Five serious potential consequences of not doing enough research before you buy a puppy

Getting a puppy should be (and is for most dog owners) a really exciting thing to do, if a little daunting given the weight of responsibility that comes with it. It should also be a wholly rewarding experience that leaves you feeling positive about your puppy itself and the choices you made on the road to bringing them home; such as the breeder you picked, and the choice of puppy itself.

If you do plenty of research into dog ownership in general, choosing the right breed, health and wellness, and finally selecting a breeder, everything should go to plan and you and the puppy can both feel happy about it all.

However, a failure to do enough research before you make your purchase might have serious consequences; for you, for the puppy, and for dogs as a whole. Sounds serious? Well, it is.

Read on to find out five serious potential consequences of failing to do enough research before you buy a puppy.

1. You support puppy farming

The vast majority of dog lovers know what so-called “puppy farming” is, or can at least work out that it probably isn’t a good thing. Think factory farming for dogs, only while factory farming itself is legal and has certain welfare standards in place (even if they do fall below the threshold most people would consider reasonable) puppy farming is illegal, and for good reason.

This unethical way or breeding dogs sacrifices welfare, health and the fundamental rights of dogs to live natural lives for one reason: profit.

Obviously if you went to view a litter and found them to be in a warehouse filled with cages of litters on dirty straw, you’d run a mile; but you might just as easily be buying a farmed puppy from a seemingly nice and caring couple in a domestic home.

Puppy farming operations are big business, and they go to great lengths to disguise their activities and hoodwink puppy buyers. If you don’t learn how to spot the signs of puppy farming in adverts and in places you’re shown litters for sale, you’re adding to the problem.

2. You support unethical and unhealthy breeding practices

So you’ve spotted a puppy for sale and you think it’s really something special. Perhaps it is an unusual colour, has very clear physical traits that are an exaggeration of those displayed by most dogs of the breed, or is being sold for a hugely high price, and described as prestigious/designer/top quality and so on.

If you buy that usually-very-expensive puppy, well the chances are you’ve just supported unethical and unhealthy breeding practices.

Dogs with extreme physical exaggerations (such as acutely sloped hips in German shepherds and overly flat faces in brachycephalic breeds like the English bulldog) are plagued with health issues, and dogs that have such traits should be acknowledged as such.

However, some breeders deliberately breed for such traits, and mislead buyers who are not in the know about why – do not become one of them.

3. You inadvertently choose a puppy with a lifelong, debilitating health issue

Puppies with extreme physical exaggerations are often plagued by a lifetime of costly, debilitating and painful health issues that greatly impact upon their quality of life and generally, lifespan.

For instance, very flat faced dogs with narrow nostrils face a continual struggle just to breathe.

A failure to recognise exaggerated conformations in the breed you’re considering and a failure to learn about breed health can result in the accidental purchase of a pup with problems of this type.

4. You end up with debts you can’t pay

If your puppy does suffer from a hereditary or heath issue, this can be prohibitively expensive over the dog’s lifetime, even if you have insurance for them.

As well as the health side of things, if you don’t do enough research before you buy your puppy, you won’t know how to train them, how long they can be left alone for, and how to stop them destroying your home, all of which costs!

As a dog owner, you are also liable for any injuries or damage your dog causes too, and the chances of something bad happening are far higher if you don’t understand dogs, the law relating to dogs, and what you need to do to be a responsible dog owner.

5. You end up surrendering your dog for adoption

Finally, if you rush into buying a puppy, you are apt to cause all manner of problems that make both of you unhappy. The pup might be the wrong fit for your personality, you may not have enough time to walk them, or they may become unruly or snappy just for starters.

This means that the ultimate stage for many puppy buyers who did not do enough research first is surrendering the dog for adoption; which may well by that point be in the best interests of both parties, but is better avoided entirely by undertaking sufficient research to make an informed decision in the first place.