Is this neglect?

[Jacopo]

I saw a dog offered for sale. The ad says she has had two litters, is kept in a heated outside kennel, has never been on a lead and is not housetrained. I’m not an experienced dog owner and I think it would be wrong for me to take this on - what do people think? And do you think this is terrible how this dog has been kept? I feel so sorry for her. WWYD?

Yes, these are greeders who have kept this dog for puppy purposes only.

Poor girl 😪

Not sure what you could do, she will probably end up abandoned or passed to a rehoming shelter

Would it be difficult to housetrain her now? She is four.

Definitely possible to housetrain. You would just need to go back to basics, as if she was a puppy

If you don't have a lot of experience, I would get a professional in to advise you when it comes to walking/lead training.

What breed is she?

You’d have to treat her like a puppy. Take her out after eating or drinking. After play or sleeping. And every half an hour as well. If this dog hasn’t been on a lead then it won’t have been socialised. Maybe never seen traffic, met people or other dogs and never been to a vet. You could have real behavioural issues. What utter bastards those people are! And the people who paid for the pups too. 🤬

If you've never had a dog before then I really wouldn't start with one like this.

Thank you for your advice. She is a Cavachon. So I’m thinking she’s not a fierce breed.

@margotrose I know in my head you are right. My heart is saying differently.

Even small breeds can be dangerous if they've had no socialisation - I'm a dog walker and walk a tiny Yorkie cross who had never seen the outside world before he was rescued.

He will snarl and snap and try and bite me because he's scared of gates, cars, dogs, horses, sheep - everything. He's lovely but he's very, very challenging - and this is after four years!

Poor little dog.

I don't see any reason why you can't make a success of it-everyone has to be a first time dog owner sometime.
It is not going to be easy but that dog deserves someone willing to put work and love into it. Do you have the time it will take in the early days?
Think the only thing you need to really consider is that you really will need to stick it out and it will be tough at the start but the poor thing deserves a home for life-not be be given up on.

It sounds like it was meant to be to me. Good luck!!

everyone has to be a first time dog owner sometime.

Yes, but there's a good reason why decent rescues won't rehome dogs like this to first time owners. Having a dog who is petrified of everything is very isolating and you really need to know what you're doing or you could very easily make it worse.

Our dog was a puppy when we got him, from a really nice family home. He is still very neurotic and difficult to look after. I have a friend in a similar situation. I wouldn’t take on a dog that I knew would likely have issues unless I was very prepared to have my life completely focused on them. Once you have them you love them too much to re-home them no matter how much work they are. We couldn’t leave our pup alone, even to do the school run, for over a year and it was about 2 years until we could go to the pub for a couple of hours. He also couldn’t come out with us because he would become distressed in public places. He a lot better know but it took a lot of time, money and professional help and he’s far from perfect.

Poor little dog. I think it would be wrong for me to take her on if my lack of experience meant she would be miserable. I do have the time as I’m retired - but i do go on holidays- not for long periods but I guess she’d feel so abandoned if I put her in kennels when I went away.

My SIL has a dog who was kept in much the same conditions, though she had 6 litters. Even for a very experienced dog owner, she has been extremely challenging as she is terrified of everything in the world - to the extent you can't lean over to her as she had no positive experience of people bending over her pen - it took 3 years for her to stop wetting herself in terror at that. She still has massive issues after 6 years and they can never leave her apart from a very few people, and she's not even very happy at going for a walk with only BIL

Seems to be quite normal in puppy farming. I have my nosy border collie puppy on the bed here, keeping guard, shes 23 weeks. Had dogs since I was a kid,lots of borders.. rescue dogs,4 , one wasn't housetrained (RSCPA ) worked hard for 2 years, housetraining, wasn't the hard bit,( although if we had a stranger come,ie meter readings,he pooed everywhere,he was very anxious and aggressive,bit friends,late DM, ex H.sadly returned when I was pregnant, couldn't trust him

It’s horrific that these licensed breeders are allowed to keep their animals in such cruel conditions.

Poor pup…and it’s likely that she’s had 2 litters A YEAR rather than 2 litters 😢

Poor dog :( it's amazing that backyard breeders will blatantly post about their neglected dogs in order to get rid of them. I guess someone will usually take pity on the poor creature and want to show it love and kindness, which is understandable.

Look at this poor girl. Not kept in a shed admittedly, but her face looks even more deformed than most English Bulldogs. They're getting rid of her while selling the pups for £££££. Of course, if no one bought puppies from backyard breeders...

GreedersGreeders

It really can go either way with these dogs. I grew up next to a rescue in a part of wales that is very much known for puppy farming. I spent a huge amount of time volunteering there, and did a lot of work experience there. A large number of the dogs in were 3-4 years old ex breeding bitches who had had the 6 max litters that the breeders could legally kc reg, and then discarded. While they all did need house and leash training, it was about 50/50 whether they’d come in fearful and terrified of everything, or literally the complete opposite. Some of them were such just naturally friendly dogs that were so starved for affection that they were obsessed with human contact. All they wanted to do was cuddle with you and had a huge desire to please, and all new experiences and being taken out on walks was unbelievably exciting for them. I rescued an old stud myself that had spent his life in a crate, didn’t even have a proper kennel. He was an absolutely smashing dog, was house trained within 3 days, was amazing with other animals, only issue if anything was his over exuberance with being taken out and meeting new people etc, he was almost 40kg so was a handful until I managed to get him halti trained and walking nicely. It IS likely this dog may come with issues, I wouldn’t right them all off as nervous and nasty though, because they’re usually far from it

If you are inexperienced then please don't take on a dog who has had virtually no socialisation and will be scared of everything especially living inside a house.

These dogs are kept outside and used just for breeding from a young age.

They have mental and emotional issues which sometimes cannot be overcome.

Some will revive especially if they are rehomed with another dog who they get on with as they will learn to copy that dogs behaviour especially regarding toilet training.

I know a lady that has taken on a few of these kinds of dogs and some have done well and others have not. The work she puts in is around the clock. One dog I remember well had to receive veto art care after the first time it heard and saw a washing machine as it was so terrified it started fitting.

Aside from all the practicalities of whether you’d manage with this dog...

I wouldn’t give them more money

Dogs like this tend to do better in homes with existing dogs. They take their cues from the resident dog. Without an existing dog or any experience I really wouldn't go down this route, OP. It's lovely that you want to but it is just as easy to make things worse as it is to make them better.

Thats a good point I had forgotten about. It is recommended that these sort of dogs go to a home with an already socialised, sensible dog to learn from

Thank you everyone for your good advice. I won’t go any further with this idea, I will just hope that someone kind and experienced will be able to help this little dog. I’ve never seen such sad eyes on an animal. But thanks everyone, for your thoughtful and helpful replies.

Well said-think I am revising my earlier enthusiasm...