's garden and it was found by police on a travellers site when they had gone to investigate an unrelated crime. They had cut the poor dog's microchip out of her neck!

There have also been 2 cases recently where a van stopped and a man got out and attempted to snatch dogs from their owners who were out walking them. One owner was elderly and was knocked over but bless her she clung onto the lead and they didn't get her dog.

You are right to be worried. Dog theft is absolutely rife at the moment.