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.

Me and my husband have been together for 4 years. We already have a rabbit and we feel like it is time to bring another member for the family in. We have done so much research and we have decided on a Cocker Spaniel, but the prices are way to high (£3,000-£3,500 each) and both of us feel like that is too much to pay for one dog, so we are currently waiting for the prices to drop. He said to me that he is not going to pay over £1,000 for a dog and I told him that £1,000 is not a lot for a dog and that you will have to pay a little bit more than £1,000 for one. As I said we are just waiting for the prices to go down, which I hope is soon because I have been waiting for so long for a dog even when I was around 5 I wanted a dog but my parents told me NO, so this is my only chance at making my childish dream come true.

I'm not sure the rescue shelters being empty is necessarily a good thing. It almost certainly means there's a BTS increase in private sales/adoptions, and an increase in euthanisations. The shelters have very few dogs not just because the ones they've had have been taken, but because they're also taking fewer in to manage their own workload (to understand why this is significant you need to know that a lot of UK shelter dogs come across from Ireland). I can see that our local shelter has half-a-dozen lurcher/greyhounds (that's normal for around here), and one older dog that's just arrived with a rather sad story (owner has died). And there are no dogs reported on the Council stray web page (that's very unusual).

If you can wait a short while I can see the current position being reversed. The novelty will wear off, work patterns will start to get closer to the old normal, and the furlough schemes can only postpone a rise in unemployment for so long. The shelters will start to come back up to their usual operating capacities as national restrictions ease.

I’ve seen loads of adult dogs being sold recently, under the guise of “retirement/ too many dogs/ allergy/ landlord “ which is bullshit.

A cocker bought in Jan 2020 before we really had an inkling about Covid cost me £950. KC assured breeder. All health and genetic testing carried out.

There is a school Of thought that says if a price of a dog is high it should deter people who think of dogs as a disposable fashion item. The more you pay then potentially more you will take care of it.

However there are downsides to this, it does make theft an attractive profitable option.

My current circumstances make having a dog a very attractive option but in two years things will be very different so I am not considering getting a dog no matter how much I want one. I might do borrow my doggy but still not sure I can properly commit so not done it yet.

There are a lot of learner owners around. We have had an increase in the number of deer attacks in our parks and there are many more dogs, and many more that are not under proper control. Sadly it is inevitable that some of those owners are going to get bored of the commitment. My dog’s breeder hasn’t had a litter since March because she is worried about this very issue.

Rescues are really worried about what’s going to happen when (hopefully) more normal life has resumed and people want to take holidays or start commuting for work again
What will happen is the same as before lockdown. People use a combination of doggy daycare/kennels/boarding/family etc etc. Noone gives their dog up because they want to go on holiday

When people have spent thousands on a puppy they are not going to give it up for nothing. Plus I do think most people do genuinely want to look after a dog properly, and probably at the moment t have more time to devote to a dog so there will be fewer unruly teenagers up for adoption
Agreed. I've been hearing that rescue centres are going to bursting with lockdown dogs for almost a year now. It shows no sign of happening and I just think its bullshit. People are paying this sort of money for puppies because they are desperately wanted members of the family. Very few people are suddenly going to turn round and give their much loved family dog up because they have to go into the office. Before lockdown people worked and had pets. Its not one or the other. We looked at rescue centres for years before we got our pup. None were suitable for first time owners with children. Most were staffies with behavioural problems. I have a look every now and again and the same ones are still there.

I agree...I don't think it's going to happen either. Everyone says the rescue places are full of unwanted dogs...not true around where I live. The local charity has 3 dogs on their website...all reserved! I know many people happy to take a cross breed/rescue but the supply isn't there. Chances are many people will continue to wfh even once restrictions are lifted, at least for part of the week so will manage just fine with a dog at home/dog walker etc.

Its not true where I live either fluffy or in the centres for miles around. There seems to be a bit of a stigma attached to having a 'lockdown puppy' with established dog owners looking down their noses. Some people seem to think that we are all fucking fools that throw thousands of pounds at a puppy willy nilly with no thought to future provision at all which is just nonsense. Yes for many lockdown was the ideal time to devote all your time and energy to a puppy and those who had been wanting dogs for a⁰ while will have taken advantage of that time, but noone thinks its going to last forever. As it happens my company, like many others, has no intention of stopping home working. If I had to return to office work though I have plans in place for my pup. I'd never give him up.

My friend paid 3.9k for a kind Charles recently and it was part of a litter of 12. Do the maths on that!

Not 12 I meant 9. But even so.....