Will dogs come down in price?

[IrmaFayLear]

The prices are insane at the moment. They have more than doubled since the start of the year. For any breed, let alone the designery ones (in which I’m not interested).

Obviously now many, many more people feel they can have a dog if they are wfh, but will the fad drop off?

I have a dog-shaped vacancy here (my adored dog died a while ago) but it seems acquiring one is like the rush into dot.com stocks. I was accepted onto a breeder’s list with price agreed, but then was gazumped as I found they had contacted others on the list with a price of £500 more.

We really want one (would adopt in a heartbeat if I didn't already have a cat). Had a few expensive outgoings at the end of last year so said we'd put it off for a year. Can't even think of spending that much on a puppy now

Most of the rarer breeds with small breeders who don’t breed for profit haven’t increased in price. I know my breed hasn’t.

Which breed are you looking for? If it’s something popular I expect the demand is just too much for the price to come down!

This was going to be the year of the dog for us. Planning on adopting a staffie. Youngest dd turned 12 So all good. Lockdown came. Then dd2 announced pregnancy. So having waited for the youngest to turn 12, back to square one.
All puppies are thousands. Staffs, even lurchers and any old mutt crossbreed!
I'm hoping that the cold weather and dark nights will make a difference but it really seems like it's not meant to be.

I want a crossbreed pup but I can’t get one for love nor money, it seems you can’t get a crossbreed anymore unless you want a cockapoo or a labradoodle, jackapoo or any other doodle or poo that some unscrupulous money grabbers are breeding these days and passing off as the latest fashion accessories, they are when all said and done mongrels that breeders ask about feefteen hundred quid and upwards for.

Just looked at prices again myself, having waited until we would have the time to look after a dog and now we can't afford one. Keep looking at adoption as well but nothing ever comes up that suits our household with a child.

Give it a while and you'll be able to pick them up from the rescues

I don't think prices are coming down any time soon.

It's a combination of covid-19 restrictions and the new licensing laws that came in back in 2016. There are just not as many breeders about any more. Many of the smaller hobbyists have disappeared... which leaves large scale breeders who need to make money to make the business viable.

@TheoriginalLEM Rescues have always been full. They are even fuller now.

Not rescues near me. They only have one or two elderly dogs with health conditions. In fact they have a notice on the website of one that they have hundreds waiting and no dogs... which ironically is good!

I agree that mutts have disappeared. I suppose people these days don’t let their unneutered dogs wander around (also good) so there aren’t any resulting Heinz57s.

I would be happy with any medium-sized dog who enjoys a walk. Any dog seems to be at least £2k now; popular breeds are going for £3-4K. I can only hope that this won’t last and we will reach saturation point.

@IrmaFayLear I got a rescue dog a few month ago after lockdown was eased. I have no rescues near me I had to travel. There are lots of rescues all over the UK. I wanted an older dog however none were suitable as they were not cat friendly so I was offered a puppy. Try breed specific rescues or dog charity rescues. Personally I would be not be lining a breeders pocket. Many of the breeders are just cashing in on covid and people wanting lockdown puppies. Once restrictions were eased and people started going back to work rescues started filling. My pups background was he was from a breeder not a KC one. All the pups were removed from the breeder.I wont go into it any further but I definitely would not buy a puppy unless its breeder was listed on KC website. I know plenty of rescues have dogs and puppies all over the UK. A lot of rescues don't advertise the pups as older dogs are overlooked. The rescue mine come from didn't advertise the pups. I was offered the pup due to asking for older dog and criteria.

I got a rescue dog from abroad, she arrived the week before lockdown started. She's been an absolute joy and is exactly what the rescue said she would be. It's not for everyone and you have to do your research, but they do have mixed breed dogs and you will still have to go through a home check etc.

My neighbours dog has just had a litter of 9 labradoodles. She is selling them for £2500 each, but no one has shown any true interest yet although she's been advertising for 2 weeks now, so she said she's going to have to lower the price. I think other breeders will have no choice but to lower the prices too or they simply won't get sold, your average joe cant afford to pay these insane prices for a dog, its madness.

Following with interest as we're also keeping an eye out for a pup but can't find over £2,500 that breeders seem to be asking :-(

I really want a golden retriever but they are £2500/3000k 😩

It must be a real money spinner: £3k per puppy, say 9 puppies... £27k !!!!

Surely there will come a time when every household has a dog and they can’t shift new puppies, especially if a fair number of people who bought female dogs decide to breed from them too.

They might start to reduce now that people are being told to go back to work outside the home or finding their jobs are at risk.

BUT equally lots of people who wanted a dog in lockdown couldn't get one due to supply issues and if they get the next lot it might still keep the prices high.

You can pick up a patterdale pup for about 1k , lovely dogs , great with children just not so good with small furries . We have a patterdale x ( Battersea pup many years ago) and I can highly recommend them .

Another one hoping that prices will come down soon. Dodgy 'breeders' selling for £2500+ on Pets4homes are filling the gap left by reputable breeders who've decided not to breed this year due to Covid. So it's impossible to even get on a reputable breeder's waiting list.

All of the breeds/ crossbreeds we're interested in are really susceptible to puppy farming/ backyard breeders, so we're stuck waiting until things calm down. And we can't get a rescue because our DC are under 8 and we haven't had a dog before.

We paid £2k for our cocker spaniel. I know everyone thinks this is mad on here but I think it’s much better to charge a bit more as the commitment and thought is there. It’s less of a whim. He’s totally worth it imo.

We paid more than I ever anticipated for our Golden Retriever pup. However, it was DS's most adored dog that he's dreamed of and hoped for, for years and we didn't go on holiday this year. She's KC registered though - there's no way I'd pay £££ for an unregistered cross. I do agree that it focused the mind though - the dog cost more than my (old banger) car!

Romaian or other rescue will even bring to your door or to a foster near you. You can rescue with a cat, children et.
I rescued through Perrara Dogs UK - he is the most gorgeous dog ever, he did need a lot of patience as he arrived scared to death but he really is the best do ever. Adopt please don't shop

I used borrow my doggie web site and now help look after a puppy whose owner had to go back to work full time. Cost me £12 to register and I have the cutest wee friend!

Decent breeders don’t hike prices but many aren’t breeding at the moment. I have wolfhounds. No puppies around at the moment as nobody can heart test potential parents (needs doing yearly) due to Covid.
Hang on or look at rescues far and wide!

Have a look at Balkan Underdogs.

I’ve noticed the Facebook puppy pages I follow are slowly moving from more people trying hard to buy puppies towards more people trying hard to sell them!

Still asking silly money but I don’t think it will be long before they have to lower the price a bit.