Is there a major difference between buying a puppy online to rescuing one?

Macronelf

Firstly, I don't mean a puppy from a puppy farm or somewhere horrible like that. I'm talking about a puppy from a regular family who want to sell them. A puppy like this would otherwise be given away, no? If you can't rescue a puppy, is it safe going the online route if it's just a normal family who's dog had puppies and not some dodgy puppy farmer? It's a crossbreed you'd see in any shelter except it's a puppy.

My cats will not accept a fully grown dog into the house.

Chucken

The way I'd look at it is, some 'normal' families look for money for puppies simply to keep bad guys away, if you know what I mean?

If I was looking for a puppy, I'd ask locally for one.

I know a few people here whose dogs had puppies and they advertised them in the local shop. free to good homes. That way they meet the people and probably know them.

It depends on where you live in that respect. I live in a small town where everyone knows everyone.

SillyMangoX

In my opinion by buying a pup you are creating room for another litter that these people can breed, accidentally or not. Sure your pup may be going to a great home but whats to say the other 5-7 in the litter met the same fate. By rescuing a dog you are creating room in a rescue centre so other dogs can be taken out of horrible situations or saved from the pound. In the end it is your own decision but if you are happy with a cross breed I wouldnt be handing over money to anyone for it, because although they might not be a puppy farmer they are still making money from a litter that would have had very little invested in it (genetic health testing, top range food, vaccines and microchip done by vet, the list goes on) this makes them a back yard breeder which imo is just one step down from puppy farmer. You have a very good chance of getting a pup from a rescue, look around groups on Facebook or ring your local centre, you will be surprised by whats out there!

The Sweeper

Differences I'd see:

First, you have to be sure the local family really are just dealing with an 'oops' litter. If the pups are free to a good home, they're not backyard breeders but they ARE careless. Before I accepted the pup I'd be asking if they're having their dog desexed.

If they're complaining that desexing is too expensive, walk away. If they can't get rid of puppies by giving them away free, they'll soon see how much hassle puppies are and they'll get the bitch desexed. If they give away a bunch of pups the mother will be pregnant again in her next season because the owners were able to get rid of their problem with great ease.

If they're charging for the pups, walk away. Unless you can ascertain that they're charging like, 50 yoyos each so they can cover the cost of desexing the mother and so that unscrupulous types don't collect the free pups for use blooding fighting dogs or greyhounds - but that'd be difficult to ascertain.

If you get a pup from rescue, the fee you pay should mean the pup comes either desexed or with a desexing voucher, vaccinated, wormed and flea treated. If you get a pup for free from a neighbour you'll have to pay for those things yourself.

There will always be 'oops' litters. If everyone went to either a rescue, or a registered, reputable breeder for their pet, the supply of dodgy dogs would dwindle because the demand for dodgy dogs would dwindle.

Just try to be conscious of whether, through your intervention, you're allowing someone to continue to behave in a manner that does benefit the welfare of their animals.

If you pay a backyard breeder, you're funding them to keep backyard breeding.
If you pay a puppy farmer, you're funding them to continue puppy farming.
If you take a pup for free from a family who don't intend to desex their bitch, you're solving their short-term problems and removing the impetus to get them to fix their longer-term problem.
If you pay 100 yoyos for a mongrel from a home breeder, you're still funding them to breed another litter (coz, for instance, 600 yoyos is a lot of money in recession Ireland).

It's a tough call. Sadly, even getting a pup through rescue isn't automatically a good thing. There are rescues, there are good rescues and there are great rescues.

dave1982

Couple next to me bought a yorkie pup last month, he was 8 weeks old.They requested to see the parents of the pups.When they were brought to see the parents they were "at it" creating a new litter:mad:

sligoface

SillyMangoX wrote: »

In my opinion by buying a pup you are creating room for another litter that these people can breed, accidentally or not. Sure your pup may be going to a great home but whats to say the other 5-7 in the litter met the same fate. By rescuing a dog you are creating room in a rescue centre so other dogs can be taken out of horrible situations or saved from the pound. In the end it is your own decision but if you are happy with a cross breed I wouldnt be handing over money to anyone for it, because although they might not be a puppy farmer they are still making money from a litter that would have had very little invested in it (genetic health testing, top range food, vaccines and microchip done by vet, the list goes on) this makes them a back yard breeder which imo is just one step down from puppy farmer. You have a very good chance of getting a pup from a rescue, look around groups on Facebook or ring your local centre, you will be surprised by whats out there!

+1 for this. who would you rather help, a rescue center that is working its arse off to save homeless animals (and is non-profit), or some eejit who couldn't be bothered getting their animals fixed or have some unfounded belief that 'it's good for her to have one litter', or just thought it would be cute to have puppies and then they could dump them off after a while and maybe make a few bob on the side to boot? people who breed their own dogs are almost always people who either a) want to profit from it or b) oblivious or don't care that there already is not nearly enough homes for the dogs being born every day. and as a former shelter worker, i have no time for either type. my motto is: don't breed or buy while homeless animals die! (okay i got that from a bumper sticker)

have to add: we just got a rescue pup, she is amazing. despite having a very rough start to her life she is super sweet and housetrained already (a tremendous credit to the rescue and foster people who did a great job with her), and the adoption fee included microchipping and spaying for under 100 euros. thrown in the feel-good factor of knowing you are really helping a dog in need, and it's just an unbeatable deal.

andreac

dave1982 wrote: »

Couple next to me bought a yorkie pup last month, he was 8 weeks old.They requested to see the parents of the pups.When they were brought to see the parents they were "at it" creating a new litter:mad:

If the bitch only had her pups 8 weeks ago then she wouldnt have been in season so wouldnt have got pregnant.

They prob werent even the parents. I hope your friend didnt buy this pup in the end as sounds well dodgy if you ask me.

Magenta

andreac wrote: »

If the bitch only had her pups 8 weeks ago then she wouldnt have been in season so wouldnt have got pregnant.

They prob werent even the parents. I hope your friend didnt buy this pup in the end as sounds well dodgy if you ask me.

If you read the post, yes they did buy it.

drongal

Hi there

I was told that the best way to get proper pup here in ireland is to go to dog shows and talk to people over there.

Other way is to find a dog club in our area and try to talk to people there.

I am dog club member. My friend asked me once that he would like to get a boxer pup. He told me that he is not interested in "donedeal puppy farms". I got a number for him to "someone who will know someone". After couple of phone calls, couple visits, he booked a pup after champions. He had to pay twice as much as for donedeal dogs but he was ready for this.

His dog is now 7 months old, beautiful boxer, and breeder is calling him every 2 moths to check out how is he doing.

Blondes have more fun

Snip