Advice needed - friends with bad track record buying puppies

[FreckledLeopard]

So, friends of ours, great in all ways bar their track record with animals, have decided to purchase to springer spaniel pups (to be collected in the next week).

They are planning to keep the dogs outside in a kennel in their back yard (not garden as such, more a courtyard). They are not going to do puppy socialisation classes but plan go train them themselves.

They bought a puppy from a petshop last year, it was put out in the garden every night and not allowed in the house at night. Aged about 11 weeks it ran out of the open front door, straight onto the road and was hit by a ar and killed instantly.

They have had about 5 rabbits - no hutch, kept in shed - and have released them into the wild when they've gone on holiday etc. The other rabbits have escaped/been eaten by fox.

They've had two corn snakes - both escaped, never to be seen again.

They also leave the country for several months at a time each year and have no-one to look after dogs in that time.

When they lived abroad and had dogs, they simply let them run off and join wild packs rather than re-home them when they moved to this country.

I only found out about the puppy plan today. I don't know the name of the breeder, only that they're near Pangbourne. I don't want to call RSPCA as am fairly sure they would know it's me who has done so. However, if necessary, I will call them but as they don't have the pups yet is there anything they could do?

Any advice most welcome. TIA.

[theodorakis]

Freckled, I am in Qatar and have a pup on my lap who was chucked out of a car window last night, 2 Salukis who were dumped by expats leaving and a cat and 3 dogs on the sofa whose Brit owners left locked in their empty apartment when they left. On my behalf, please, however nice your friends are, please give them a poke in the eye for me, on behalf of the 3 cats who got ripped apart last night on my compound by dogs dumped on the streets who have gone wild.
Other than that, you can be there to pick up the pieces when they get bored (keep the Springer rescue number handy) and you could also just tell them the truth. If you are very nice you can offer support and help if they are not coping.

[Willowisp]

for both posters..very

Can you report them to the RSPCA ? Of course you can...so do it...although my on earth are they spending their money on pets
animals ?

[FreckledLeopard]

Can I report to RSPCA before they even collect them? Am trying to locate the breeder/seller. All I know is that the puppies are in the Pangbourne region but googling has produced no info.

[Willowisp]

How about ringing them for advice & then if/when the pups are howling outside, they'll be on their radar ? I'm not sure what you'd do about contacting the breeder...& how would they decide not to sell the pups...& your 'friends' probably go elsewhere ?

Have you spoken to these people about their lack of pet skills ? If someone told me all those tales, our friendship would be over.

[bochead]

Many people use an older, well trained dog to bring on a young puppy or scared rescue, but it's VERY rare for anyone who knows anything much about doggy pyschology to attempt to try and train litter mates together. I've only ever heard it done on rare occasions by experienced rescue fosterers as a last resort type thing.

Most breeders won't sell 2 pups at a time like this due to the fact it's so much extra work to train a pair of litter mates. To do it properly you'd need to train each dog seperately and even then being pack animals it's a recipe for trouble when the litter mates hit their teenage stage.

So I doubt the breeder cares tbh - smacks of puppy farming to let 2 pups go at once to all but the most experience owner. I feel you are wasting your time trying to track the breeder and would be better off focusing on the breed rescue options. You know there are going to be two badly bred, poorly trained & socialised pups in need of rehoming in a few months when these ijeets go on holiday. It makes sense to start sounding out a no-kill rescue now.

[FreckledLeopard]

My sleuthing has paid off in that I now have breeder's details. He's KC registered so am hoping that perhaps he has integrity when it comes to the pups (though not owning dogs myself I have little knowledge of this - would love a dog but would want a greyhound from a rescue. Anyhow, I digress)

Have tried calling breeder but no answer this evening. I'll call again tomorrow. Am hoping perhaps that the breeder could formulate an excuse as to why the puppies can't be sold, or at the bare minimum, set put clear expectations of what they expect responsible dog owners to do (though enforcing this would be nigh-on impossible).

I have spoken to friends about their attitude to animals a number of times and have said, half I jest, that if they were to get more pets then I would report them to RSPCA. The difficulty lies in the fact that, aside from their dire animal track record, they are very close friends and our children see each other most days. They have been hugely supportive during some fraught family times, have been very giving of their time, their energies and friendship and I do value them and don't want to jeopardise the friendship. And they live just down the road and socialise in similar circles to us. But it seems that when it comes to pets, they have a wholly different approach (neither are English and perhaps this influences their ideas). I make no bones about being a huge animal lover and would do everything I can to ensure our pets' happiness and health.

Am hoping that if the breeder doesn't let the puppies go, then our friends may move on to a different project (that's not animal related).

[Willowisp]

Well done & fingers crossed they find a new 'hobby'.