I want to get a dog but I have to work, how does everyone on broadway market do it ?

yeah the -poo crosses have lots of positives which is why they're so popular but can 100% be assholes because they're smart.
My little bundle of fur is nearly 10 months and is definitely in the awkward teenager phase. Her recall is mostly still good and some walks are perfect but others have lots of sitting protests, trying to jump after things, generally ignoring me asking her to walk nicely. That and she's never been one for destroying things while we're out but over the weekend she totalled my partners expensive glasses, even smashed the lenses, as well as some other things that she pulled off the table.

Cockerpoos are mental because both cocker spaniels and poodles are mental. I'm sure like any dog they're amazing if you can handle them, but they're not low maintenance.

Whippets are non shedding, non smelly, elegant*, gentle** dogs and are extremely low maintenance provided they get a good off lead running session minimum once a day.

*Obvs they still do disgusting things sometimes, being dogs

**Unless you're a cat or a squirrel

I'm sure like any dog they're amazing if you can handle them, but they're not low maintenance.

I guess its exactly this, it doesn't matter which breed you get if you're not going to put the effort in.

Whippets are non shedding, non smelly, elegant*, gentle** dogs and are extremely low maintenance provided they get a good off lead running session minimum once a day.

Obviously I'm biased as a Whippet owner but couldn't agree more. As for low maintenance, I'm not sure about that...ours got in a huff because we washed his bed in a new detergent yesterday. Just walked up to it, sniffed it, looked at me like I'm pure shit and then refuses to use it.

Apologies in advance for the rant.

A browse of Pets4Homes "the UKs most popular free pet classifieds and information site" is a depressing experience. The demand for "lock down puppies" (a merle Daschund or tri-colour Bully anyone?) has caused prices to rocket - 3 grand for a staff, two and a half for a Bichon Frise, fucks sake. "Studs" are being pimped out by clueless owners and bitches are being bred from multiple times to meet the demand, by unregistered breeders. A bitch can have THREE litters a year before you have to register, if you breed for money you have to register irrespective of how many litters you breed - how is a litter of 8 pups at £3k each not breeding for money?!

There's an escalation in dogs being sold on. Fuck wits who buy a pup and then find out their son's allergic/landlord won't let them have a dog/it doesn't like the cat/etc. don't go to rescue centres as they won't get paid, and expect others to pay for their entirely avoidable mistakes. Pay stupid money for a dog full of issues with no matching.

There are breeds being mixed for no other reason than the puppies look like teddy bears and the made-up hybrid breed name sounds cute. No thought for what benefits the mix might bring or what health issues might ensue.

And there are fucking loads of stolen pups being pushed. "Last puppy in the litter", "buyer let me down and I have one left", etc. - photo of one pup, no photos of parents (or photos that return dozens of reverse image search results). Or 20% non-refundable deposits on dogs you'll never see.

Rant over...

There was a fairly interesting BBC program about it recently
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p09nl348/britains-puppy-boom-counting-the-cost

The increase in dog theft has me worried. We paid a lot of money for ours but I don't know when else I'd have been able to work from home for a year until I retire.

There's an item on Radio 4 now about people buying poorly bred pups and then not being able to afford the inevitable vets bills, so passing them on to charities.

And, apparently, dogs with behavioural issues - aggression, separation anxiety...

Another issue is anecdotally from puppy support groups I'm a member of, I've seen a huge increase in the amount of 'rescue' dogs being sent over from Romania and nearby countries because it's cheaper than paying for a pup bred here. I think some people are going to be taking on a much more difficult situation than they realise and I hope they don't all end up in rescues here.

Mine is KC registered with a trackable lineage but one of my best friends got a cockapoo a month before us and when I asked him he didn't even really know what the KC is let alone if the breeder was reputable.

Depressing AF.

Otto's breeder, who is/was super responsible and had been breeding healthy whippets for 30 years, has given up breeding due to the new licensing requirements. being too onerous for small scale breders (a handful of litters a year) Its sad to see when shitty breeders appear to be filling the void.

I've seen a huge increase in the amount of 'rescue' dogs being sent over from Romania and nearby countries because it's cheaper than paying for a pup bred here

Bringing a rescue in from another country is far from cheap. Of the few overseas rescue dog owners i've met here many have done it for reasons of not wanting to put additional strain on the UK charities struggling with Covid demand and also not wanting to get a dog from a "breeder" for all the reasons listed above.

I've been really surprised by the lack of rescue dogs i encounter on a daily basis, at a punt i'd say they account for less than 5% in my local parks.

cocker spaniels and poodles are mental

I think the mentalness probably comes from the spaniel side. We've got a miniature poodle, and he's not at all a nutter.

In fact, I think they're recommended for beginner dogs and around kids because they'll quite happily go from running around, to sleeping, to running around at the drop of a hat and without complaining - they'll fit in with the whatever the kids want to do.

They're significantly more expensive than the crosses though, especially since lockdown I believe.

I admit I based my poodle prejudice on a few of the full sized ones I know who are maniacs.

poodle crosses, and poodles, due to their inherent intelligence, need loads of stimulation or they become absolute nightmares

Poodles are super super popular here - brown teddy ones, specifically. I think they're cute but they're never trained well and they're owned mainly by retired men who hit them and shout at them, so they're always really poorly behaved and are bitey/shouty. It's really put me off small poodles (would love a standard size one) though on the plus side (?) getting one would cost maybe a tenner...

I've been really surprised by the lack of rescue dogs i encounter on a daily basis, at a punt i'd say they account for less than 5% in my local parks.

Sadly I think this is a situation that won't easily change. Not everybody has the desire, time or experience to take on a dog that will likely arrive into your home with pre existing problems.

What proportion of rescues are young puppies who you can personally train while in their most learning fertile months?

ours got in a huff because we washed his bed

It has never occurred to me to wash my dogs bed. I should probably do that.

Our whippet is super low maintenance with grooming, exercise, health etc but you're right they can be emotionally demanding! But if you don't want a deep emotional relationship with your pet, there's always cats.

This makes me really sad. I have a friend who wanted to get a dog last year and was all set to drop £4k on one, though when she put together her wish list of dog attributes I pointed out that she clearly didn't really want a dog, she wanted a plant. So she got plants instead. But tons of people will have got a dog and then when the novelty wears off, the poor overbreeded, undertrained, unhappy dog will be given away. At least if you decide you don't like plants anymore you can just bin the plant :(

We got our Ollie from a Romania charity, we had a 2hr home visit were we talked about some of the issue we could face. We then had to provide the vet we were going to register him at and we also had to sign up to puppy school, both of which the charity verified before we had even been given the green light to say we could take Ollie.

They have also changed what dogs they will bring across now, so no dogs under a year, youngest dogs they allow to travel to the UK are now 1.5 years. Our experience was a positive one and we felt that they put the dogs interest first, rather then just getting another dog off their books.

Rescue centres also (and I'm sure they have their reasons) make it super difficult. We got rejected by rescue centres because our garden isn't enclosed (and is small and weird). There is a big safe park 2 minutes away...

They have also changed what dogs they will bring across now, so no dogs under a year, youngest dogs they allow to travel to the UK are now 1.5 years. Our experience was a positive one and we felt that they put the dogs interest first, rather then just getting another dog off their books.

The problem is, a 1.5 year old dog, if it didn't have a good start in life, has potential to be an absolute nightmare. I sympathise with people who don't want to introduce that risk to their kids/pets.

Perhaps the answer is that if you can't handle a rescue you shouldnt get a dog. I can't see that working either though...

Scotty is a Romanian rescue, had to wait until he was 6 months to travel. He was a lot of money for us but nothing like the few £k people seem happy to drop, and that money was going to his travel, jabs etc. and helping other dogs. We couldn't rescue locally as we've got cats and a youngish kid. He's great although obviously picked up a few things for life from his early years, weary around new people, especially blokes, quickest way to get him off the sofa is to try and hug him and he's not great with separation, vets or cages and has a habit of rushing at other dogs to play. He absolutely loves other dogs and kids and is a great fun, likes attention on his terms and seems happy with one walk a day if he can get a mental run around at the same time. We know a few other local rescues a couple from Romania and Greece too.

Here he is guarding us from Celts while we had a picnic in a Roman fort.

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Mine is KC registered with a trackable lineage but one of my best friends got a cockapoo a month before us and when I asked him he didn't even really know what the KC is let alone if the breeder was reputable.

I'm not sure being KC registered means lineage is trackable - plenty of breeders hang papers to up the price. But then I fucking hate the KC for all the unneccessary suffering that has been caused to countless dogs due to aesthetic breed standards.

I'm not sure being KC registered means lineage is trackable

well I've got a mini family tree with 2 generations of parents because they've all been KC registered and I can click through and see their family trees too

He's adorable.

Here's Otto's lineage. Its kind of fun (but ultimately useless) to be able to look up his family.

Its also quite weird for your dog to be listed on various web sites not of your doing.

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Sure, but you're totally dependent on the honesty of the breeder. A breeder can enter any stud they like, it's almost impossible to police. I'm sure yours is legit, and you should be able to get a 5 gen pedigree through the Kennel Club (you probably have to pay).

I'm not trying to piss on anyone's chips here, it's just the current situation is crazy and lockdown demand is driving it. Pushing the price up is having serious welfare consequences.