FLYER Forums

Rob L wrote:

avtur3 wrote:... our maximum price is £2k. ….

Give a lost or abandoned dog a good home. You could give a lot of loving for £2k

Rob

Going the rehoming route was something we had in mind but the rehoming organisations are all at 6's and 7's presently, they are not functioning as normal, most have all their dogs out to foster. it is almost impossible to see dogs 'in the flesh'

Mrs Avtur has very specific reasons for wanting a puppy not an older dog which limits the options for re-rehoming. Also, the vetting process that some organisations operate are more than a bit off-putting, I understand that they have to have processes in place to ensure that dogs go to a good home, but some are more than a bit draconian.

Our £2k price limit puts us right at the bottom end of what's available, Lockdown has seen prices escalate to quite unbelievable levels for many of the popular breeds. In months to come this trend may reverse and indeed some of the dogs bought during lockdown may well end up in the rehoming environment.

But that's in the future, we are not in a position to be calculating and wait for these possible future trends.

Our £2k price limit puts us right at the bottom end of what's available

Wow, prices have gone up! I was very much for having a Spaniel last time we were looking 18 months ago (I was overruled) and prices were around £1300.

You are right to be wary. My granddaughter travelled recently to Southampton to buy a pure bred dog (can't remember the breed now) and paid quite a lot of money. The puppy looked lovely and just right, but as he is getting a bit older it is clear that he is no pure breed (in fact he looks like a cross between a rat and a fox!). My g'daughter is happy with him, though, and is keeping him, but if you want a breed that is eg reliable with children, then make sure you go to an approved breeder.

My neighbour bought a spaniel puppy - absolutely beautiful grey and white markings - just after Christmas and I will ask him where he came from and let you know.

I certainly know what it's like to lose a long-term four legged friend...

Good luck and best wishes

Mike

avtur3 wrote:

rf3flyer wrote:pets4homes

Don't dismiss it, we first found our latest breeder there. Turns out that's where they all place their ads anyway, good, bad and ugly so you have to do your homework too. Ours also advertised on the Kennel Club but AIUI some breeders have issues with the KC.

Another good site is Champ Dogs which helped us narrow down really fast, and when we looked at Mum's pedigree and that she had a bunch of badges including Crufts it didn't hurt either.

There are cocker breeders and litters here: https://www.champdogs.co.uk/breeds/cocker-spaniel with annual average prices too. (<£1k last year) Good luck

Have you thought about contacting the local Dogs Trust centre? According to their website they have 400+ dogs looking for new homes. There is a fair sprinkling of 'Heinz 57' types amongst them, but having seen some of the horrific health impacts of selective breeding on some dogs (and cats for that matter), I think there's a lot to be said for a common-or-garden mut!

Wow, prices have gone up. I paid £600 for my working cocker pup almost exactly 4 years ago.

You've just got to use your noodle in terms of who you buy from, same as you would with a car. If you turn up to view and the house is evident of what the authorities call a 'chaotic lifestyle' and you're not able to view mum and the rest of the litter in an evidently-pleasant domestic setting then walk away.

I got mine from a shoot owner with some land in Hampshire: his cocker bitch had a litter but not a 'breeder' per se. KC registered and good lineage with plenty of field trial champions on the certificate.

The disreputable puppy farms aren't going to go to the hassle of KC registration, that's the main thing.

BTW I only bought a pup because it was my first dog, I knew nothing and was ill-equipped to deal with a rescue dog that might come with behavioural issues. Any subsequent dog will be a rescue - I don't want to encourage breeders.

I've just agreed to pay £1k for a Parson Russell pup from someone I know well. That is £400 more than I paid for my Springer 4 years ago and £700 more than I paid for my Whippet Lurcher 7 years ago. Inflation....

OP here, I hope I'm not tempting fate but after much searching, just over a week ago we found a lady who appears to be a genuine family breeder of Cockerpoos, that is first cross cocker Spaniel/Poodle. This first cross is a very fashionable dog but that's not why we want one, luckily this breeder is more interested in where her puppies are going than commanding top price so after much conversation she understood that we were offering a genuine forever home. We saw pups with mum for about half an hour and all the pups suckled from Mum which we took to be a good sign. We chose our little lady and took many pictures so we can be sure we pick up the right pup. We have six more days to wait before pickup and had been worried that further lockdown might cause a problem. Thankfully that is not going to be the case. Preparation are ongoing in the Avtur household, I'm 64 my wife is 55 but we feel like kids anticipating Christmas, It's a very strange place to be!

A good way to mark the chosen puppy so you are sure you get the correct one is to paint a few claws with nail varnish. Also different coloured collars help.

HtH
Nick

OP here to close this off ....

Yesterday we picked up Minnie, for the last 2 weeks Mrs Avtur and I have been like kids anticipating Christmas ... today we are like kids who got everything they asked for on their Christmas list ... introducing Minnie (the minx)

The toy keys in the picture are very significant (to us) because we have a similar picture of our previous dog, Monty, with the same toy.

We're only 24 hours in but Minnie is proving to be perfect ... having picked her up we had a 90-minute drive home, she was no trouble in the car, arriving home we took her straight to the back garden where she took her first wee ...

Mrs Avtur and I live a very restrictive life at the moment, we are carers for Mrs Avtur's mum who lives with us and has stage 5 (of 5) Parkinsons plus other ailments, meaning that we are unable to leave the house together. This means the environment in the house is massively important to us. We had to say goodbye to our previous four-legged friend, Monty, just four weeks ago, the emptiness in the house has been very difficult to live with.

Monty could never be replaced, Minnie is simply the next chapter in our lives.

Oh Avtur3 she is absolutely gorgeous. I am glad she found you. What a little tonic she will be to all of you. Give her a little shuggle from me!

Congratulations on your new family member! Hope you and Minnie have a long and happy time together.

Good to hear she's OK in the car. We had a cat that wasn't and it was terrible.

We had cats for many years and decided to get a Boxer puppy. Were wondering how to introduce her to our cats.
In the end our senior cat solved it. Puppy arrived, rushed into the house to say 'Hello, who are you?'. There was a yowl from the cat, a thump, and a squeal from the puppy who had just received a nose full of claws.
And that was it. Training puppy to understand her place WRT cats completed.

Must be a key to a good puppy......

What a gorgeous looking puppy. I’m sure you’ll have years of happy memories.

Roxie arrived on Saturday morning. Settled in nicely by lunchtime! Looks dozy but is as sharp as a tack