Thinking of buying a puppy? I love puppers! There’s nothing quite like puppy breath. Read on to discover some of my advice before you bring home the wriggly bundle.

Avoiding some pitfalls

There is a whole heap of information out there, some good some not so good about buying puppies and I am not going into massive detail here. I did want to raise a couple of pertinent points though given the current COVID 19 situation. Please consider all the implications of buying and living with an animal. Not just all the good stuff like companionship and unbiased agreements to your opinions. A dog’s love isn’t unconditional which may surprise you; they totally depend on you for companionship, safety, food and freedom from being sick or sore. You will be all they have in the whole wide world.

Know the law

First of all, to help prevent puppy farming (where puppies are often kept below welfare standards and often with unscrupulous breeders), a new law has been passed making it illegal to buy and sell puppies through a third party. This law is called Lucy’s Law and more information can be found here. Please research this and know your rights as a purchaser.

It basically means you have to buy directly from a breeder or from a rescue or rehoming centre.

In short, if you look at nothing else is to ensure you see puppies with their mum and the surroundings they are born in and also what breed or breed mixes they are. Think MEG - Mum. Environment. Genetics. More on MEG here.

Check out their coat

Also look at the coat of your chosen breed or breed mix, get advice from a qualified, experienced and force free groomer on caring for the coat before you buy as some dog coats are tricky or costly to upkeep. Avoid being fooled into spending a lot of money on a designer or ‘rare’ breed or coat colour, research first. Merle coats and white coats often carry a genetic predisposition to deafness. I’ll blog on this another time.

Breeders

A decent breeder will want to know a lot about you, don’t be offended if they ask lots of questions and even deny you one of their planned litters, they want the best for their pup and will be breeding for health and good temperament. Ask them lots of questions too, including how their puppies are being socialised to life and preventing future behaviour issues, how the mum behaves with strangers in the home normally and check any inherited issues. I spent weeks getting to know Koda’s breeder, they grilled me about all sorts and when I collected him, they insisted on spending a few hours there and made me dinner (well it was a 5 hour journey). Totally worth it, Koda was an incredible dog and the inspiration for my business!

Maisie having a safe social distancing ride in her buggy. Them eyelashes tho! Maisie recently had a virtual consultation as her owners discovered she was bilaterally deaf and needed help during lockdown.

WELFARE

Dogs, cats, horses, rabbits, all have their own social and welfare needs, and often as animals made of flesh and blood like us they can break and get sick. This costs money and most vets rightly need you to pay for their services up front. All animals have emotional lives and just like us are also susceptible to anxieties and phobias.

Animals also have needs that change as they grow though their developmental stages and we need to consider if we are able to adapt and be financially able to meet these needs, such as the often tricky adolescent phase or the elderly phase when they may become declined cognitively or physically.

Our lives can change rapidly in a year let alone the average lifespan of a dog or other chosen pet; we may move home, move or lose jobs, people in our lives come and go, our own personalities and needs change as we grow. Are you able to adapt to those needs and still provide what your dog needs.

With this in mind, avoid buying a puppy during lockdown as they may not have had the ideal start in life however, socialising to life can still occur effectively and we can take advantage of social distancing to ensure puppies aren’t overwhelmed at an early stage of their development. More here on socialising in lockdown from the Dogs Trust, the biggest worldwide dog charity.

Choose a breeder who ideally follows Puppy Culture guidelines, if not, socialises pups to children, men, other species not just the litter, and encourages mental enrichment, physical and environmental safety and gets the pups started on training for toileting outdoors, habituation to car rides, the vets, household noises, grooming and husbandry and habituation to a lead, collar and being handled with respect.

Avoid buying the puppy just to ‘get them out of there’ or if you are lonely in lockdown or to entertain the children. Sadly already there are puppies being illegally sold or given away that were bought on a whim at the beginning of the lockdown. And remember, good socialisation isn’t just about exposure, it’s about mindfulness, positive associations and preparing puppy to learn to walk away from trouble.

ADOPTION AND RESCUE

And better yet, bypass the sharp needle teeth and nipping stage and adopt from a reputable rehoming charity such as the Dogs Trust or a breed specific rescue if you have a particular breed in mind. Puppies are hard work! IF you still want a pup, wait for a while, do you research and be ready to wait even longer for a good pup from a good breeder.

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Buying a puppy?- How to avoid the pitfalls