“It is,” says Bill Lambert, “a delicate situation.” Spring 2020 saw a boom in people wanting a dog (Photo: Getty) So it’s a big win for the West family.”Įlsewhere, there is an increase in dog theft due to continued high demand. Everyone else is about 20 per cent happier I’m about 50 per cent less happy. Thankfully, Twiggy, a Portuguese rescue, is much loved by others in the household: “My children were instantly delighted, and from a utilitarian point of view the dog has made our house far happier. I can’t be the only one that regrets it”. Recently, Ed West, author and editor of the UnHerd news website wrote a confession entitled “My dog is ruining my life”, in which he says that “thousands adopted a pet in lockdown. In Scotland, the SSPCA has seen a steep rise in calls from people wanting to give up dogs they had bought with insufficient forethought last spring. Though many of us have seen the lockdowns as an excuse to finally get the pet we had always pined for – 41 per cent of those who obtained one during lockdown did so in order to have a companion, while 60 per cent consider their pooch a “lifeline” – dogs are now paying the price for becoming impulse purchases. Home schooling with help from a hound (Photo: Getty) But if there is more profit now available to them, I would hope that even the less responsible breeders might spend a bit more time and effort in actually rearing their puppies well.” “If you breed dogs commercially, then there is of course an incentive to make the most money, but also to cut corners,” warns Bill Lambert, head of health and welfare at the Kennel Club, “at which point the animal’s welfare can suffer. RSPCA warning over sharp rise in online dog sales during pandemic Putting profit before puppies Many trusted dog breeders – those recognised by the Kennel Club – have essentially “sold out” of current stock, which has led to new breeders springing up, not all of them necessarily unscrupulous but certainly opportunistic, people who might once have had their pets neutered only to decide otherwise after realising that a litter of six could earn them a tidy sum. If we are to be limited to outdoor activities only for the purposes of exercise, with more time granted to those with dogs that require walking, when better to become canine-friendly?Įxtra demand means a hike in prices, and so where once you could purchase, say, a run-of-the-mill, Disney-cute cockerpoo for around £600, you’d now be looking at £2,000. We have always been a nation of dog lovers – there were 9.9 million dogs in the UK before lockdown, with 26 per cent of Brits living with at least one – but now, it seems, much more so.

In the 11 months since the UK first went into lockdown, dog breeders new and old have been busy.

Of the many and various businesses that have benefited during the coronavirus pandemic, it is dog breeding, alongside Zoom and of course Amazon, that has enjoyed perhaps the most unexpected surge in demand.

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