Where can I find a puppy in time for Christmas . . .

Cherry Blossom

Explain and discuss . . .

(To be temporarily stickied for the next 6 weeks)



Post your thoughts here, keep it general, post a link to this sticky in any new threads that appear and report individual threads for locking.

Do Not Reply Without Reading the thread properly!

Cherry Blossom

Very few reputable breeders have puppies for sale at Christmas, only so many litters can be bred from a dog and winter puppies don't get the best start in life so it there is no reason why a decent breeder would have pups at this time of year.

Once a puppy leaves a breeder, that person has no control over how that dog is kept and most will not risk the possibility that a two month old pup will be left outside to freeze to death and this is the very fate than many Christmas puppies fall victim to.

Ireland is one of the biggest contributors in the world to the massive problem of puppy mills and backyard breeders ie. people looking to fill their pockets by off-loading sub-standard animals on to people who have fallen victim to their children and the Christmas hype. Please do not become one of them. Thousands of puppies every year are dumped, discarded and forgotten when the novelty wears off. From late January onwards the country is full of these forgotten pets. If you are serious about getting a dog I would advise waiting until then when you can save one of the post Christmas fallout puppies without lining the pockets of people who are nothing short of con artists.

These 'cheap' dogs are rife with problems including aggression and behaviour issues, orthopaedic issues, digestive and skin problems and more serious genetic faults that ultimately are fatal to the dog. Please don't buy your child/loved ones a present of heart-break for Christmas. Quality pedigree dogs do not come easy or cheap. If you can't afford, or are unable to find a good quality pup then consider taking one of the many that were a 'nice' idea that didn't work out for someone else - but get excellent pet insurance if you do!

The people who generally post in this forum are avid animal lovers, you will not find anyone here who advocates breeding and selling puppies over the Christmas period, please don't ask for their advice on finding you a dog in time for Christmas - you won't like the replies you get.

andreac

I would run a mile from a breeder who has puppies advertised as "Christmas Presents" or a nice "Christmas Surprise".

Anyone who advertises puppies like this are just puppy farmers looking to make a quick buck and will just sell to anyone once they get their money.

Squall19

Does every post have to start with "Good Breeders are gods"?

It's pathetic at this stage.

A good breeder is this, a good breeder is that, a good breeder would never do this, a good breeder would never have that, a good breeder blah, blah, blah,blah.

If they were so good, you would think they would give the pups away from the goodness of there hearts, they don't its a business to them as well, finished.

Anyway OP seems like a decent guy, probably has kids, a wife etc and nothing better than for the kids to get a beautiful golden retriever puppy for christmas.

I bought my Alaskan Mal from donedeal and he is still alive and well!!!!

I bet everyone here must be shocked, my god a puppy from that awful place donedeal is doing fine, wow!!!!

scudzilla

Ah but come on, what beats running downstairs on Christmas Morning, diving towards the tree and opening the box that's moving. When ya tear off the wrapper a little puppy jumps out, ya honestly don't know if it's happy to see you or if it's just glad of some oxygen after being stuck in the box for 3 days.

Happy memories, happened every year for us in our gaff :rolleyes::rolleyes:

deisedave

"Pure breeds" My vets have told me numerous times that mixed breeds are far more healthy than full breeds. But I would advise to try and get a dog for free, if your not looking for a particular breed. It saves people making money of dogs and free puppies to a good home are easy to come across.

MrThrifty

Why not wait till after Christmas when everyone's got bored of theirs and are trying to get rid?

On a serious note, I would have thought that animal lovers out there would deliberately avoid giving animals as Christmas presents as it supports the acceptability of it to those families who it clearly would not be a good idea for.

Edit Sorry, this has all been said already - should have read the posts a bit better!

deisedave

MrThrifty wrote: »

Why not wait till after Christmas when everyone's got bored of theirs and are trying to get rid?

On a serious note, I would have thought that animal lovers out there would deliberately avoid giving animals as Christmas presents as it supports the acceptability of it to those families who it clearly would not be a good idea for.

Edit Sorry, this has all been said already - should have read the posts a bit better!

But yeah a puppy for christmas or for a child is a bad idea, unless the parents want the dog. When the child gets bored of it they will be the ones looking after it.

seamus

Squall19 wrote: »

If they were so good, you would think they would give the pups away from the goodness of there hearts, they don't its a business to them as well, finished.

To be fair, properly breeding a bitch is quite an expensive business between the vet visits and the equipment required. Then the pups come along, and each of them carries an individual cost too. So it's only fair that a good breeder has their costs recouped and some small compensation for their time. But asking stupid amounts in the thousands is a sign of someone who's in it as a business.

That's not to say that someone can't be in it for profit, and be a very good breeder who cares about his/her dogs, but if they cared seriously about animal welfare they would only breed for the good of the bloodline/breed and not to make a serious profit.

General rule is that someone breeding properly will not advertise their pups for sale. They don't have to. If you see an ad in any public place for puppies for sale, it's a puppy farmer.

It's worth noting that most animal rescues either completely freeze their rehoming in the month coming up to Xmas, or they rehome on a very strict basis - for example, only rehoming to people who already have a dog, or who don't have children, and so forth.
So if you are considering getting a rescue dog for Xmas, don't bother
Maybe bring your child up to see the local rescue in the run up to Xmas, and see if they still have the same enthusiasm for the animals after Xmas when they're surrounded by their shiny new toys.

If they're still enthusiastic, maybe consider it. But always remember that the dog never belongs to the child, it belongs to you. The adult in the household will be the one who does all or most of the feeding, walking, washing, discipline and cuddling. A child under 18 will not take complete responsibility for looking after a pet, no matter how much they promise they will. So it's more important that you want a dog than your child does.

Mark Tapley

adrenalinjunkie wrote: »

Very few reputable breeders have puppies for sale at Christmas, only so many litters can be bred from a dog and winter puppies don't get the best start in life so it there is no reason why a decent breeder would have pups at this time of year.

Once a puppy leaves a breeder, that person has no control over how that dog is kept and most will not risk the possibility that a two month old pup will be left outside to freeze to death and this is the very fate than many Christmas puppies fall victim to.

Ireland is one of the biggest contributors in the world to the massive problem of puppy mills and backyard breeders ie. people looking to fill their pockets by off-loading sub-standard animals on to people who have fallen victim to their children and the Christmas hype. Please do not become one of them. Thousands of puppies every year are dumped, discarded and forgotten when the novelty wears off. From late January onwards the country is full of these forgotten pets. If you are serious about getting a dog I would advise waiting until then when you can save one of the post Christmas fallout puppies without lining the pockets of people who are nothing short of con artists.

These 'cheap' dogs are rife with problems including aggression and behaviour issues, orthopaedic issues, digestive and skin problems and more serious genetic faults that ultimately are fatal to the dog. Please don't buy your child/loved ones a present of heart-break for Christmas. Quality pedigree dogs do not come easy or cheap. If you can't afford, or are unable to find a good quality pup then consider taking one of the many that were a 'nice' idea that didn't work out for someone else - but get excellent pet insurance if you do!

The people who generally post in this forum are avid animal lovers, you will not find anyone here who advocates breeding and selling puppies over the Christmas period, please don't ask for their advice on finding you a dog in time for Christmas - you won't like the replies you get.

While I agree that buying puppies for Christmas can be a bad idea , I think the whole business of pedigree dogs is ridiculous , my dog is a result of random selection and is neither "sub-standard" or poor quality. While I can see the point in breeding dogs that are suited for specific tasks , I think a lot of the time the dogs become fashion accessories.

deisedave

Mark Tapley wrote: »

While I agree that buying puppies for Christmas can be a bad idea , I think the whole business of pedigree dogs is ridiculous , my dog is a result of random selection and is neither "sub-standard" or poor quality. While I can see the point in breeding dogs that are suited for specific tasks , I think a lot of the time the dogs become fashion accesories.

Exactly my family and friends have always had dogs and the only dog that was full breed I got was a King Charles because I wanted that breed specifically and paid a good amount for him.

wolfpawnat

My dog had pups that would be ready for rehoming around xmas time, we waited until mid January to sell them, we put ads in the papers and all, but made it clear they would not be sold before new years. It would have been nothing short of irresponsible.

The best thing about xmas "presents" is that if you are looking for a lovely purebred dog, you can nigh on guarantee one after xmas from any decent animal rescue!!! Only thing is the poor creatures are knocked about by irresponsible idiots!

ppink

seamus wrote: »

General rule is that someone breeding properly will not advertise their pups for sale. They don't have to. If you see an ad in any public place for puppies for sale, it's a puppy farmer.

Really??

andreac

Squall19 wrote: »

Does every post have to start with "Good Breeders are gods"?

It's pathetic at this stage.

A good breeder is this, a good breeder is that, a good breeder would never do this, a good breeder would never have that, a good breeder blah, blah, blah,blah.

If they were so good, you would think they would give the pups away from the goodness of there hearts, they don't its a business to them as well, finished.

Anyway OP seems like a decent guy, probably has kids, a wife etc and nothing better than for the kids to get a beautiful golden retriever puppy for christmas.

I bought my Alaskan Mal from donedeal and he is still alive and well!!!!

I bet everyone here must be shocked, my god a puppy from that awful place donedeal is doing fine, wow!!!!

Em, think you have missed the point of this thread....:rolleyes:

seamus

ppink wrote: »

Really??

For sale, in general, yes. Though in there you will also have people with accidental litters who are trying to sell the pups. Proper breeders typically sell their pups through contacts and via the kennel club. Selling it on a classified ads site means that they've no idea who are getting the pups, when most proper breeders like to keep track of where their pups go.

star-pants

Please do not link to any advertisement of animal sales, thank you.

ppink

well I supppose my image of it is tainted by the dogs I am most interested in (GSD). I would not be trusing the IKC recommedation on them. I dont know enough about other breeds.
I do take your point on knowing where the pups are going though. That is why I would never be able to breed anything, I would be slightly OCD about the home checking.

bridgemond

I got my staffie in early January so more or less Christmas and he is actually siting next to me as I write this and I am 99% sure he is alive.

Christmas is not the best time to get a pup though in my opinion as it is harder to house train them. You dont want to pup them out the back for toilet in the pissing rain so they end up ****ing all over the house.

BengaLover

Pity any poor puppies got as xmas gifts, introduced to a new household, getting pulled about by numerous pairs of hands, strange people coming and going, lots of noise, bright lights everwhere, just not fair!
A gift certificate for adoption of an animal from Dublin Zoo or something similar is a nice alternative.

andreac

bridgemond wrote: »

I got my staffie in early January so more or less Christmas and he is actually siting next to me as I write this and I am 99% sure he is alive.

Christmas is not the best time to get a pup though in my opinion as it is harder to house train them. You dont want to pup them out the back for toilet in the pissing rain so they end up ****ing all over the house.

They are very good lines and the stud was my own staffie who has a few champs in his lines.

This is the father/my fella anyway

Again, you are missing the point of this thread... This is not someone who is ACTUALLY looking for a dog for christmas, its to try and discuss why people SHOULDNT buy a puppy for Christmas.

wolfpawnat

seamus wrote: »

General rule is that someone breeding properly will not advertise their pups for sale. They don't have to. If you see an ad in any public place for puppies for sale, it's a puppy farmer.

seamus wrote: »

For sale, in general, yes. Though in there you will also have people with accidental litters who are trying to sell the pups. Proper breeders typically sell their pups through contacts and via the kennel club. Selling it on a classified ads site means that they've no idea who are getting the pups, when most proper breeders like to keep track of where their pups go.

Well ours was an accident, thankfully she was in with our other Yorkie so we knew who the father was. Both were IKC reg. and so were the pups, but we put it in the paper as we had no idea of what to do (needless to say we neutered her after that!) But as for not knowing where they were going, we on purpose to have them meet us at ours (if they wanted) so they could see the home environment and the parents, then when they were old enough to leave, we delivered them to their new homes. On 2 occasions I saw the homes and told the person outright they were not suitable for homing a pup and left with the pups.

I ended up selling the pups for over 100e less to proper homes (Once I had the cost of the vets, vaccinations, micro-chippings, IKC regging and the bitch's neutering covered I was happy). I was not out to make a profit, it cost a fortune. If you do it right, the costs are astronomical.

I still get updates from them about the "pups" (adults now!) My favourite is an lovely old couple who have their son harassed into emailing me pics and updates monthly

bridgemond

andreac wrote: »

Again, you are missing the point of this thread... This is not someone who is ACTUALLY looking for a dog for christmas, its to try and discuss why people SHOULDNT buy a puppy for Christmas.

Ah didn't relise that. Well I wouldn't say you shouldn't buy a pup at Christmas but there is a extra bit of work to put in.

Also the title of the thread is a bit misleading, I taught he was asking "Where can I find a puppy in time for Christmas...". To which I replied I know someone who might have pups ready in a few weeks...

Cherry Blossom

scudzilla wrote: »

Ah but come on, what beats running downstairs on Christmas Morning, diving towards the tree and opening the box that's moving. When ya tear off the wrapper a little puppy jumps out, ya honestly don't know if it's happy to see you or if it's just glad of some oxygen after being stuck in the box for 3 days.

Happy memories, happened every year for us in our gaff :rolleyes::rolleyes:

Is that sarcasm I detect? You might think this is ridiculous/ a big joke etc, but what you have described there actually does happen in some 'gaffs,' by next Christmas it's no longer a puppy and all it's problems were all 'it's' fault - time for an upgrade to the latest model then so . . . .

scudzilla

adrenalinjunkie wrote: »

Is that sarcasm I detect? You might think this is ridiculous/ a big joke etc, but what you have described there actually does happen in some 'gaffs,' by next Christmas it's no longer a puppy and all it's problems were all 'it's' fault - time for an upgrade to the latest model then so . . . .

Yeah, was sarcasm alright, hence the 2 sarcastic smileys at the end.

Discodog

seamus wrote: »

For sale, in general, yes. Though in there you will also have people with accidental litters who are trying to sell the pups. Proper breeders typically sell their pups through contacts and via the kennel club. Selling it on a classified ads site means that they've no idea who are getting the pups, when most proper breeders like to keep track of where their pups go.

Very true & not just at Christmas. A friend of mine wants a Newfoundland. There are only a few breeders that one could rely upon & the waiting list is a minimum of six months. Any "responsible" breeder will of sold the litter before they are even born.

There is a lot of talk on these pages as to what constitutes a responsible breeder. With thousands of unwanted dogs dying every year one could argue that the only responsible breeding is no breeding. I accept that there are some breeders who do so to maintain bloodlines etc but even this seems hard to justify.

It would be a good gesture & an interesting experiment if all breeders agreed to a two year moratorium. Also it would help to get rid of the puppy farms if the responsible breeders formed a national association & used some of their earnings to promote buying from a good source.

I know the originator of the phrase "A Dog is for life & not just for Christmas". We both agree that it could be change to "A Dog should never be for Christmas".

Whispered

I have often asked the same, is there such a thing, at this stage, as "responsible breeding".

My personal conclusion is that yes there is. Most of the breeders I know are involved in rescue of their chosen breed (and others of course) too. They strive to know all they can about their breed and indeed one has passed up breeding from a well shown bitch, with acceptable health scores because they don't breed from anything which is only acceptable. The same person has a standard reply email which they send to enquiries in which they mention rescue as another option to acquiring a pup or dog. They are a wealth of knowledge and push responsible ownership. They are not tarnished with the "preaching" label rescues are when they do so.

I think based on "bad breeders" some of the better ones get labelled wrongly. I would think that maybe there are too many breeders, both good and bad. The issue is weeding out the bad and commending the good. I think your idea of a 2 year break is a good one. But I can see why people, even responsible breeders, would disagree with it.

As for saying a dog should never be for Christmas, I'm not sure I agree. Ok, a dog should never be a surprise gift under any circumstances, but, in my situation Christmastime is the perfect time for us to get a new pet should we ever plan to do so. We are home for 2 weeks, and have a quiet and relaxing home. Few visitors, and they are all adults. We tend to spend the time slobbing around in our PJ's and going walking. I think that rescues and good breeders should be (and some are) a bit more open to re-homing in certain circumstances during the Christmas season. I also think that anybody thinking of taking a dog at this time should expect a certain amount of suspicion!

DBB

Whispered wrote: »

As for saying a dog should never be for Christmas, I'm not sure I agree. Ok, a dog should never be a surprise gift under any circumstances, but, in my situation Christmastime is the perfect time for us to get a new pet should we ever plan to do so. We are home for 2 weeks, and have a quiet and relaxing home. Few visitors, and they are all adults. We tend to spend the time slobbing around in our PJ's and going walking. I think that rescues and good breeders should be (and some are) a bit more open to re-homing in certain circumstances during the Christmas season. I also think that anybody thinking of taking a dog at this time should expect a certain amount of suspicion!

Agree with this 100%:)
I have rehomed dogs around Christmas time to homes just like Whispered describes here, and I know other rescues who do too. This is why the home visit and getting to know the adopter beforehand is so important, because not all homes are mad, dangerous places for new dogs to be at Christmas!
In many cases the adopters would have been waiting for a dog for a while, it just so happened that the right dog came along around Christmas, kicked out of his old home just in time for the festivities:(... and I HATE the thought of a dog not being in a loving home for Christmas, anthropomorphic and all as that may sound:D!
If it's the right dog for the right home, why not?
Anyone looking for a dog specifically for Christmas is asked to fill out their paperwork and we'll get the ball rolling for them in the New Year. If they don't, then we know we were right to be suspicious. If they do, then we know we've got a genuine one!

Discodog

DBB wrote: »

Agree with this 100%:)
... and I HATE the thought of a dog not being in a loving home for Christmas, anthropomorphic and all as that may sound:D!

Ha I knew you were a softy at heart

I once liberated a Spaniel pup for the same reason - it got named Tinsel !

Obviously my Christmas comments were not aimed at responsible owners. I used the "for Christmas" term as meaning a present.

There have been attempts at persuading advertising sites in Ireland not to advertise pups at near to Christmas - but they fell on deaf ears. Many UK publications ban puppy adverts from November till February.

LordSutch

adrenalinjunkie wrote: »

Where can I find a puppy in time for Christmas . . .

"A Dog is for life . . .



Not just for Christmas".

The RSPCA & the ISPCA advise strongly against buying puppies for Christmas.

aisher

I think it depends on the household and who the dog is intended to be for. If you are buying a puppy for the kids and expect them to actually take care of it after the initial 5 mins of fun has worn off then I would say No. If however, the dog is something the whole family wants and everyone knows the level of work involved then having two weeks off around Christmas can be a great time to bond with the new pup. I think you need to understand the amount of work involved in owning a dog before you get one - no time is a good time if a dog is bought on a whim just because its cute.

Inexile

my local free newspaper has an ad in it advertising pups for sale with the line "lovely Christmas present".:mad:

Of course its not the newspapers fault its the person who placed the advert. However, think I will contact the newspaper and remind them that a dog is for life....