Within the last twelve months, both the Kennel Club and PDSA have carried out research into how much thought people put into buying their new puppy, and the results are shocking, to say the least.

20% of respondents to the Kennel Club’s survey confessed that they spent no time at all researching where to buy their puppy, whilst just 10% would buy shoes on impulse.

Where you buy your puppy from is so important to the future of that puppy. What are its living conditions – are they clean/light/well-ventilated? Was the puppy raised within his/her litter with their mother until natural-term weaning? Has the puppy been well socialised? Is the dam well cared for/vaccinated/wormed/walked regularly? How knowledgeable are the breeders? Have they bred to keep a puppy for themselves/to improve the breed/just for the extra cash? Have the dam and puppies been checked by a veterinarian? These are just some of the questions you should be asking when deciding if somewhere is the right place to be buying a puppy.

Of puppies purchased within 20 minutes, approximately 16% became ill, required ongoing veterinary treatment or died within their first six months of life.

If you are making your decision so quickly, you can’t possibly know enough about your puppy, its parents and their history or the environment that it has been brought up in. You also can’t be sure that that cute puppy is the right breed for you and your lifestyle. People that make this snap decision regarding puppies are far more likely to end up buying from puppy farms. Don’t forget that where you visit to collect your puppy isn’t necessarily where it has been born and raised. A lot of puppy farms will have one address where they house potentially hundreds of dogs in awful conditions, and then when they have somebody coming to purchase a puppy they will take that puppy/litter to another address – usually an innocuous house on a residential street – so the buyer is none the wiser if they don’t question things further.

Scarily, 16% of the 4,639 people questioned by the PDSA would actually consider buying from a puppy farm.

Please don’t look at it as ‘saving the puppies’, you are simply lining the pockets of those unscrupulous breeders and encouraging them to make more dogs suffer by breeding more and more puppies to meet the demand. If you wish to save dogs, adopt from a reputable rescue and report any puppy farms that you come across or suspect to the relevant authorities.

Another shocking fact for you all: an estimated 89,000 dogs are never walked.

So, if you’d like to make a four-legged addition to your family, please buy/adopt/foster responsibly. Take your time and do your research, so that you can all enjoy a long and healthy life together.

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