What is happening to the dogs that need rehoming?

[Singinginshower]

Just been looking at a couple of rescue sites and there aren't many dogs available. One website says it has fewer than usual due to Covid guidelines.
Just wondered if they are more likely to pts the dogs that won't get rehomed quickly.

@PollyRoulson

Ok so ancedotal then

We're you expecting a peer reviewed study?

MN has been anticipating ‘lockdown puppies’ since March 2020.

I’m finding it quite funny now. For months it’s been ‘ah well they haven’t come in yet.’

@bunniesanddaisies

MN has been anticipating ‘lockdown puppies’ since March 2020.

I’m finding it quite funny now. For months it’s been ‘ah well they haven’t come in yet.’

Do you not think that's because lots of people are still working from home, and have been for 14-15 months now?

Offices aren't due to open up for another 4-6 weeks and even then it's likely to be a slow process as many people aren't fully vaccinated yet.

I can only speak from personal experience as a dog walker but I've never had as many requests as I've had these past two weeks. I think there are lots of people who never even thought about how much it would cost to pay for a daily dog walker or daycare while they worked.

£200 a month for walks. £500 a month for daycare if you want permanent, five day a week care. That's a lot of money to fork out for a dog and lots of people are very reluctant to pay it.

Well the reports I have from the Dogs Trust say that they are full to the brim. And there was a report in Scotland a couple of weeks ago that said that rescues across Scotland were full and had no more room for dogs. People might be wanting to sell to recoup their costs - but do people want to buy? Many people in a position to have a dog will already have one, older dogs are not necessarily a good "bargain" - if you want a puppy that's what you want, and if you want an older dog there are plenty in rescues. And it is always slightly dubious buying from another home because you don't know what you are getting.

I suspect that there are other factors at work here rather than there not being enough dogs in rescues. I don't know of a single one that hasn't got "enough".

And let’s not forget that many of these lockdown puppies will be kept by owners, but won’t be being looked after properly. They’ll be shut in cages or put outside in the garden, not trained, be neglected etc. It’s heartbreaking.

I foster for rescues and have now had 5 lockdown puppies all in the 7-9 month age bracket.

Honestly no I don’t coffee sorry.

Just looked on dogs trust. No cockerpoos / cavapoos. One bichon, one Lhasa. Thirty Staffs, twenty one Staff crosses, 36 lurchers, 37 greyhounds.

I said this on a thread this week. Let’s say in a normal year 100 people in an area buy a dog. Totally accept some will be dickheads. So maybe 90 decent owners and ten dicks.

From 2020, more people have been buying dogs, so let’s say 1000 people and 100 dicks. Percentage wise same dicks but more because more dog owners.

It doesn’t make it ‘right’ but I am a bit fed up of everyone who dared buy a puppy in lockdown being castigated. Lots of people have had their working life transformed and can welcome a dog where they previously couldn’t.

I haven't once castigated anyone for buying a puppy during lockdown.

But I really don't think you can judge the situation simply by the number of dogs available on the dogs trust website - there are lots of other factors at play.

• many dogs are rehomed via waiting lists before they even make into the website.
• some will be in foster or kennels while their temperaments and suitability are assessed.
• some people will rehome via gumtree or pets4homes, or via friends and family or social media.
• some people will sell their adolescent dogs to try and recoup some of their costs.

Some, like PP said, will keep them and leave them home alone all day or stuck in a crate. Maybe they'll eventually pay for care or will realise the situation isn't sustainable and do something about it in a few months time.

And yes, many owners will do right by their dogs and employ a walker or pay for daycare and their dogs will thrive and be much loved, well looked after family pets. I've never once denied that.

But as a professional dog carer who is getting requests every day for walks and care (with an immediate or urgent start), I get the feeling that lots of people never even thought about walkers or daycare until they heard they were due back in the office.

I also suspect many have already tried leaving their dogs and came home to havoc and destruction. I know a local walker looked after a collie puppy - she had it for thirty minutes at lunchtime and it was alone the rest of the day. The puppy ate the kitchen floor, messed everywhere and scratched up the door something awful.

The owners now pay for full-time daycare.

I know you personally haven’t coffee sorry. And you’re absolutely right that DT isn’t the benchmark.

However I do think there’s been a tendency on this board and wider MN to be critical of anyone who got a dog during lockdown (and god forbid they bought a ‘poo’) and ‘lockdown puppy’ has become a thing.

I mean, to put it another way, one of my friends has just found out that there isn’t going to be a nursery place at her chosen nursery until March and she’s back to work in October. We are all clueless first timers once, whether that’s parent or dog owner. But being a bit clueless doesn’t mean horrible and irresponsible any more than it means bad mum / dad.

And this honestly isn’t you personally but the grim tones which have dominated this forum are a bit unpleasant really. People wanting dogs are confidently told rescue centres will be full to the brim with ‘lockdown puppies’ ‘soon.’ Well, like I say, I’ve been reading these posts for over a year now and it hasn’t happened.

I’m not doubting there are dicks who sell them on but the problem I have is that IME dickheads just get dogs. They don’t wait until lockdown to do so.

@KidneyBeans peer reviewed study would be nice (and I am sure will be in the pipeline!) no I was wondering if the info had come from legimate rescues or organisations rather than what my "neighbour said or on my facebook"

People wanting dogs are confidently told rescue centres will be full to the brim with ‘lockdown puppies’ ‘soon.’ Well, like I say, I’ve been reading these posts for over a year now and it hasn’t happened.

That never made sense to me though. If someone is the sort of person to get a dog without thinking it through and get rid of it so easily, they’re not going to just lose out on the thousands they’ve paid for it by giving it to a rescue. These are selfish people, who don’t love their dog. They sell the dog to get their money back. That’s why these pups are not in shelters. They have been and continue to be on selling sites.

So we agree the rescue centres aren’t full of ‘lockdown puppies’, then.

So we agree the rescue centres aren’t full of ‘lockdown puppies’, then.

I can only speak for the rescue I know about. They had an increased number of older dogs handed over to them last year. Apparently a fair few owners said the old dog had to go as they didn’t get on with the new puppy. This rescue is still not advertising their dogs, many are in foster care. They are very, very busy and asking for more foster homes.
This rescue also had a few mums and pups handed over to them with reasons like ‘they’re too noisy’. So they do have pups, but they are reluctant to home at the moment as they really do want their dogs to go to forever homes.

I did read about Scottish rescues apparently being full. But I think when it comes to puppies, if these owners can get their cash back, they’ll use online sites to do so.

[quote PollyRoulson]@KidneyBeans peer reviewed study would be nice (and I am sure will be in the pipeline!) no I was wondering if the info had come from legimate rescues or organisations rather than what my "neighbour said or on my facebook"[/quote]
Dues a dog walking professional's direct experience not count then?

@bunniesanddaisies

So we agree the rescue centres aren’t full of ‘lockdown puppies’, then.

I don’t know about the bigger ones like dogs trust or SSPCA, but all the small ones and breed specific ones I know about are... they’ve just not been open for rehoming until today.

Rescues currently have a mixture of lockdown puppies, older dogs who didn't get on with the new lockdown kitten or puppy, ex puppy farm breeding dogs and sadly dogs from homes where the owner has died.
This is from my knowledge of several local rescues I work with.

The "lockdown puppies" are only now starting to drip into rescue centres, now when they're no longer puppies but teenage dogs with a range of behaviour issues including separation anxiety and, as someone mentioned, no longer kid-safe as they are DONE with that chaos.

I do know of one rescue dog from a big rescue who was handed back after several years in their adopted home, because, after a few years of being fine with kids, suddenly have kids at home during lockdown 24/7 led the dog to turn into an anxious mess, clearly worried, not ever relaxing, poor thing just couldn't cope and couldn't rest and there was a risk of that escalating. He needed a quieter home.

Demand for dogs has just been insane over the last year. Rescues, big and small, have been frantic, especially larger ones who had staff on furlough and no volunteers and smaller ones who couldn't have volunteers on site either. And they have been getting HUNDREDS of applications for dogs every.single.day. But out of all those hundreds, only a handful are going to suitable for each of their dogs.

It's no use getting angry with the poor rescues who are doing their best. Their priority is finding the perfect home for each of their dogs. It's not their job to find you a dog. There's a lot of entitled people sending a constant barrage of of complaints to rescues who are having a hard enough time as it is.

The problem is bunny I’ve literally been hearing it for fourteen months now and I just don’t believe it.

@bunniesanddaisies

The problem is bunny I’ve literally been hearing it for fourteen months now and I just don’t believe it.

That's because we've been in a perpetual in-and-out-of-lockdown pandemic chaos for the last fourteen months. Rescues are having to adapt and change and adjust just as much as everyone else has.

This magical influx of dogs I don't think will really happen until the end of summer when (hopefully) we will be back to more normal operations, with people commuting to work (or having been made redundant/homeless), kids all back at school, the weather turning to winter and people wanting to jet off on foreign holidays.

Right now the temptation to sell an unwanted dog online is much more strong due to the insane prices and recoup any costs they've made, than write off those costs and sign them over to a rescue instead.

Thanks for the support @KidneyBeans! :)

I know what my experience has been - but no, I obviously can't provide any evidence for it. I'm not about to publish private messages from clients/potential clients just to try and prove my point on an internet forum, lol.

@KidneyBeans Nope it is a one off opinion from one person in one area. Dog walkers will only be asked about dogs that are being kept - nothing to do with dogs being rehomed.

My expereince is totally different I am being inudated with new training enquiries from new owners that have missed out on puppy training (although is was available) and now want adolescent training.

So my conclusion could be that lock down owners are way more caring and want more advice and training than before owners before lockdown.

I could also conclude that cockapoos are the most traumatised dogs ever as most enquiries are from their owners with fear and separation anxiety issues and stranger fears. That also would be incorrect.

I am not sure why people think I was being narky I wasnt. I was just asking if this was a more evidenced theory - no harm in wanting correct information

@PollyRoulson

I am not sure why people think I was being narky I wasnt. I was just asking if this was a more evidenced theory - no harm in wanting correct information

What kind of evidence are you after, though?

How would people prove their experiences to you?

I have already said upthread

@PollyRoulson

I have already said upthread

Several people have already said they work with rescues and have said they're seeing an increased number of dogs being handed over.

Nobody is going to be able to give solid evidence that shows it's a nationwide problem because a) it's all ongoing and constantly changing and b) it's all going to be based off their experience in their local rescue or area.

My experience through my business is that lots of people are only just starting to think about how they'll care for their dog when they're back in work, and many are realising that a young adolescent dog needs more input and care than just a dog walker at midday.

Again, just my experience, but many also seem shocked at the price of daily dog care. I've had lots of people enquire and then say "God, I can't afford that - can I have a discount for daily care?". My answer is always no