Are there really lots of lockdown puppies for rehoming?

[Lycopodium8]

I keep seeing on threads people talking about their local animal shelters bursting at the seems with lockdown puppies. I'm considering a second dog so have been looking on my local Dogs Trust website but there are very few dogs on there and certainly no younger ones. I'm not too fussed about a younger dog personally but it did get me thinking - are shelters really experiencing an influx of lockdown pups or is it just rumour?

[quote Dochas121]@magicstar1 I found the article there on that shelter in cork. On their website they have 0 dogs

We’ve been trying to adopt a dog for months and have our names down with the big charities (Dogs Trust, Battersea, Mayhew). We have only been contacted by one of the charities once (because I liked a cat as we also considered getting a cat). We own our own house with a large garden and both WFH permanently. The only issue we have is we’ve never owned a dog as adults before so we’re seen as having no experience. We expected to be contacted about younger dogs but there are rarely any when I check and if there are they all require experienced owners. In London at least I can’t see an influx of pandemic pups.

Maybe it's regional: www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-58996017

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-58996017

Looks like it's definitely a thing in Wales, if you're anywhere near?

"Hope Rescue, in Rhondda Cynon Taf, said the number of dogs being dropped off at its rescue centre in Pontyclun was the highest in its 15-year history.

The charity expects the trend to continue for the next two years.

Charity staff said some dog owners had called a dog warden and pretended their own pet is a stray, or taken the dogs directly to a rescue centre claiming they had found it abandoned...

She said in the past week alone, five had come into the centre that they knew were fake strays, but the number "could be much higher".

The centre now has 150 strays - more than it has ever had before...

The centre said these were "desperate times" and others like them were at "crisis point".

Centres are at capacity, Ms Rosser said, because of the increase in people who got dogs during lockdown and later realise they cannot look after them as life returns to normal.

She added: "At the moment what we're hearing from all the rescue centres that we work with is that they are also full and that they are under massive pressure."...

Hope Rescue said it had received more than 7,000 applications to adopt dogs in 2021, and has had to suspend applications because of the volume."

@Ellmau snap

I had a look at the website for the pound where we got our girl - they seem to have a large number of mostly young dogs. Was a mistake to look as I want them all now!

I’ve had a look on gumtree and pretty much every second post is a dog under 2 looking to be rehomed for money.

It’s awful.

My friend works for an average sized rescue centre in Ireland. We were talking about this the other night and she was saying they don't have a huge increase compared to any other winter but sadly more of the reasons coming in in are that people lost their jobs over the last few months and just can't afford a dog anymore or because of elderly people dying. I could not do her job

Ps she also said she wished more people wanted older dogs, that's their issue at the moment

@ClaireEclair

We’ve been trying to adopt a dog for months and have our names down with the big charities (Dogs Trust, Battersea, Mayhew). We have only been contacted by one of the charities once (because I liked a cat as we also considered getting a cat). We own our own house with a large garden and both WFH permanently. The only issue we have is we’ve never owned a dog as adults before so we’re seen as having no experience. We expected to be contacted about younger dogs but there are rarely any when I check and if there are they all require experienced owners. In London at least I can’t see an influx of pandemic pups.

IME it's hard for first time owners at the best of times, but right now they'll be getting lots of unsocialised, untrained dogs who have potentially changed hands a few times already, and are more likely to have separation anxiety. There will be lots of inexperienced owners willing to step up and give these dogs a fantastic home, but unfortunately there's no easy way of distinguishing between them, and people who will 'try their best' for a few months and then hand back a ruined dog.

You may find that you have more success if you offer to take on an elderly dog. I know it's not what you're looking for, but that's how we got on the 'dog ladder'. We basically accepted an absolute lost cause who would otherwise have died in kennels. We loved him dearly, but he was a right sod.

It is maybe more people looked at the page but changed mind and decided to go with a dog walker / day care

What we're noticing is a huge spike in enquiries for dog walking and day care. We're not accepting any new clients at all until at least after Christmas, we like to settle adolescent dogs in properly with the rest of established dogs and there are enough of them already. And people are happy to join the waiting list too!

@Gingerninja4

It is maybe more people looked at the page but changed mind and decided to go with a dog walker / day care

Yeah, that sounds plausible. And I bet all the people who have dumped their dogs in shelters or sold them on Gumtree/Pets4Homes were just confused, and thought they were actually booking their beloved pooch a lovely surprise holiday. God, they'll be heartbroken when they realise.

More likely, they thought they might get money by selling on dubious sites instead...

just look at todays article on the BBC

@JesusInTheCabbageVan Thank you. That is true that we could adopt an older dog but many also seem to have behavioural problems. But there is a gorgeous old collie cross that I keep looking at on one site. My DH would prefer a younger dog as we adopted our cat when she was 10 and feel like we didn’t have long with her when she died at 17 (although I know cats live longer than dogs in general). I would adopt them all but DH is a bit more particular and does not like bull type breeds or greyhounds which there are plenty of :(

A lot of puppies are being sold on on gumtree and Pets4Homes. And the reality is that because rescues make it almost impossible for anyone to actually rescue a dog, people go to these sites to buy a dog they know has essentially been passed on because the owner can’t be bothered with it any more.

So in essence, people don’t need to hand their dogs into rescues, because they know they can get some of their money back on gumtree.
I walk my dog in my local park and I’d say the majority of dogs I see there are dogs people have either taken on from rescue or have bought from one of the animal trading sites. They don’t tell me which, but a lot of them tell me these are dogs that other people no longer wanted after lockdown.

@ClaireEclair yeah, sadly that's a risk. Our first boy was basically Father Jack in dog form - feral, foul tempered, mostly toothless (blessing in disguise as he bit us both several times) and only house trained when it suited him. And he was the only dog they would let us have!

Current ddog is VERY sad that your DH doesn't like greyhounds. Personally I think that face would convince anyone, but I am biased

Every other dog on those sites pets 4 homes, gumtree seems to be a rehome at massive price tags.

It’s really awful- just like a commodity.

Saw one genuine rehome and could tell immediately as price was £300 - the rest are wanting £3000!

Sad thing is if those people just put in a tiny bit of effort in, they will have a wonderful time. Took mine out today - he’s mischievous - but realise when walking him smiling the whole time!

I also people get dogs that’s are really not suited to first time owners!

I love golden retrievers and boxers but need much more walking that I know realistically kids would t be up for!

@Grumpyosaurus

Given that at least one rehoming charity is still bringing in dogs from abroad, I suspect that not all that many additional dogs are being given over to rescues.

Manchester dogs home imports dogs to be rehomed in the UK. Perhaps a charity is needed to educate the people in the country they get them from? I wouldn't be that surprised if there was a long chain of charity money ensuring a supply of dogs from abroad.

That BBC story confuses me. For quite a few years it has been illegal to sell a puppy without it being microchipped.

Is it a case of dodgy people buy puppies off of dodgy breeders and then try to get rid of them in dodgy ways?

Maybe we do need a new dog licence type of thingy.

Our breeder takes back dogs if necessary. Maybe he was surprised when someone called him to check this was true and then returned the dog by courier the next day, but he took it back. He kept it for a few months to make sure it was stable and then rehomed it in the same village, apparently this was a mistake as it howls if taken past his house

The breed of dog I have is selling for the same price it usually was pre pandemic. Very few if any likely to be in shelters, tbh. I have never ever seen one.

Finding it unlikely there are all these puppies being left, but I suppose it depends where you live in the UK.

We want to rescue a dog
We don't want a puppy
DH WFH, no other pets, own home and enclosed garden, kids secondary age
We thought we were good candidates but haven't exactly been inundated with offers since registering our interest with local centres. We are marked down for being first timers although both our families had/ have dogs that we regularly sit for.
Also many of them want you to have another dog at home.
The dog we have now been offered is a Romanian rescue so I guess those are the dogs available.
We did not see any British relinquished puppies or young dogs on any of the sites we looked at.

@JesusInTheCabbageVan Oh he’s gorgeous! I love greyhounds. There are a lot where we live and they are so beautiful and calm. There are two I wjlf adopt on Battersea but have been vetoed! Grrrrr!

I haven’t seen an increase in dogs appearing on the rescue websites, but there are loads of dogs 1-2 years old for sale on Gumtree for ridiculous prices. it’s a real shame.