Does this sound ‘off’ to you ?

[NoProblem123]

I responded to a brand new advert that came out today. They had 5 boys and 3 girl puppies available. A bit of tooing and froing with WhatsApp photos but I only wanted a girl - he sent me a pic of the 3 girls together and I picked which one and gave him the eta of early evening when I’d be there.

In the afternoon he called me in a different number during the afternoon to confirm I would be bringing cash. I wasn’t, I’d be doing a transfer but he said he was ok with that.

Got to his road from the sat nav and tried calling on both numbers but no answer for at least 10 mins. He eventually called me back with his house number 98, but as a walked up the road he called out to me from a completely different number (maybe 70).

Went in expecting a pack of puppies but no, only 1 and it was a boy and was really tired but otherwise looked ok.
I said I’d reserved a girl and showed him all the photos and messages between us (from today) but he said he must have got confused with his different dogs as they were quite similar. I find this hard to believe- yes they were quite similar colours but surely you would know your dogs by the time you are selling them ??
He then said he was happy to to do a deal on this puppy, which again seems odd if he’s just sold 7 in 1 afternoon at presumably full price ?

I asked where mum was, he said he’d isolated her because she was getting upset (indicated towards bedroom), I asked to go and see her but he changed his mind and said he’d isolated her out of the house. It’s dark, raining and we’re in lockdown so I’m not sure where mum was.

I left empty handed, partly because it wasn’t what I’d reserved after driving so far, but mainly because I’d expected mum and at least some of the other 7 puppies there.

Thoughts please on this one ?

Run, don’t walk.

You definitely did the right thing, this has puppy farm written all over it. I’d also be reporting it to the appropriate authorities.

Dodgy as hell

Did you really need that spelling out?

Def report all the info you have op.. May not seem much to you but to the police it might. Poor dpuppy. You did the right thing though. You an also report some sites for inappropriate selling. There are rules up about must see dpuppy with it's dm for example.. I reported quite a few last year.

This is so depressing :( anybody with puppies available immediately should be ringing huge alarm bells in your head. There are a billion helpful posts in the doghouse about finding a decent ethical breeder so I won't repeat them here. If you're serious, do some better prep. Well done for walking away.

Shady AF.

So you saw an advert this afternoon, went to see pup this evening and were expecting to take puppy home tonight after paying for it? That’s not how reputable breeders work.

Please report this person and do some research about purchasing a dog.

Seriously dodgy - you did the right thing...report him please with all the info you can give.... either puppy theft or unscrupulous breeder

Call the police!!!

Stolen puppies.

Yes it rings alarm bells but you also seriously need to have a read about how to buy a puppy. The alarm bells should’ve been clanging at having 8 pups available in this puppy-fevered climate and you should have walked away the minute he said he said you could take a puppy the same day.

www.rspca.org.uk/adviceandwelfare/pets/dogs/puppy/breeder

Sounds very dodgy

This is awful. Anybody who speaks to you online only and is able to give you a puppy the same evening is dodgy as hell. That poor baby will probably end up dead or in the wrong hands, no mum, no littermates and lethargic. Clearly not looked after! Never ever engage with people like that, do lots of research and find a good breeder where you can meet mum and see the surroundings the pup is raised in. I waited 5 months for our gorgeous pup, it takes time!

I would report to the police. Probably stolen

I despair! How much was he proposing to fleece you for?

What do you know about owning a dog?

@TheoriginalLEM what an odd question I’ve had dogs for 40 years but as I’ve just lost my last one at 15, I haven’t brought a puppy for a while.

I actually have been in contact with both Kennel Club & Champdogs regarding reputable breeders and waiting lists. 1 sent me a rather snotty reply, and the other I’m still waiting to hear from.
I have also contacted several of my most local breeders directly and had a lovely reply from one but nothing from the others @HeyDW96 - good advice regarding patience !
This was a KC registered litter that did indeed state the puppies could leave same day.

I had already reported this before coming on MN as i also suspected puppy farm, but it’s reassuring you agree with me. It was awful leaving him behind but obviously to do otherwise would be supporting the industry.

Nobody reputable would let you get a puppy the same day the advert came out.

Why did you ever think it was legitimate? There were so many red flags there before you'd even left your house!

@sunflowersandbuttercups what were they ?

Definitely a puppy farm. You were right to report.

Having puppies available right away in a pandemic - decent breeders have waiting lists before pups are even born.

The fact that he was going to let you turn up and just walk away with a puppy that night. No home check or anything like that.

Ringing you from a totally different number that afternoon to make sure you were paying cash.

And then the fact that he didn't answer his phone - and he wasn't even at the house he said it would be at.

Honestly, you walked right into this.

@sunflowersandbuttercups I have 2 colleagues who are reputable breeders who have advertised a litter of KC pups recently (not the breed I want unfortunately) without having a waiting list.
They were also old enough to leave straight away and pretty much all did. The only ones that didn’t were due to holidays so they held onto them just for a week or so.

I have never had home checks from breeders in all the years I’ve had dogs, never mind in a pandemic. Are home checks normally done these days ?

Everything else you’ve listed was on route so I did not walk into anything thank you.

I think any breeder that would sell a puppy in one day without any check on what sort of home it is going to is the very opposite of reputable. They couldn't care less about the fate of the dogs they bred.
So yep, cash, same day, no home check, changing addresses, different puppies, no parents all add to that on top.
But your colleagues are not reputable or responsible breeders either.

@Ihaventgottimeforthis they would disagree but I’m interested as to what a reputable breeder would be checking about a potential buyer’s home ? Is it an actual home visit or more of a questionnaire ? Is there some sort of guidance on this or is it down to individual breeders ?

You’re coming across as terrifically naive, which I’m sure you can’t be if you’ve owned dogs before.
Your colleagues presumably aren’t professional breeders i.e. they’re doing it as a hobby? They’re effectively backyard breeders from their family pets? Professional breeders wouldn’t list puppies that are ready to go straight away- they have waiting lists of vetted prospective owners (via extensive questionnaires and phone chats if they haven’t insisted on meeting in person) usually months before their bitch is even pregnant.

You can get perfectly nice pups from people like your colleagues but you can also be scammed by puppy farmers. You won’t necessarily know the difference from the online ad. Luckily your puppy farm was incompetent, but some of them are really convincing.

Any puppy you can pick up basically straight away or within a few weeks you should be really cautious about.

There's so many red flags there that it's basically red bunting.

Where were these puppies advertised? I think I know the answer. That was your first clue. Definitely do some more research on how to buy a puppy from a reputable breeder. I'll safe you time, money and heartache.

Everything else you’ve listed was on route so I did not walk into anything thank you.

I'm sorry, but you really did walk right into this. I can't really believe you think otherwise.

Firstly, thought it was acceptable and a
good idea to buy a puppy, unseen, via a random stranger on the internet.

You'd never met this person before, you didn't know who he was, what the puppies looked like or what the parents were like. You had no proof of health testing. And yet you still decided it was a good idea to go ahead and purchase a puppy from him anyway.

That's a whole host of red flags that you chose to ignore in order to get a puppy straight away

Or do you not care where your puppy comes from? Do you not want to make sure the parents are of good temperament and are happy and healthy? Do you not want to make sure the parents have had all the relevant health tests?

Bloody hell OP, I too can’t believe your naivety here.

Our breeder will not allow you to even go on her waiting list without meeting you first (and we had to drive a long way to visit her). She grilled us. In essence, and rightly, we weren’t choosing her - she was deciding whether we were suitable, knew what we were doing, understood the breed. And this was the same when we got our second dog from her!

The dogs / puppies were all free roaming in the huge garden, we could see their extremely clean and warm sleeping room in the house, were all playing and happy, free to run about the entire house. We weren’t allowed to pick one up to play - it’s too easy to fall for one when it’s crawling all over you. We had to sit, watch and identify which one we wanted. And then go back a month later to collect him / her. We were on the waiting list for a year prior to this but we wanted this breeders dogs (her bitches are only allowed a litter every other year and she only has 3 actively breeding now).

Choose your breeder carefully (or rescue).