Buying a puppy

[DressageCob]

I applied to several rescues for a dog, but was rejected every time. I tried over the course of a couple of years. but because I don't work the same hours every day they weren't interested. That is despite the dog wasn't going to be on its own.

In the meantime I was researching my dream breed and getting information from breeders. I put myself on a waiting list for a puppy.

I would quite happily have had a rescue but I didn't have a choice in the end. I love my puppy and he was well worth the money. I've enjoyed raising him, socialising, training etc. It was hard at times, with the house training ?, but so lovely.

I know rescues have to make sure the homes are right, but I do think they are too restrictive sometimes. They are losing good homes as a result of a tick box checklist.

 

[Cinnamontoast]

The litter my pup was from was priced the same SA, generations of health tested ancestors, one club level imported parent, one international level. There's no reason anyone should be paying over 1k for a puppy, especially one with absolutely nothing behind it in terms of health, temperament etc and yes, even during lockdown.
I do agree with otherwise intelligent people losing the head over a puppy - I know a couple who are teachers who have a crippled, aggressive GSD they bought 'from a farm in the country, can't remember the guy's name but they were straight backed'. He can't walk at a relatively young age, cannot be around strange dogs, has cost them thousands in vet bills. So they went out and got a puppy from exactly the same circumstances and are surprised that she is displaying the same character traits.

Jaysus, proper headdesk situation right there!

See, I can’t understand how people can charge £2-£3K for a bog standard non health tested pup either. Looking at what looks like a decent kennel the other day (gundog, health tests all in place) and they are ‘only’ charging £850 or so, which I’d consider realistic. They have nothing available til the end of 2021!

I guess people are paying it, but it’s tricky to source a litter of springers under £1.5K in the U.K. currently. I’m not looking, obviously, with puss cat being how he is, but I’d be quite peed off if I were.

 

[GSD Woman]

i completed forms for about 5 rescues and was never successful. perhaps its because i answered the questions honestly and said dog would be left at home(with other dog) for 2 hours a day (when i still had a horse) and now i dont have a horse but i live on my own so whatever dogs i have need to be able to be left if i have docs appt etc. perhaps its my age (74), but i am likely to be at least as fit as a younger person as i walk 1 to 2 hours daily with my dogs, so the rescues lost out as i got a puppy

This is something I don't understand about rescues in the UK. Are people not expected to work to have one of these precious puppies? I work 4 ten hour shifts and make sure my dogs get as much attention as possible when I come home. My days off are spent with my dogs, training, exercising, grooming and just hanging out with them. Of course I do go to the grocery store.

 

[Moobli]

Omg. Bearing in mind they bred the kelpie as BCs were lacking stamina in Oz why would anyone want one?
I had a kelpie and adored her but she was hard work.

I want one ?

 

[Moobli]

I’d actually welcome well bred pups from good breeders commanding a higher price if only it meant people would value them much more ... sadly that isn’t the case.

There was an interesting discussion on a working collie community page about the price of pups rocketing. Under normal circumstances you’d pay between £200-450 ish for a working bred collie pup (even those with DNA and health testing were recently £500 but rarely much more) but now they’re going for £1000-£1500 or more. Personally I think working bred collies have been underpriced for years and so, as long as the pups are bred and reared responsibly and with care, then I don’t think it’s a bad thing. Historically collie pups were cheap compared to other breeds because shepherds wages were very low, most pups went to working farm homes and having a working dog was the difference between being able to do your job or not. Shepherds wages are still fairly low sadly but with trialling and hobby farming being popular, as well as a great many collie pups going in to the pet market, it only seems right that we’ll bred collies he priced accordingly. My hubby disagrees to an extent but will have to drag himself into the 21st century at some point.

 

[P3LH]

Sadly some people just can’t be guided.

A cousin of mine had researched getting a dog for a long time. I helped them, settled on CKCS, talked about health tests, directed to breed club. So what did she do when lockdown hit? Impulsively bought from an add online. £2,800 untested and unregistered. Was in the vets within 48 hours: parvo, ecoli, upper respiratory issues, the list was endless of his health issues. 6k of vets bills. He survived but has a lot of ongoing issues and that’s not factoring in the lack of health testing.

friends are looking to get a dog, asked for input as neither have had one before. Talked about a cockapoo. Explained their reasons: medium size, low shedding, trainability etc. Explained that you won’t necessarily get general characteristics in them and although all dogs are individual, with a pure breed you at least have that predictability. Lots of discussion, settled on miniature poodle or Tibetan terrier. Heard from them last week and they’re on a list for a labradoodle from what is clearly a puppy farm.

 

[CorvusCorax]

Americans will pay ridonculous money for working sheepdogs.

 

[nellietinker]

Partners daughter bought a Pedigree Labradoodle paid £1500 (last year) - didn't appreciate it when I pointed it was not a pedigree! Her brother in law has just got an 8 week old Labradoodle £2,500 (that was with a 10% discount)

 

[smolmaus]

Sadly some people just can’t be guided.

A cousin of mine had researched getting a dog for a long time. I helped them, settled on CKCS, talked about health tests, directed to breed club. So what did she do when lockdown hit? Impulsively bought from an add online. £2,800 untested and unregistered. Was in the vets within 48 hours: parvo, ecoli, upper respiratory issues, the list was endless of his health issues. 6k of vets bills. He survived but has a lot of ongoing issues and that’s not factoring in the lack of health testing.

friends are looking to get a dog, asked for input as neither have had one before. Talked about a cockapoo. Explained their reasons: medium size, low shedding, trainability etc. Explained that you won’t necessarily get general characteristics in them and although all dogs are individual, with a pure breed you at least have that predictability. Lots of discussion, settled on miniature poodle or Tibetan terrier. Heard from them last week and they’re on a list for a labradoodle from what is clearly a puppy farm.

The points about rescues being particular about homes are often very valid but the people doing this kind of nonsense here are not the people with almost perfect homes who have been rejected by rescues. There are almost two completely different markets. A lot of the time dogs have been given up in the first place for separation-anxiety related reasons (destructive behaviour, barking, peeing in the house etc.) so to give these dogs to homes where people aren't home all day would be completely pointless as the same thing would just happen again. Dogs that cope okay alone, get along with other animals and are patient with children just don't end up in rescues as often.

The rescue I work at never has more than a few dogs in but even then, the hassle in trying to get suitable homes... people lie on forms, they arrange to visit and don't turn up, they turn up a few times then ghost, in one recent case took the dog home and gave the poor girl less than a day to settle before bringing her back. Lovely, well behaved, well-adjusted older JRT whose previous owner was taken into hospital, but she peed inside and barked the first night so straight back. Very depressing.

 

[Quoth]

Not to state the obvious but puppy or rescue, it depends a bit on what you want the dog for.

If you want a dog for a specific task, be that herding, bite work or whatever. A pup is perhaps more likely to get you what you need. When I've purchased pups, from my point of view what I'm paying the big bucks for is primarily strength of nerve/stress tolerance/stability or whatever you want to call it. The X factor which is the difference between a smart, driven and biddable pet and a great working dog.

On the other hand if what you're after is a just a companion, a rescue is perhaps a better option.

Personally I've not found rescue organisations overly picky, generally they want to know you've got a secure garden, the dog isn't going to be left alone for 10hrs at a time and your home isn't a war zone. None of which seems unreasonable to me.

The larger issues I've seen with rescues has been a failure of them to take due diligence (dog's trust I'm look at you). My grandparents were given a GSD cross which turned out to be pregnant, and after talking them into looking after the dog while it had it's puppies the centre then refused to take custody of her pups. I've personally had a smooth coated collie bitch who's spaying had been so spectacularly bodged by their own vets, that my vet refused to touch it. On the more comic end I had an Anatolian whom they assured me was fine in a car (I didn't ask, this was a criteria on which they were actively selling the dog to me), which proceeded to go mental inside the car on the way home as we drove down the A34. For these experiences and others I tend to favour small, often breed specific, rescues.

On the other hand I've had some cracking rescue dogs. There is no doubt that that they are harder work than raising a puppy but often the fact that you have to really work at building a relationship with them mean you feel more bonded to them further down the line.

 

[CorvusCorax]

Well, thanks to the gougers and the twonks willing to pay them, I learned today that it's now cheaper to import a puppy ?