Makes me so cross!

lallysmum

I don't know if I live in an area where people can pay absolutely ridiculous prices for puppies.. but gah! Have been looking for a pup/young dog for ages and ages, but I don't know how anyone can afford £750+ to buy a dog!

£650for a lab (have wanted one for years) and £550 for a shih tzu.

I got our dog from a rescue centre, they'd only home her with us as she is 12, dopey as anything (currently curled up on the sofa allowing the cat to feed from her *sigh*) as wouldn't pose a threat to a 4 year old. I have contacted every rescue centre in the area, but no one will even consider us as I have a young child. No matter that he isn't a shouty boy and has only touched the dog twice since we got here (2 months now)

I think she misses her old companion dog, and would like the company of another, but it's going to take months to save up those prices. Unless of course, I go for the extremely obvious puppy farm a few miles away that sell every type of pup imaginable. Not a chance in hell. No matter how much I want to save them all.

(Oh, and just in case, I can afford to insure, feed and train all my animals, just not the massive outlay at the beginning...)

And it breaks my heart to see all the unwanted staffy's on preloved and the like..I really don't want a staff, and tbh, wouldn't want one that is being rehomed on those sorts of sites either. If dogs weren't so expensive, untrained and unscrupulous people wouldn't think they could make a quick £1000+ by breeding them from their front rooms.

Rant over... for now.

OnAndUp

Have you tried the breed rescues? Most breeds seem to have one. I don't know their rules - but possibly they might be more flexible?

trudiha

I don't think that those £750 puppy breeders are working on great profit margins.

I bought a £100 puppy, Henry, from a backstreet breeder two and a half years ago. He's a lovely dog and I wouldn't swap him for anything but he arrived with fleas and worms and no starter insurance. His parents hadn't been hip or elbow scored and, so far, trying to fix the dodgy joints he probably inherited from his parents has cost over £5k. The vet says that his hips are in pretty bad shape and will need surgery in the future and that his knees will probably need seeing to, at some point; this will cost in the region of £7k. As I say, he's a lovely dog but he wasn't much of a bargain.

I didn't pay any cash money for my other dog, Dyson. He'd been playing in the park with Henry and his owner announced that she was about to dump him on a rescue who'd refused to take him in because she 'didn't have time for him'. We'd been thinking about getting another dog and I like large breeds and he was only 9 months, I thought we could deal with him, so I agreed to take him home. It turned out that he had quite serious dog aggression problems. I've spent thousands on trainers/behaviourists but it's never really worked out. My vet thinks that he might have some kind of learning difficulty.

Dyson is now terminally ill and we're thinking about getting another dog when he's gone. I'll be delighted to hand over £750/£1000 for a puppy who I know won't have to go through painful surgery or spend hours with trainers to discourage him from attacking other dogs. As much as I love them both, I'd never get a cheap puppy or a rescue dog again, I just can't afford to.

zaksmum

I'd never pay ridiculous prices like that for a puppy. I got my Jack from small ads in a newspaper, he's a Whippet/Labrador cross and his Whippet dad and Labrador mum were owned by a vet.

Jack had already had his first two injections by 12 weeks old, when I got him, and I only paid £60 which would've just about covered the cost of the injections.

He's a brilliant dog as long as you're not a squirrel or rabbit...!!

pinkcandyflossprincess

I think breeding dogs does involve high vet bills etc so that has to be taken into consideration, kennel club fees etc so for each puppy sold say for £450 they dont get that much profit by the end.
there are allways rescues for specific breeds but sometimes these are quite highly priced. say £200 to rescue an adult shih tzu when in birmingham the usual price is £350 here for a puppy.
I was going to rescue a birman cat but the cost was £150, I deciced in the end on a persian kitten without papers for £80 as i love long haired breeds but wanted a kitten really to play with our other kitten.
I know rescues do have high outlays so they have to reflect this in adoption fees etc but sometimes waiting around for a pedigree breed to come up is long going hence tempting people in to just buying from a breeder.

DogsBody

Smaller rescues tend not to have so much of a blanket 'no kids under 5' policy - are there any 'local' type rescues in your area? Often these use foster homes rather than kennels for their dogs so they can give more of an idea whether a particular dog would be able to handle your situation.

I wouldn't pay any money to any breeder who didn't health test, know their breed inside out, give lifetime backup, etc, etc (and on, and on, zzzzzzzzz - I have a long list of requirements from my breeder ). If they do all the things I ask for, and I am happy with them and their dogs, then i'll pay whatever it takes. Since it takes me about a year to save up that kind of money, I have plenty of time to decide whether a breeder I'm considering is 'good enough' for me (and vice versa )

Caroline_a

When you buy a pedigree dog, in theory you should know exactly what type of adult dog you will end up with (looks wise). However, as these 'looks' have been specifically bred for over many years, some strains have thrown up health problems as others have said. I have had mongrels and also pedigree dogs. With mongrels you get pot luck in the looks department, but there are usually less health problems, so if you want a pedigree dog costs are high with good breeders as they have taken care to avoid health problems with screening, selection of stud dogs, etc, plus the pups usually have had their first vaccinations and good breeders do all they can to socialise their pups.

However.... one of my big issues is the new fashion for so-called designer dogs. These are dogs with no health checks where one pedigree has been crossed with another and given a snazzy name and a snazzy price to go with it! These dogs are not pedigree dogs they are cross-breeds! Anyone paying the sums demanded for these dog needs their head examined as those dogs are unlikely to have had parents that have been health checked, and as one of the posters above has said, the cost of ensuing health problems can be enormous. Just another way for back-street breeders to con people out of their hard-earned money....

olias

Best place to buy Labs are rural areas. Farmers/Gamekeepers/Hunters etc, regularly breed. I have had two Labs and they have both cost £100. Both were pure breeds and from good working parents and so were fit and healthy (though no papers). Are there any rural towns nearby? If so find out which local paper services that area and subscribe to it. Also find out if those towns have petshops/saddlers/agricultural suppliers etc. these usually have a 'sale' board in them for the public to advertise on, and they regularly have dogs for sale. Get their telephone numbers and you can ring them periodically to find out if there is anything suitable on their boards.

Olias

zaksmum

olias wrote: »

Best place to buy Labs are rural areas. Farmers/Gamekeepers/Hunters etc, regularly breed. I have had two Labs and they have both cost £100. Both were pure breeds and from good working parents and so were fit and healthy (though no papers). Are there any rural towns nearby? If so find out which local paper services that area and subscribe to it. Also find out if those towns have petshops/saddlers/agricultural suppliers etc. these usually have a 'sale' board in them for the public to advertise on, and they regularly have dogs for sale. Get their telephone numbers and you can ring them periodically to find out if there is anything suitable on their boards.

Olias

That's how I saw the ad for Jack. O/H had a friend who was interested in hunting and he subscribed to a hunting publication. He saw the ad for the pups, knew we were looking for a puppy and showed )/H the ad.

We had to travel to mid Wales from Merseyside, but it was definitely worth it.:)

rising_from_the_ashes

trudiha wrote: »

I don't think that those £750 puppy breeders are working on great profit margins.

I bought a £100 puppy, Henry, from a backstreet breeder two and a half years ago. He's a lovely dog and I wouldn't swap him for anything but he arrived with fleas and worms and no starter insurance. His parents hadn't been hip or elbow scored and, so far, trying to fix the dodgy joints he probably inherited from his parents has cost over £5k. The vet says that his hips are in pretty bad shape and will need surgery in the future and that his knees will probably need seeing to, at some point; this will cost in the region of £7k. As I say, he's a lovely dog but he wasn't much of a bargain.

I didn't pay any cash money for my other dog, Dyson. He'd been playing in the park with Henry and his owner announced that she was about to dump him on a rescue who'd refused to take him in because she 'didn't have time for him'. We'd been thinking about getting another dog and I like large breeds and he was only 9 months, I thought we could deal with him, so I agreed to take him home. It turned out that he had quite serious dog aggression problems. I've spent thousands on trainers/behaviourists but it's never really worked out. My vet thinks that he might have some kind of learning difficulty.

Dyson is now terminally ill and we're thinking about getting another dog when he's gone. I'll be delighted to hand over £750/£1000 for a puppy who I know won't have to go through painful surgery or spend hours with trainers to discourage him from attacking other dogs. As much as I love them both, I'd never get a cheap puppy or a rescue dog again, I just can't afford to.

Buying a pedigree dog does not, in any way, guarantee that you'll have no problems.

I've had friends who've lost spaniels to "rage syndrome", had huge medical issues with their other pedigree dogs and have had several labs: most have lived to 12/13 but we've also lost one at 5 (epilepsy) and have another who is 6 and has cancer.


Lallysmum, I really sympathise with you. I'd also be "rejected" by some of the big rescue's if I tried to get one due to their regulations.

I have an old lab that I've had for 5 years - I did rehome him (through a friend of a friend) and he hadn't had a great life before I got him. He is the most wonderful companion, makes me laugh every day and is still very mischevious. He's a really happy lad (he loves people and when we're out people always say how happy he look as he wanders up for a pat).

From "his" point of view, he's well fed (he wasn't before), loved, walked & cuddled every day - he goes to the vet when needed and will never have to want for anything again.

The only thing I can suggest is maybe speaking to your vet and if anyone needs to rehome a dog they could maybe put you in touch.

Good luck.

tosker

perhaps rescues are reluctant to rehome to households with young children in case the children could be at risk, rather than the dog

in which case they are surely to be applauded - if only every parent was as cautious at bringing their children into the reach of a dog with an unknown history