Looking to buy a puppy after Xmas. Never done it before. Where do you start looking?

[Untang13d]

Dd 16 has been v poorly the past year and in hospital a fair bit. She has researched a lot as have we and think the time is right. Where do we start looking? Want to find one from a reputable breeder and not to be ripped off. It will be our first dog and thinking of a Cockapoo.

Also would you consider a retired greyhound.? No history as such and very easy dogs to own , chilled and calm and don't need loads of walks

This is my plan when we have room in our life for a dog.

You omitted the “ are doing lots of research” part. Kind of relavent.

@BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz

Also would you consider a retired greyhound.? No history as such and very easy dogs to own , chilled and calm and don't need loads of walks

This is my plan when we have room in our life for a dog.

My first dog was a rescue greyhound. She was utterly utterly delightful.

She did have loo accidents now and then which is a huge contrast to my spaniel who has a bladder and gut of steel and will hold it if it's raining! Dgrey needed a strong toilet routine and could not be left more than a couple of hours.

OP I don't get the knee jerk 'oh you aren't ready for a puppy' responses these threads always get. You are doing your research- part of that includes asking here. We got a puppy this summer. First dog. Sure it's hard work but we expected that. It's also fun and rewarding and NOWHERE NEAR as hard as three under 15 months! Good luck.

Mumsnet will always want you to get a rescue dog, you might have better luck asking on your local dog owners’ Facebook page. I know that there are oodles of doodles around where we are, they are popular for a reason. We got our puppy via pets4homes (gasp!). We were confident that we didn’t buy from a puppy farm and our dog is gorgeous.

OP, we researched having a dog and decided against a rescue because all the ones we saw (online) had various issues - resource guarding, reactive, etc.

So, we bought a cockapoo puppy. And we've never regretted it. He is now 18 months old and adorable. We were aware of puppy farms so we're alert to signs. We went to a breeder who was registered with the local council, we contacted the vet she used who reassured us that they had had her as a client for 18 years and had no concerns. She allowed us to visit every week and we saw our puppy with his mum and siblings.

BUT it was really hard work at first. DH and I ended up sleeping in separate rooms for 5 months as our puppy wouldnt sleep alone until then. I almost gave in and let him sleep in our room.but I'm glad we stuck it out.

We did put him in Daycare for one day a week as soon as we could, so that he got used to being without us and also got used to being with other dogs. That really helped.

He is very friendly and inquisitive, great with kids and other dogs, lovely to be with. But I worked really hard at training, took him to training classes and did a lot of reward based work which has really paid off. DH. and I both work full time, and we were exhausted when he was little. We've had kids but we are now 20 years older! I'm not sure we could have coped if we'd also had a complicated home life.

Best way is to
Spread the word you are looking, ask friends if they know reputable breeders planning a litter

Thanks user1477249785 and PenOrPencil

Kennel club website is a good start to register with breeders - be prepared for a long wait though. Otherwise ask friends/family for their breeders often if they are planning another they are happier if the pup goes to extended family. This is pedigree though - mixed is hugely more difficult unless you find a friend of a friend you are in the territory and of having to ascertain whether there is a puppy farm or just overbreeding going on. We have a 5 year old cocker spaniel - got him as a puppy when every rescue in the SE seemed to insist that having a 6 year old was a blanket no to a dog. He was never as much hassle as my babies - maybe I had terribly behaved babies!

I was lucky because got mine through a family friend who's been a breeder for years. I wouldn't have a clue otherwise!
Good luck, I have no regrets.

We got our cockapoo a year ago as a puppy so I can give a little bit of advice based on what we've learnt:

Put feelers out via everyone you know. We ended up getting ours via a friend of a friend who had one litter. Other dog walkers also sometimes ask where he's from.

If we hadn't got him, I'd made contact with some poodle breeders via champdogs. They told me when they were next planning a litter and that would have worked out if we didn't already manage to get pup.

The rspca etc have a checklist of questions you should ask the breeder when you visit. We met both the mum and the dad and saw all the puppies in the home. Breeder then sent us weekly videos and did FaceTime so we could see him until we took him home. He came with a bed and toys that smelt of home and some food.

We were very lucky and got a good feeling with our breeder and are still in touch with her. I know friends took multiple goes to find one they felt confident with.

It's true they're incredibly hard. He needed to go for a wee every three hours overnight and you'll need time off work for a few weeks to settle them in (doable if you wfh perhaps). They bite a lot and it hurts. For weeks I had ripped clothes and couldn't have my hair down or wear slippers. You can't leave them alone for a minute when they're tiny. A year on he's just starting to be more mature but is still hard work sometimes.

On the plus side cockapoos are intelligent, ours doesn't shed, he's easy to train although stubborn so capable of ignoring commands when he chooses. He's beautiful and incredibly friendly and good natured. He could keep going forever though and you need to learn a lot about mental stimulation to tire them out and keep them from being bored.

We did also look at rescues but there were hundreds of applications per dog and we were often discounted due to things like the height of our fence, or not having owned a dog before. Also rescues near us are neatly 100% staffies which we didn't discount but weren't our first choice.

How do you find out if breeders are registered with the council?

@Tiramesu

So you don't want a dog 'with history'. The reason these dogs end up in rescues in the first place is because people fancy a puppy and then realise it is actually monumentally hard work when you are juggling children and family life and all the rest of it. Terrible attitude to look at dogs with, honestly

Yeah. Same old isn’t it. Knows it all but wants a bloody cockerpoo.

I think the op is getting a hard time on here-she is actually asking for advice rather than buying off an internet ad. Op please don't discount a rescue dog-many are from family homes who cannot afford vets bills etc. We have 3 rescue pups and now I would never buy off a breeder even if they were "reputable". We adopted our first pair at 16 weeks old as their owner couldn't cope with the mess in her house and the time it took to look after them and train them. They were adorable, fluffy and super cute but wrecked havoc, chewed everything and were incredibly difficult to train- being brother and sister they just ignored us if something more interesting was on the horizon! However they are the greatest family pets and are fantastic with my kids and their friends -now they are four years and super chilled! We adopted our third dog from Many Tears earlier this year -she is an ex-breeding dog shipped over from a puppy farm in Ireland. It was heartbreaking when we first had her-she couldn't walk far, had no strength in her legs, would flinch and shake if anyone moved too fast or too close to her, she was matted and had never been for a groom or had any veterinary care ( apart from at the rescue centre). We were told she was 4 years old but actually our vet thinks she is around 9. It breaks my heart to think she was kept in a cage and bred from for most of her life. She's had an incredibly tough life but is so loving and full of joy-its really rewarding to see how far she's come.

Oh and having an oops baby when the dog was 4 - not an issue. I've had him since a puppy and I know his behaviour inside out. With a rescue I would never have been as confident - we had rescues growing up and I'll totally do that again when the baby is 5+ but no until she is house trained!

@BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz

Also would you consider a retired greyhound.? No history as such and very easy dogs to own , chilled and calm and don't need loads of walks

This is my plan when we have room in our life for a dog.

Not trendy though. That’s the problem.

Know all about hard work thanks, I’ve been in and out of hospital with a very sick child the past year. I know my capabilities and my daughter’s. We have countless friends who have had puppies. All coped and all have happy healthy dogs now.

Fucking hell I'm amazed the OP hasn't run away screaming from this thread. There's nothing wrong with buying a puppy!

I have 2 rescue dogs op if I ever got another dog I'd be buying a pup - rescue dogs have all kinds of unexpected baggage. The main things to look out for are does the breeder have mum and dad (that's usually an iffy sign). Is the breeder breeding lots of poodle crosses - poochons, cavapoos, cockerpoos - if they're churning out lots of types that's a bad sign. Ask how many litters they breed a year and how many the mum has had. You may or may not get a truthful answer but asking shows you're serious.

Any mention of kennels is a bad sign, you want the puppies to be raised in the home. Expect to join a waiting list for pups.

Don’t want a cockerpoo because it’s trendy but because we’ve started researching breeds and it’s the breed a few people we know have and feel it would suit our needs.

Breeders being registered with the council doesn’t mean anything where animal welfare is concerned.
Meeting the “mother”? Puppy farmers often take a bitch and puppies and display them. Maybe in a rented house. May not even be the mother.
Start at the beginning. What do YOU have to offer a dog? Exercise? Training? Time? Grooming? Space?
I would either look to rescue or consider one of many actual pedigree breeds. Mainly only because you can research breed clubs and health issues and be directed to decent breeders.

X post. How would it suit your needs?
You could get the best or worst of each breed. Resource guarding etc.

@nancypineapple

I think the op is getting a hard time on here-she is actually asking for advice rather than buying off an internet ad. Op please don't discount a rescue dog-many are from family homes who cannot afford vets bills etc. We have 3 rescue pups and now I would never buy off a breeder even if they were "reputable". We adopted our first pair at 16 weeks old as their owner couldn't cope with the mess in her house and the time it took to look after them and train them. They were adorable, fluffy and super cute but wrecked havoc, chewed everything and were incredibly difficult to train- being brother and sister they just ignored us if something more interesting was on the horizon! However they are the greatest family pets and are fantastic with my kids and their friends -now they are four years and super chilled! We adopted our third dog from Many Tears earlier this year -she is an ex-breeding dog shipped over from a puppy farm in Ireland. It was heartbreaking when we first had her-she couldn't walk far, had no strength in her legs, would flinch and shake if anyone moved too fast or too close to her, she was matted and had never been for a groom or had any veterinary care ( apart from at the rescue centre). We were told she was 4 years old but actually our vet thinks she is around 9. It breaks my heart to think she was kept in a cage and bred from for most of her life. She's had an incredibly tough life but is so loving and full of joy-its really rewarding to see how far she's come.

I think she sounds a bit stroppy and arrogant but it’s difficult when it’s the internet. I don’t think any sensible person looking for their first dog would buy a designer cross if they had done their research. The biggest supplier of puppy farms is these crosses.

www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/uk-news/illegal-puppy-breeder-who-made-21095259

Very few seem to consider the bitches left in perpetual hell. The rubbish spouted about rescues on here proves that alone.
People want the cute puppy but are not interested in what really goes on.

Sorry if I don’t reply. I am so tired of these threads, I am hiding it. Nothing seems to change.

@Untang13d

Know all about hard work thanks, I’ve been in and out of hospital with a very sick child the past year. I know my capabilities and my daughter’s. We have countless friends who have had puppies. All coped and all have happy healthy dogs now.

Maybe ask one of the countless friends with puppies?

It’s not a breed.
It’s a cross of 2 breeds that can be very highly strung.
Research all of the worst aspects of both breeds and then consider how you would cope with a dog that had all of those.
I am not anti cross breeds at all, in fact in some cases mongrels can be healthier and less overbred than pedigrees but you can’t assume what traits you will get from each parent.

Have done. Want to research further.