How much would you pay for a puppy?

[Bumblebee]

I’m a firm believer in not buying from breeders so only the £100-£200 donation for a rescue puppy.
Both of my dogs are rescue dogs and both were adopted when they were young puppies.

 

[cosmo girl]

I have a rescue dog. I got when he was 6 months. I paid a donation fee of £140 to cover rescue costs. There are so many puppy farms and you never know what you are buying. You could end up with huge vet bills and a very sick puppy who may die. I would go to the dogs trust. So many dogs are there because owners have passed or ill or other reasons. Rescues are the most loving pets.

 

[hrh89]

I’m a firm believer in not buying from breeders so only the £100-£200 donation for a rescue puppy.
Both of my dogs are rescue dogs and both were adopted when they were young puppies.

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I don’t have a dog but I do have a cat who we adopted from a rescue centre. There are so many gorgeous little animals in these places that need homes.

 

[PineappleTopper]

If you can please consider adoption. The worst thing you could do is accidentally buy from the puppy farmers. They are abhorrent in their treatment of bitches especially. Adopted dogs are often neutered, up to date with vaccinations and house trained.

 

[mummy2under2]

I'd love to have another dog but I don't think I can go through the heart ache of losing one again.
It's like losing a family member.

When I was a child we lived in a house that had a lot of land and we had 3 great danes, my mum rescued them from a puppy farm. They were my best friends. They used to walk to school with us and pick us up, it was like having 3 ponies in the house though
I remember when they passed away it was fucking awful, I was upset for months.

I convinced my mum to buy one when I was a teenager, I begged for a good 2/3 years, we eventually got one i think cost around £1500 and we had her for around 2 months and then she was stolen from our house in a burglary.
She was the only thing they took.

Haven't had a dog since.

 

[Mustard]

Thanks for all the replies.

I tried to rehome so many dogs but unfortunately was getting nowhere. A lot of the rescue centres don't like the fact I work full time, even though my Dad will have the dog during the week so it won't be on it's own. I live in a flat but I have a garden out the back. They also wanted a lot of the dogs to be rehomed with another dog so the dog can teach them the ropes, so I wasn't having much luck.

Decided to go with a puppy. He's costing me a lot more than I would have liked to have paid but the breeder is the top 10 breeders in the UK for a Cavapoo so just went with my gut. Can't wait to get him home

Have you seen any health tests from the breeder? Because your dog is a cavapoo, then tests for the poodle and the cav health problems should have been done. Is the puppy an F1 or F2 Cross?

 

[Mustard]

Over the last twenty years I’ve had 3 Labradors. A chocolate one no longer with us £500, currently a yellow £300 and I have a fox red who is a rescue. She had 6 litters in 6 years, breeder was charging £1200 a pup because of her colour.

Six litters in six years? That’s shocking. Poor girl. What a terrible breeder. Was she KC registered?

If you haven’t watched Pedigree Dogs Exposed, then I urge you to watch it. It came out in 2008 and is still available to watch, somewhere on the internet. One breeder of Cavalier King Charles spaniels continually used a stud who had been diagnosed with syromengelia which is a brain disorder and causes fitting in the dog. It was a real eye opener to me. It does not mean however that all breeders are bad though.

That film meant that the BBC stopped broadcasting Crufts and it was taken on by Channel 4 instead.

 

[Nosymum]

I went with a respectable breeder, I wanted extra Vets checks done on puppy and I liked the fact The breeder grilled me before I was even allowed to view. I had my reasons for not getting a rescue but I fully support those who do. I paid £800 for my girl 2 years ago, going rate for a border terrier is now £900 ish

 

[SunshineDreamer]

It depends. I know someone who just paid nearly £1600 for their puppy and I’d probably stop around £2000. However growing up I really wanted a dog, I mentioned it to my dad and the next day he brought me home the most beautiful 1 year old Jack Russel that didn’t cost him a penny as she was from an abusive home. I had her 19 years and she was my best friend.

 

[Mrswhale]

Depends on how well bred they are, my field/working type lab was £1200. Well bred litters cost a lot to produce. He is from a top working stud (with £££ stud fees to match), both parents have immaculate health test results (health tests cost a lot and some have to be repeated annually), both have excellent temperaments and the match was selected to produce the best, most balanced litter both in terms of personality and conformation. Then I spent a year ish looking for the right breeder and then waited for the right litter. It isn’t a guarantee of lifelong vigour or good behaviour, of course, but it helps to filter out avoidable problems.



MrsWhale, that’s absolutely awful. Puppies do come with an element of destruction, especially mouthy retriever breeds but lab pups should be outgoing and confident. Bastard puppy farmers. Did you report them to the RSPCA?

We took him to the vet to be checked flead wormed etc and injections, while we were there we told them about how we had bought him. We also spoke with the RSPCA but they didnt care. The puppy had terrible bowl problems from being fed adult food and also has bent teeth top and bottom like hes had a blow to the face which considering his fear of leads/men doesnt suprise me if hes been hit in the mouth with something. Hes adored here though and really is the family baby so thankfully aside from anxiety hes not been too badly damaged by his beginning in life. Xx

 

[Dexy]

£300

Would personally never buy a pedigree- only ever mixed breeds and usually rescues.

I get the rescue ( of course that’s a given ) but why a mixed breed? Often these mixed breed, made up designer breeds are bred by backyard breeders who have no clue what they are doing!
And mixed breed does not guarantee good health. Yes some have hybrid vigour but not always. If two breeds with issues are bred you have two lots of breed problems mixing. God knows what you are getting.

My work colleague got a little mongrel terrier rescue. It was found to have hip displacia and it’s cost her thousands in treatment - an operation/medication/hydrotherapy. Thankfully she had insurance. I have a pedigree German shepherd known for getting hip displacia. Mine recently had xrays for a trapped nerve and all the vets said her hips were the best.

I think wherever you get a puppy from make sure it’s reputable. There are good and bad breeders. Good and bad rescues. And always get insurance no matter what.

I can understand they want to find the most suitable homes for the dogs, but I do think they are OTT at times. I mean yes I live in a flat, but I have so much love and patience to give a dog. Lots of lovely walks round where I live, parks etc. It's just so sad when you see the amount of dogs needing a new home, there wouldn't be so many if they eased the expectations slightly.

What kind of breed of puppy are you looking for or are you not sure?

This is what winds me up to. My boss is in his 70’s, super lazy and never walk their dogs because they have land. The dogs are fat and bored.
I only have a small yard but live opposite large parks and countryside. My dog goes out every day without fail. We often take her the beach, dog fest, camping lol
It really upset me when the rescues turned me down because I had a child and worked part time. I work three days a week. My argument was I have to to pay vet bills ? I also said I would get a dog walker on the days I was in work but that wasn’t good enough.
I get they are strict for a reason but I feel you should be assessed on an individual basis rather than just a blanket no because you work etc.

 

[Mustard]

Depends on where the dog was from. If it was from a ‘responsible’ breeder that I had researched and whose dogs I met, (not someone jumping on the designer dog bandwagon) and from health tested parents - then circa £1000.

 

[Danielle1]

I probably wouldn't be able to afford to pay for a puppy but then even if I could I would rather adopt. Although it is difficult for some people to do as many dogs or the rescue centres require you to have your own garden/don't rehome to people who have children of a certain age. I just would try and find the most responsible breeder you can and research the breed well before you decide what dog to get xx

 

[toffeejelly]

We took him to the vet to be checked flead wormed etc and injections, while we were there we told them about how we had bought him. We also spoke with the RSPCA but they didnt care. The puppy had terrible bowl problems from being fed adult food and also has bent teeth top and bottom like hes had a blow to the face which considering his fear of leads/men doesnt suprise me if hes been hit in the mouth with something. Hes adored here though and really is the family baby so thankfully aside from anxiety hes not been too badly damaged by his beginning in life. Xx

This breaks my heart, the poor baby. Why are people so cruel

 

[Mustard]

I like a well bred poodle. It’s amazing that more people don’t look into getting one instead of a cross. You can clip them any way you like too, but grooming cost need to be factored in if you can’t do it yourself. I’d like a Moyen size which isn’t generally available in this country.

 

[Curlywurly85]

Depends what breed. Please buy responsibly and research the breed. We rescued a French bulldog that was a puppy farm dog the damage that was done to her is heart breaking. It has taken two years of hard work to solve a lot of her issues. If you can please rescue, they are so thankful!

 

[Barb]

I was going to post about dogs. I really want one. I grew up with lots of dogs but haven't had one for at least 15 years. Rescues never seem possible with young kids and I have no interest in designer breeds costing thousands. I just want a mutt to be part of our family. I don't know how to get one.

 

[Jennyie]

Over the last twenty years I’ve had 3 Labradors. A chocolate one no longer with us £500, currently a yellow £300 and I have a fox red who is a rescue. She had 6 litters in 6 years, breeder was charging £1200 a pup because of her colour.

 

[GossipMongoose]

Good God. The poor, poor baby. Absolute monsters

 

[toffeejelly]

I can understand they want to find the most suitable homes for the dogs, but I do think they are OTT at times. I mean yes I live in a flat, but I have so much love and patience to give a dog. Lots of lovely walks round where I live, parks etc. It's just so sad when you see the amount of dogs needing a new home, there wouldn't be so many if they eased the expectations slightly.

What kind of breed of puppy are you looking for or are you not sure?