No such thing as a lockdown puppy

[Thewifefury]

More news today of how "lockdown puppies" have potentially contributed to the increase in dog attacks. I don't understand. There were no rules about not walking or socialising dogs during even the strictest of lockdowns. Letting dogs meet and play on dog walks whilst humans maintain a safe distance was all totally possible. Just feels like lazy dog ownership and a very useful, if flawed, excuse! Perhaps I am judging people too harshly? Covid did increase dog ownership, let's face it everyone was looking for a new hobby or interest they could actually do while the world was shutdown. So it makes sense that there was also a rise in Ignorant dog owners. I just get so irritated with the term "lockdown puppies". Shifts the blame off the reality - ignorant owners. And I am sure there will be people who say "I was shielding so I couldn't go out or get within speaking distance of another person" okay so why on earth would you get a puppy then? Again not a lockdown puppy. Another ignorant owner.

I don't think you can argue that lockdown puppies can be attributed necessarily to lazy ownership.

A typical beach/forest day for my dogs today looks nothing like it did during lockdown.

There were no puppy training classes for quite a while.

Sitting with a pup watching the world go by was very much frowned upon.

Dogs were used to having their family at home all day

Dog walkers and dog day care weren't open/restricted for significant periods.

Of course, it's the fault of the owners to some extent but for many first time owners, the negative consequences of all of the above weren't something that they would have necessarily considered.

We've all seen how lovely Andrex adverts make lab puppies look - the reality of a puppy is far from that but people don't know that until they experience it for themselves. Some arseholes bought puppies who wouldn't otherwise have done so and unscrupulous breeders multiplied in number so I don't think you can lay the blame on 'lazy' owners. Poor breeding and lack of training, caused by lockdown circumstances were huge factors that we're seeing the consequences of today.

Lockdown did happen.
So instead of a few short walks per day, only one.
Instead of the doorbell ringing regularly with visitors, deliveries etc, hardly at all.
Instead of traffic noise, busy pavements etc, almost total silence.
Instead of calm, chilled-out owners, lots of worries.
Instead of kids going off to school, a houseful of people all day every day
Etc etc etc.
Even with the most experienced of dog owners, a lockdown puppy would have had a completely different experience. So yes, there are lazy dog owners but that's certainly not the only thing at play.

I know of a rescue dog that had to go back into rescue after all the lockdowns as his behaviour completely changed, he'd gone from a routine where the kids would go to school, he'd have some peace and quiet and chill out, to a house constantly full of noise and stress, his behaviour became too much for the family as he was so stressed out by it all.

Lockdown changed us all and yes many people did get dogs, the dog population went wild, but puppy classes didn't exist and proper socialisation was hard, especially if you were a first time owner and didn't know what you were doing.

I think "lockdown puppy" also to owners, who may have considered a puppy because of WFH and wanting companionship at a time when everyone was feeling pretty lonely, but who wouldn't have in a normal situation.

So a bit of unpreparedness and rush decision making.

However, I was a dog owner during lockdown, not a puppy, an old dog, and I never had so little interactions in the park with other dogs and dog owners.
My old boy didn't care about other dogs, so he was totally fine with that, but I can imagine how a happy puppy may have been missing out a bit in terms of socialisation.
I remember people not even stroking dogs because of the possibility of transferring the virus.

And socialisation isn't just playing with other dogs, it's also behaving around kids on scooters, joggers, picnics etc...all of that was stripped to the minimum.

I agree with both the OP and the other comments here. People who got puppies who were already conceived before the first lockdown started were put in a bit of a rubbish position with it, especially when it comes to socialising.
(However I will admit that it REALLY frustrates me when people say 'well they didn't get left alone at all for months' - you were allowed to go to the shops, and while yes, there are a lot of people with puppies in flats, and there will be people who had very exceptional circumstances, the vast majority of owners live in places with gardens - you can train separation by leaving the puppy for 5, 10 minutes in the house and being in the garden, or on your driveway, or at the end of the road, or going to sit in a car. There WERE opportunities, and I understand when we were in DEEP lockdown it would have been hard and stressful, but I meet people whose dogs weren't left alone for the entirety of 2020, when there absolutely were opportunities)

The people who bought puppies conceived after the first lockdown began, when things were so uncertain, who then struggled to train, have literally only themselves to blame. Its not hard to think 'okay. It's not locked down now, but covid is still a big thing, so we might lock down again'
Or 'okay, I WFH now, but that might not be forever, and me being at home all day is not going to teach the puppy how to cope being on its own, so I need to plan and train for if I am going back to the office'
Or 'hmm, is getting a new puppy the right thing to do as I'm trying to WFH and homeschool my children?'
There are so many people out there who think that training a puppy consists entirely of:

• sit/stay/bed/leave
• occasionally meeting other dogs
• housetraining

And that was compounded by the boom in puppy sales during lockdown - there were a LOT of irresponsible breeders who encouraged conception of litters post March 2020 and I think it's disgraceful, honestly.

Sorry... just upsets me, as the dogs are ultimately the ones who suffer.

However I will admit that it REALLY frustrates me when people say 'well they didn't get left alone at all for months' - you were allowed to go to the shops

You weren't meant to take family trips out to the shops though, so I can well believe that in a household with two adults and teenage children that was very limited opportunity to leave alone.

Lockdown pups must be nearer four than three though surely. We have a nearly 3 year old and we visited at 5 weeks, picked up in person, started training classes at 12 weeks, sat outside at coffee shops etc. There were a few restrictions left over but none that really impacted.

The issue re lockdown puppies is that they were unable to attend puppy training classes. Also while their owners were working from home they didn't suffer from separation anxiety which followed on when people returned to the ir offices.

I agree with you, OP.

Poor decision making which was essentially = My neighbours have a dog. I am lonely. I want a dog.

People not actually thinking it through and just not bothering to look after their dog. Then dumping them afterwards. That is a big issue.

BUT, I think that rescues also bare a lot of responsibility here for the increase in dog attacks and they manage to wiggle out of it every bloody time.

Many rescues have taken in loads of 'lockdown dogs' in recent years - and still are now. Lots of dogs being passed off as something they are not (dog friendly, child friendly etc) and the rescues are either taking these people dumping their dogs at face value or not doing appropriate tests.

I have a rescue. Six years old now. Got her at nearly three years old (so end of COVID 2020). I was told by the rescue (highly respected with sites across the UK) that she was child friendly and dog friendly. No issues. Absolute bollocks. BUT, I knew that from looking at the poor thing. I took her anyway. Because it was better that I took her (who knew what I was doing with a reactive and aggressive dog) than some poor bugger with a young child did.

Ultimately, IMO dog owners have become more lax and lazy and so have rescue centres. Both are at fault. Blaming the dog is the easy route and doesn't tackle the fundamental issue. If anything, OP, you're not judging people harshly enough.

We were only meant to go out an hour a day at one point. No visiting family or pubs etc. You could walk the dog but much less interaction than normal. People were nervous being too close either through fear or worried other person wouldnt be comfortable.

Also wfh meant dogs became possible for many more families who may not have had experience training a dog and less access to classes.

Lockdown isn't an excuse for not looking after/training dogs. But lockdown puppy definitely a different experience.

We got dpuppy February 2020.. She is a nightmare... Our place of home was an absolute ghost town. If we saw 2 humans on our daily walks we were lucky. Dpuppy lived in an extremely sheltered bubble...
Taken until last month to not bark at strangers...
Ime def a real thing..

We had our dog long before Covid - but she's really found it quite difficult with us returning to more normal routines and been quite separation wary at times. We're WFH a lot more than we were pre-Covid so it's manageable, but she's definitely much more clingier and expects human ear-scratch service 24-7 now.

We're experienced dog owners and due to our previous dog dying during lockdown, we had a 'lockdown puppy'.

Despite having had multiple dogs in the past, our lockdown-puppy (who's now 3) was a completely different experience. Everyone at home 24/7, not seeing/speaking to anyone when out (and in fact actively avoiding them on the very rare occasion you did see anyone), no traffic, no deliveries, never being left alone, not going away anywhere for day trips/holidays etc. He's a well adjusted dog and a complete delight to have, but in terms of socialisation and exposure to things he is way behind where our previous dogs would've been at the same age and is still very clingy. He still gets hugely excited when we see other dogs on walks because even now it still seems to be a novelty for him.

Lockdown puppies are definitely a thing - just like lockdown children are (my dc's teachers have all commented that there's a huge difference in the years worst affected by then lockdowns). It's not lazy owners at all (although as with all things there'll be some who got dogs who shouldn't have - irrespective of lockdown), but more the alien circumstances we were all living in at the time.

Absolutely - i was more using that as a 'you were in fact allowed to leave the house' catch all - parents could have gone to the shop while teens went for a walk and left pup. While I do appreciate that's easier said than done, I was more using it to say that yes, while it was extremely limited, there were opportunities for people to get out of the house away from the puppy.
Again, there will be exceptions, but I think a lot of owners just don't do their research before getting a puppy, unfortunately.

Good points well made that I hadn't considered. I wfh before, during and after Covid so the being home thing didn't really register for me as I'm home a lot. But I do leave my dog alone by working in a different part of the house, but appreciate houses full of kids and teenagers would have meant dogs not used to being on their own.... although.... you could still go out and leave your dog home - to desensitise them to not always be with people. I believe the guidance on only going out once a day was for an extremely small amount of time March 20, before government acknowledged leaving the house for as many times as you like for exercise, was in everyone's interest April 20. And leaving the house in your bubble was also acceptable then too, in fact encouraged. What I find fascinating is how people chose to respond to the guidance at the time. I get people were stressed and many hugely fearful. There were plenty of ways you could put your dog first, but people still have to justify the poor decision making by hiding behind "the rules" which was actually guidance that you could have worked with. Puppy classes closed - okay but again closed for such a short time. Many people don't use puppy classes to train and socialise so I think this is a weak argument for why you may think you have a lockdown puppy. I'm seeing a bigger perspective now and thinking a little less harshly of the people I meet in the park whose dogs are reactive nutters and they say "oh he is a lockdown puppy". Eye roll from me.

Also quick note on deliveries... my experience is deliveries went bananas in lockdown as we couldn't go shopping! And food delivery people constantly at our door lol.

I think your dates for lockdown are out.

My vets didn't restart puppy classes until May 2022 and that was outdoors. They still had clients wait outside and mask up.

Masks also caused issues.

Delivery people didn't come into houses. Nor did many visitors

Social distancing was in place well into summer and after and then depending on area/activity.

Local lockdowns came and went.

And it wasn't people over reacting to the guidance - people were arrested and fined for what the police considered breaches. It was only later on that this was challenged. I think with the passage of time we're forgetting how extreme an impact lockdown had on all aspects of social and economic life.

We started puppy classes July 2021

I got a rescue in March of 21 - had to do my home check by video call and trainers were still only working on zoom, no puppy classes etc were available, couldn’t go inside the vet’s, I can’t remember exactly how long for, but definitely after he’d come home we couldn’t have people in the house he had to meet friends and family outside.

So I think your memory of timing on restrictions is off tbh, and they were on and off in different parts of the country at different times.

Also - decent breeders held off planned litters, my previous dog had died about a year before lockdown, I had some fosters in that time, but I’d also been talking to breeders about a potential puppy, they all stopped breeding for a year or so.

So pretty much all the puppies people got after the litters conceived before it started were from puppy farms and dodgy breeders trying to churn out litters while demand and prices were high... that will also have affected behavioural issues.

When you say ' lockdown puppies' there are dogs people got specially during lockdown because they were suddenly at home. And there are also dogs born prior to 2019 who had their home life disrupted.

My adult dog went through a phase of disliking other dog walkers coming too close , because everyone had been keeping their distance.

As much as dogs weren't socialised around children, the children weren't socialised around dogs, That could also be a factor in dog attacks.

I haven’t ever taken a dog to training classes- When I did take a look at one years ago there were so many large heavy out of control dogs there that they weren’t suitable for a young sighthound.

It probably depends on the type of dog one has If communal training classes are necessary or not.

Lockdown saw a massive influx of hurriedly bred Dogs and novice owners.

I researched breed type for two years before getting a dog- and had advice from Dog’s Home as to a suitable match.

Fortunes were made in lockdown selling puppies.

Completely irresponsible.

Lots of Romanian imports too.

£4,000 for a Labradoodle puppy in £ockdown.

Owner I met was too afraid to let him off in case he ran away as “ So valuable “

Absolutely crazy.

Money was mentioned- not “ I don’t want him to run off as I love him”!

I think lockdown affected one of our dogs. He was 18 months old when lockdown started and whilst he was very social before when people used to come to the house, now when we have visitors he disappears upstairs and doesn't want to spend time with them (unless they have food!)

That's not what I though a lockdown puppy was
I thought it was a puppy that was bought because the household was at home and wanted a toy but then they had to go back to work so said dog is now a chore

You can’t socialise a puppy if you can’t legally socialise, dogs have a very short window (weeks) of time that you can get it right.

I have a lockdown puppy who is reactive to dogs as she wasn’t able to attend puppy training in her socialisation window.

Im able to manage her as we live rurally and have land that she can exercise on without seeing other dogs. If we had to go to the local park she’d be a nightmare.

3 lots of new flooring and 2 wallpaper changes...
We composed a rota to be at home when the world returned to turning.. Weaned her off us to to speak... Dpuppy could not cope with being alone despite having 4 ddogs altogether!! Even now the bloody madam won't stay downstairs if we are all busy elsewhere.. Can open all manner of door handles....