Impulse-buying a pet to keep you company in lockdown is not a good idea
A little bit of a grumpy week, this week, but these things need to be said because it turns out more animals are now suffering as a result of human decisions due to lockdown, writes animal behaviour expert Karen Wild.
As you all know I deal with dogs and cats on a daily basis, but mostly I deal with their people.
Those people have come to me seeking advice and help on what to do with a problem, or a young animal that needs to learn.
That’s why I always run puppy classes, because we are trying to populate the community with nicely trained, great family dogs.
This week saw our first online puppy class graduate with honours! Every single puppy and family have done really well indeed, in spite of all the issues. They had no choice with regard to this current situation - the pup was already there - too late! Whilst none of them would be without their pups, at least one has expressed to me their worry that their pup might be badly affected by the lack of social contact. We will do our best to make sure that they aren’t negatively impacted by this issue any more than we humans are.
I had a very disappointing week in some ways this week with regard to folks getting ‘new new’ puppies (ones they had not pre-booked after months and months of research). I know that in lockdown our emotions are less easily burnt off, but I definitely do not think the solution is that we should nip off and buy a pet.
I spent a long time discussing what kind of dog to get with someone, who assured me that any puppy they chose wouldn’t be there for at least six months or so, who then went the next week and got the most unsuitable breed for their lifestyle that I could possibly imagine.
It can be frustrating to see people complaining about problems with their pets, when those people made a really poor choice in the first place. It’s not the pet’s fault. Getting any pet is your choice, not theirs, so if you can’t provide the right life (and it is for their lives, at least 15 years usually) then please don’t impulse buy.
Dogs and cats can be born with issues, they can inherit very strong instincts, they can learn from us all the things we want them to do, and trust me, they also learn a lot of things we don’t want them to do. Just because someone has ‘always wanted a collie’ doesn’t mean that hundreds of years of genetics and expert opinion on what they need means that they are going to behave like a car, or a robot, and switch off when you’ve had enough.
There’s a reason we engineered some breeds to work and some breeds to sit on our knees (even if that knee is being crushed by a soppy mastiff).
Picnicking dog walkers given marching orders from nature reserve
