[Closed] Overpriced Dogs

Lockdown has meant more people spending more time at home, some people who wouldn't have been able to have a dog due to work commitments are now able to and others perhaps just want some extra company. The price increase will just be due to increased demand. Lots of dog thefts reported locally to me and even some kennels broken into to steal the dogs.

Deer hound?

It's because people are idiots. This logic can be applied to most of the big questions about human behaviour.

Yeah a couple of people we know have got dogs recently and prices are mostly north of a grand for any old (ie non-pedigree) puppy.

prices are mostly north of a grand for any old (ie non-pedigree) puppy.

Or about £250 for a rescue, £75 on training classes, and the remaining £675 on a nice week away with your new dog...

Why would anyone except a farmer need 3 dogs?

Or about £250 for a rescue, £75 on training classes, and the remaining £675 on a nice week away with your new dog…

There is that for households that are suitable – a great many aren't.

My brother didn't approve of me calling his daschund cocker-spaniel cross a sausagecock.

Why would anyone except a farmer need 3 dogs?

This sled ain't gonna pull itself.

Why would anyone except a farmer need 3 dogs?

Panic buying for when the supermarkets are next empty.

My brother didn’t approve of me calling his daschund cocker-spaniel cross a sausagecock.

Wins today's edition of the interweb.

More people working from home who would have loved a dog before but couldn't now can. The prices have gone up as a result. Simple supply and demand.

Unfortunately the amount of stolen puppies (at least in my area, according to my FB feed) also has.

SiL has just paid £3k for an English Bull terrier pup.

Crazy.

Cockerpoos have gone crazy prices, thought we were off our head paying £400 for one a few years ago, check a few weeks ago..... £2500! Shouldn't have had him neutered.....

There is that for households that are suitable – a great many aren’t.

Dogs are dogs, most households suitable for owning a non-rescue dog are suitable for owning a rescue dog. There's a greater chance of 'issues' with a rescue, granted, but it's still only a small chance that they're particularly serious, and the advantage of a rescue is a decent centre will probably know what they are so you know what you're getting. There's no guarantee you won't get 'issues' with a non-rescue, and you'll only find out about them once the dog is yours (two different friends of mine will attest to this).

Plus, generally, the way to work with any 'issues' any dog might have is to calmly and consistently apply the usual, sensible, principles of exercise, stimulation, routine and boundaries. These should be applied to any dog, so if you can do it for a non-rescue, you can do it for a rescue.

Shouldn’t have had him neutered…..

You should have got a bitch - 6 x £2,500 x 4....

Dogs are dogs, most households suitable for owning a non-rescue dog are suitable for owning a rescue dog.

Clearly you have not had the same experience I (and many others) have had. Children under 12 in the house? No rescue. Not at home all day every day? No rescue. Have another pet? No rescue. Don't have a fully enclosed large garden with secure fencing? No rescue. Not owned a dog before? No rescue.

I went to the zoo at the weekend, and all they had was a single dog.  It was a Shitzu.

Clearly you have not had the same experience I (and many others) have had. Children under 12 in the house? No rescue. Not at home all day every day? No rescue. Have another pet? No rescue. Don’t have a fully enclosed large garden with secure fencing? No rescue. Not owned a dog before? No rescue.

Pretty much the same feedback that I got when looking.

I discussed this on pistonheads and was banned for life.

People are stupid and will buy stupid dogs for stupid money.

Clearly you have not had the same experience I (and many others) have had. Children under 12 in the house? No rescue

Us to , we are at home all day even before covid, there was either me or mrs750 at home and we do have a contained garden but have 2 kids under 12 so no rescue places will let us have one

Wow. We paid £72 to take our deerhound based lurcher away from the council pound 7 years ago. That included the chip and voucher to have him neutered. I can’t fathom the money that changes hands for puppies. Each to their own I guess. No real checks on us as owners or the property (we’d been denied a cat by rspca a few years before due to living on a “busy road”. The spare farmyard kitten we got instead is still here 12 years later)
They had plenty of dogs needing rehoming at the time. Dunno if that’s an option?

Edit: just checked, it’s now £100 to take a stray. They don’t advertise the dogs and you have to ring to see what they have available.

Shouldn’t have had him neutered…..

Nope, you really should have done

I went to the zoo at the weekend, and all they had was a single dog. It was a Shitzu.

bravo to that man in true ST spirit

In a moment of weakness, we nearly got a CKC spaniel. 1200-1800 from a breeder, but you have to wait, or 3500 from some dodgy bastard online, but they have a constant supply by the looks of their history.

The puppy farm trade is completely driven by 'want it now' people.

Thankfully, I managed to avoid getting talked into it by family, as I really don't want one.

We paid 1k for our Cockapoo 2.5 years ago. We'd struggle to afford one now!

My chap is literally one of the best things ever to happen in my life and he's cheering me up every day during the pandemic, so feels like money well spent.

I know 3 people who have paid 3k each for puppies in the last 6 months.

2 cockerpoos and one vizla.

My wife's cousin was one who had a cockerpoo and it was a litter of 8 (X £3k !!!!).

Mixed breeds when I was a lad were just called a mongrel 🙂

Clearly you have not had the same experience I (and many others) have had. Children under 12 in the house? No rescue. Not at home all day every day? No rescue. Have another pet? No rescue. Don’t have a fully enclosed large garden with secure fencing? No rescue. Not owned a dog before? No rescue.

Pretty much what we were told.
Almost word for word actually.

Clearly you have not had the same experience I (and many others) have had. Children under 12 in the house? No rescue. Not at home all day every day? No rescue. Have another pet? No rescue. Don’t have a fully enclosed large garden with secure fencing? No rescue. Not owned a dog before? No rescue.

In fairness, no, that's not been my experience. The rescue places I've spoken to have known the dogs that are fine with children and the dogs that aren't, the dogs that are fine being left and the dogs that aren't (although no dog should really be left alone all day), the dogs that are fine with other dogs/pets and the dogs that aren't, etc etc. They've been a mixture of the 'big' places (like Dogs Trust) and smaller local charities. And in that vein, big up to SN Dogs in Swindon, from whom we got our current dog, who is an utter sweetheart.

Clearly you have not had the same experience I (and many others) have had. Children under 12 in the house? No rescue. Not at home all day every day? No rescue. Have another pet? No rescue. Don’t have a fully enclosed large garden with secure fencing? No rescue. Not owned a dog before? No rescue.

Exactly. My gf had her beautiful labradoodle for 15 years(5 with me too). He was a rescue puppy. We tried for over a year at all manner of rescue places, labradoodle trust etc, Dogs Trust etc. We were rejected time and time again for any of the above reasons despite having an extremely loved and happy dog for so long.

Also, you can't be that fussy about breeds at rescue centres, unless you want a staffy. Wall to wall staffies at all the centres.

Gf really wanted another labradoodle but what we've ended up with is a 'Bordoodle'.. A collie/standard poodle cross.

He's rad! 😊

How much is my 3 year old Lollie worth then? Or is she a Colador? I'm not sure how the mongrel naming convention works... 😀

I’m giving it 12 months - at which point rather like the market for 2nd hand motorhomes there might be some bargains around 😀

I'd suggest trying a small independent rescue centre rather than the household name ones. Maybe even do some dog walking for them. If your existing dogs are calm around other dogs they may appreciate some help socialising the ones in kennels.

Helping Yorkshire Poundies is one such rescue. We ended up rescuing a dog from them with some minor issues. She's now so happy and confident that she sometimes goes back as a stunt dog to help others.

I think the trick when speaking to a shelter is to lie. Their rules are ridiculous. Friend of mine was turned down for a collie that he intended to train for mountain rescue. That dog would have had the best life. Refused though as there wasn’t an adult at home all day every day. The dog would have be left at home for three days per week but walked at lunchtime the kids home from school at 3.30 Ridiculous

Puppies are expensive but I can’t think of a better value spend v pleasure ratio. I would have paid 10x what I did for my spaniel if I had known just how awesome is.

Don't understand peoples shock at the price of dogs but who will turn their nose up at a 1k bike, they're ****ing fairly high level mammals in terms of neurological complexity for gods sake. Doesn't matter if they're a "Mutt".

I felt bad paying 400 quid for my Bedlington.

Lockdown has meant more people spending more time at home, some people who wouldn’t have been able to have a dog due to work commitments are now able to

What's going to happen to the poor dogs when they go back to work? It's very short term thinking.

Lots of people won't - but it won't just be people who got them during the lockdown. We got ours 6 months before when I was on shift and at least 1 person was around for 20 hours of any given day but he is now used to us both being at home all the time. We'll only be doing 3 days a week in the office in the future, we will try to stagger our office days but on days we're not at home he will go to my parents or to doggy daycare. We may get a second one to keep him company as he's very socially orientated and loves other dogs and people.

Pretty much the same feedback that I got when looking.

Same here. Made 5 attempts with dogs homes and charities in the last 2 years.

Huge shame as we have had all our family pets as rescues.

I think the trick when speaking to a shelter is to lie. Their rules are ridiculous. Friend of mine was turned down for a collie that he intended to train for mountain rescue. That dog would have had the best life. Refused though as there wasn’t an adult at home all day every day.

I seem to vagely recall lying to get our cats, even though they sleep 18 hours a day, being at work for 8 hours a day wasn't considered acceptable.

What’s going to happen to the poor dogs when they go back to work? It’s very short term thinking.

I don't think there is going to be a wholesale sudden return to permanent full time office working any time soon – many people will be asking to WFH much more than was considered acceptable before.

they sleep 18 hours a day, being at work for 8 hours a day wasn’t considered acceptable.

Hehe, I wake mine up every 15 minutes just to let her know that I’m working from home permanently just so she could live somewhere other than the shelter.

We got our Cockerpoo on Saturday for the princely sum of £2200.
Lovely little fella. We have had a rescue in the past prior to kids on a golden oldy scheme, where all vets bills etc are paid. Downside is that they are near the end of their time. We wanted a puppy to grow up with the kids, and have waited for the youngest to be old enough to endure the “nipping” stage. We both work from home so he has company all day .
A lot of money , but a fraction what I’ve saved in foreign holidays in the last 6 months 😂

Depends on the size of the rescue center I guess.

I was filming "The Dog House" for C4, they ask a lot of questions but it's because they have an equally detailed database of the dogs, and their aim is to put the dog in the right home, not the other way round. They're oversubscribed so can afford to be choosy. If you say you're going to be out for 2-3 hours a day they're not going to home a dog with you that get's stressed when left even if it's "only" a few hours.

Conversely, my parents are on their 3rd rescue springer spaniel (i.e. hard work), different center each time but they've all phoned back and asked if they can take more as they do actually tick the boxes rather than having to lie about garden size/fencing/walks.

Why would anyone except a farmer need 3 dogs?

Must be one of these doggers my Mrs keeps on about wanting to join.

We bought our Dalmatian in 1996 for £500, out working collie was free ( vet told our friends he was going to not last the weekend) and with family gone we thought ok get another Dalmatian agreed a price for a puppy Jan 20 litter born March 20, we agree £1,050 litter born and we are told not enough puppies sorry - ok it happens -same litter two days later on sale at £3k.
Agreed another deal for a Dalmatian in the summer for £1500 and get a what's app message sorry we have been offer £3,500 what is your bid....frankly my response was not polite.

Waiting till things settle down....

I discussed this on pistonheads and was banned for life.

Well that needs more info....I know threads descend on here but banned for life for discussing overpriced dogs!?!

Bert is the best £130 I've ever spent on anything!
Manchester Dogs Home were amazing - "no garden?" "Great you'll have to walk the dog rather than kicking out into the garden for a poo"

The poeple there are full time so get to know the dogs really well. Their description of Bert was exactly how he has been. Can't recommend them highly enough.

They only thing they got wrong is that they thought he was a Malamute/Collie cross - it turns out he is an extremely rare Karelian Bear Dog from Finland (have only found one other in the UK)

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Ours was £600.

She's dead now, what a waste of money!
I can't even joke about it really 😥

Ours was £600.

All that love for £600 - it’s a wonderful deal...!

They're just the best aren't they!

Well that needs more info….I know threads descend on here but banned for life for discussing overpriced dogs!?!

I hate mixed breed dogs being bred for sick amounts of cash and being marketed as designer.
I did say that mixed breed are merely mongrels and refused to back down from the utter fannies who took umbrage. (Payed too much and hated being reminded I reckon)

Anyhoo, after 2 bans it came up again and I got a life time ban.

They hate it being pointed out that they are part of a problem and are facilitating a sick enterprise that is ripping people off and causing serious animal welfare issue.

I think because I bought my lurchers for £150 each (proven workers) they were jealous.

I have a friend in a high place so I'm hopeful of a return lol.

£72
What a rip off

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I did say that mixed breed are merely mongrels....

... my lurchers

For some reason I find this very amusing 😆

Ha! Words fail me!

Banned 3 times with the final one being a lifetime ban eh 🤣

Overpriced dogs

Louise?

^ Jason Manford on Absolute Radio yesterday was talking about having a superpower about names (ie, knowing whether people with certain names are good or bad ‘uns). He warned that Louises are best avoided. I laughed.

For some reason I find this very amusing 😆

I get that, my issue is with the cynical marketing of Jackapoodledors

Banned 3 times with the final one being a lifetime ban eh 🤣

Moderators on pistonheads can be a "special" bunch

Pros of knowing the local gamekeeper: I got a Springer Spaniel pup for £200

Cons of knowing the local gamekeeper: He knows where you live when you ride where you shouldn’t 😂

One of my Cockers was £125, one was £250.

The cheapest was the best working dog I ever owned.

I have a Teckel that cost £600 which I thought was madness.

Collie x was £125 Whippet x was £125

Round our way the local drug dealers are selling bulldogs of all types as it's easier money.
I saw folk selling Jack Russels for over a grand ffs, thats a £25 dug.

Our Working Cocker who died last year was £400 in 2007, as a puppy from a local breeder - I was amazed how expensive at the time, but the wife had made her mind up. He was a cracking dog.

Our Working Springer was a £30 donation about 5 years ago, from the local shelter. The owner of the shelter also bred hunting dogs and had sold the dog originally as a pup, but the chap had changed jobs (from estate worker to office) and so asked him if he could rehome him somewhere 'better'. The owner knew where we lived and that we'd land.

The 2 y/o Springer we got last year came from a Charity. Had to have a home visit to check us etc. £400.

Must be one of these doggers my Mrs keeps on about wanting to join.

Pretty much the same experience was had by ourselves when dealing with animal refuge. We were turned down for a dog and a cat so we went straight to the pet store and bought a kitten. 22yrs & thousands of £££ in vet bills for her specialist drugs she had a fantastic life. We decided to get a dog. Again no joy with dogs home so we put it off for a while. Coincidence had it a workmate had a load of pups and one didnt have an owner yet. Schnoodles were not something i had even heard of. £400 later we had Oscar. 12mths later we felt Oscar needed a buddy and we ended up getting him from what i think back now was a puppy farmer. He cost us £650 and we now have a Schnoodle and a Schnauzer called Ollie. We love them both like our own children and they make the family.

The trouble i see that is driving up the price of the market is the dogs homes making it so difficult to rehome. It is forcing normal people to have to purchase from tom dick and harry. Yes mistakes can happen. Dogs will be re homed with unsuitable families etc. But i think the balance is completly wrong at the moment and it is creating breeders due to the prices who wouldnt normally get involved. They reckon there are also some pretty bad/naughty people getting involved in the puppy farming these days.

Its all so distasteful.

So hands up, we have recently brought a puppy into the family.  We waited until after lock down / summer to ensure that we can properly socialise her, but have still paid over the odds vs what an equivalent puppy would have cost this time lat year (though we have a friend who occasionally breeds and her last litter were similarly priced over 12 months ago - these are pedigree show cockers).  We did now as I am working at home for the next few months and can spare some time to help through the more demanding puppy phase.  We looked at re-homes but 2 kids under 12 ruled us out of all places I looked (plus most of the available animals were larger breeds).

Finding the right puppy was a very involved task.  After a while it became very obvious which areas of the country the puppy farms seem to be located in, plus I took to asking for a postcode and doing a Google streetview check of the area before taking a conversation further.  We ended up paying what was mid market rates, but ended up with a healthy puppy from a good breeder, all heath checks, KC Reg etc.  We were shocked by how little detail most sellers had on the pups ,also heard similar stories of gazumping.

Glad to say Margo is settling in fine and keeping us all on our toes.

Big feet to grow into anyway.

Not sure what folks have against cockadoodles etc. It's basically combining favourable attributes of different breeds to make a super-dog.

Pretty much how specific breeds got there in the first place. Selective breeding innit.

There's an awful lot of doodle variations, mainly because they have such good attributes, usually don't shed, good temperament etc.

I have never bought a dog. Genuine questions....

What is the difference between a breeder and a puppy farm? Surely both let dogs hump then sell the offspring to make money. Do the two terms just reflect differing welfare levels?

How can scoping the postcode on streetview tell the difference?

Is somebody living in a 'rough area' a puppy farmer; and somebody living in a 'nice area' a breeder or just a successful puppy farmer?

^^^ Basically it is:

Puppy farm = Iceland Turkey Twizzlers

Breeder = Waitrose corn fed hand-reared free to roam poussin

We got our Cockerpoo on Saturday for the princely sum of £2200.

You'd need a big extendable lead for a Golden Eagle.

Wouldn't make any difference around here, no-one's ever ****ing heard of leads anyway

😂

At one point we had five dogs in the house (to be fair 1 was a foster and 4/5 were greyhounds, who tend towards the "living furniture" style of dog).

Folk having difficulty with "regular" rescue rules might have a chat with their local retired racer rehoming charities, as the "parameters" are a bit different.

That's how we ended up getting our first GH (we both worked, though were able to come back at lunch, and that ruled us out for a lot of the regular rescue places).

Don't get me wrong, there will still be needs the dog has to have met, but ... different ones.

I got a rescue 2 weeks ago, took some time to find one, but worth it over paying someone who is just in it for the money for a pup.

She's a Bosnian natively, but was brought to the UK after being dumped. She's a crossbreed Sprollie (sorry @Brads) this is assumed though based on colouring as we aren't really sure, she has springer colouring and collie shape and colours too.

She's already 7 months, so not a tiny puppy, but I'm fine with that. She takes to training well but forgets it all as soon as she she's a bird, cat, squirrel, human or pile of tasty poop.

She doesn't seem to have any mental issues, she has plenty of energy but also loves a nap. I'm hopeful if life returns to normal I'll do 2 days a week in the office and she will go to a local day care place. I know this may not be perfect but she won't be home alone all day and I can be flexible in work as we all went to full WFH and have been like that since this all started so it can work.

<span style="font-size: 0.8rem;">We had the same experience with rehoming places, kids, not home 24/7 pre-lockdown meant that we were told NO on multiple occasions.</span>

So we bought a Goldendoodle (Golden retriever x standard poodle) from a responsible breeder for just over a grand two years ago.

To be honest she's been the absolute BEST and made lockdown bearable.

Not that there are many available but should you find one available from a significantly less responsible breeder, you would be looking at 3.5k.

I suspect rescue places will either need to be slightly less fussy or will be facing a crisis in 6-12 months, as there will be a ton of dogs being abandoned as people will start to head back to work and dogs that are used to people being around 24/7 will get bored and destructive or people will be out of work and not afford the bills/food.

I get that, my issue is with the cynical marketing of Jackapoodledors

Dude, good lurchers are fetching stupid money these days as well.

Pedigree dog prices are madness. "Fancy mongrel" dog prices are even more so.

We have two longdogs, grey/whippet and grey/saluki. Both around £125, both rescues, from a local shelter. Lazy sods, both of them, check the sofa before sitting down as they might be buried under cushions type lazy. Wouldn't be without them.

Swings and roundabouts - high prices are causing some unscrupulous people to get involved at the same time it puts idiots off buying them on a whim.