š¶On the 23rd March 2020, I grabbed three of my dogs and left my marital home to start a new life. It was also the first day of the first lockdown.š¦
Iām sitting here now, two and a half year later, coughing š¤§and spluttering as covid š¤has finally caught up with me! š· So five days minimum of isolation and plenty of time to contemplate and research the impact covid has had on our best friends.
On a personal note, I have been incredibly lucky. The impact has been minimal. I could walk my dogs and shout āgood morningā to fellow dog walkers in the park! But my heart goes out to those who have lost loved ones and suffered the massive impact from this awful virus on both their physical and mental health. š¦
š©According to Statista, households owning a dog in the UK has risen from 22% in 2010/11 to 34% in 2021/22.
Also according to Statista 12.5 million dogs currently live as pets in the UK.
šThe Kennel Club also did some research in 2020 and here are some of their findingsā¦
>A quarter of new owners admitted to buying a puppy during the Covid-19 pandemic with little research.
>Almost two thirds of those who bought a puppy during the pandemic thought it was the perfect time to get a puppy.
>27% admitted to paying for their puppy before seeing them.
>42% didnāt see their puppyās breeding environment in real life or via a video call.
>83% werenāt asked any questions by the breeder about their suitability as dog owners.
According to an online market place, puppy prices doubled during the pandemic.
š©The Dogs Trust received a 35% increase in calls during the summer of 2021. In 2022 adoptions are up by 5%. These are just the statistics from one organisation. Many dogs were also sold via internet selling pages. The statistics vary so much that I canāt even write an estimate with any certainty.
The RSPCA estimate that 664,000 dogs enter animal shelters each year.
š¶As soon as we had news of the first lockdown everything stopped. All my puppy classes and one to ones were cancelled for several months. The only way I could help people was via video call. Up until then I had never made a video call in my life! It was not something I was comfortable with at all; now they seem to be part of everyday life!
I can only really share my personal experience with training as we returned to one to ones and eventually classes. Which were of course disrupted again that winter.
Here are a few of my observationsā¦.
š©The impact on socialisation was hard for the owners who had just got puppies when Covid struck. The crucial time for socialisation is 3-16 weeks. So they missed out on puppy parties and having friends and family visit during that important time. I had quite a lot of sessions with dogs who were fearful and territorial of people coming into their homes once we were allowed to do that. The worst impact seemed to be on the Romanian rescue dogs. I met one family who appeared to have a coyote type dog delivered directly from the street to their home for quite a large sum of money; sadly the dog never settled. There are many reputable organisations rehoming dogs from Romania, but it seemed like some saw an opening in the market and a way to make money. I would advise anyone to do their research when rehoming a dog from abroad. CARAT (link in references below) are an amazing organisation who rescue dogs and puppies from Greece. All the dogs are fully assessed in foster care and they give you a lifetime of support. Be wary of any organisation that give you a dog easily without asking a lot of questions first.
šOwners who were in the vulnerable groups during the pandemic had more trouble socialising their dogs outside as they had to keep a safe distance for longer. They were also more wary of letting their dogs play with other dogs in case Covid was passed on via touching their fur. I ended up doing quite a lot of sessions with people who were concerned about the impact of Covid on their dogs. I had a lot of walks with owners to increase their confidence. In most cases the dogs were absolutely fine. Covid was really stressful and still is for many people.
Our dogs are very in tune with our emotions. In my experience, stress has the biggest impact on our dogsā behaviour. I really believe my work is mainly with the owner and improving their confidence as a dog trainer. Improving the owners knowledge helps to build this confidence, which over time improves the dogs confidence too.
š©Once we were able to start face to face training again there was a huge demand for dog services. I had to do extra classes and I was really busy with a two month waiting list for one to ones. Sadly though this left an opening for some of the non qualified trainers, who used outdated methods which did more harm than good. I have been dealing with the impact of very authoritarian dog training methods with puppies who have been expected to be perfect from eight weeks. Some owners were taught to yank leads, say ānoā all the time, squirt water in their puppyās faces, shake cans of stones, use crates as punishment, use prong collars and shockingly I saw two clients using shock collars. Anything that causes your dog fear, pain or to startle are outdated methods. When puppies are preadolescent, we want to create a strong bond of trust, this is the foundation for everything.
šEveryday I get asked for recommendations for dog boarding. This is something I would suggest you look into as soon as you get a puppy or even before. The best dog boarders are usually booked up in advance. They will also be choosy about the dogs that they board. So I often get people desperate for help to get their dogās behaviour suitable for boarding. If they are already an adult dog with no previous training this can be quite challenging and often not achievable in the timescale required. Lots of people were not able to take foreign holidays after the pandemic due to this.
š©So that brings me onto separation anxiety. Believe it or not I donāt get a huge demand for help in this area, other than when people need to go on holiday. Separation anxiety is actually really challenging to deal with. It requires a huge amount of time and patience on the ownerās part, At a guess I think a lot of people have continued to work from homeā¦..?It is also one of the reasons why dogs end up being adopted or in a shelter.
š¶So to conclude, for the amount of extra dogs bought during the pandemic, the amount of dogs being adopted is not a great surprise. Statistics are probably not that accurate anyway, they will only give an overall idea.
The majority of people I saw after the lockdowns were really keen to do the best for their new puppies. We love our dogs but not everyone can get it right straight away; it doesnāt mean that people arenāt trying their best. I know I didnāt have all the answers when I got my first puppy years ago! As a trainer I canāt be judgemental, everyoneās circumstances are different. I do the best I can to help owners and their dog. Sadly, sometimes the best I can do is to help them to find a more suitable home for their dog or direct them to an organisation who can do that with them. I see sad stories and broken hearts, but the overwhelming majority of issues can be resolved with time and patience. There are no quick fixes in dog training. I know that through my own experiences with my own dogs.
š¶I lost my little rescue Frazzle in April, it was very sad. He certainly kept me on my toes for thirteen years! In fact, he was the reason I studied dog behaviour in the first place! He had many issues including guarding and attention seeking behaviour. Cloud my very sensitive rescue, has come on in leaps and bounds. She still reacts to things occasionally, but her recovery time is usually instant now, but it has taken years of persistence and is still ongoing. Shannon has retired from agility now. Sadly Covid meant she missed a year of competing in agility then I broke my ankle!
Despite all the hardships of lockdown, I consider myself one of the lucky ones during Covid. I had the constant companionship of my dogs; without them I would have been lost for sure. So I absolutely understand why people went out and got a puppy during lockdown. If you need a dog now though, please consider adopting a lockdown orphan first, as sadly there are plenty out there needing their forever home. With love, time and patience a rescue dog will certainly reward you with total loyalty and unconditional love.
š¦ Referencesā¦
https://www.statista.com/statistics/515333/dogs-ownership-in-the-united-kingdom-uk/
https://www.tradingstandards.uk/news-policy/news-room/2021/ongoing-effects-of-covid-19-pandemic-impacting-puppy-purchases/
https://caringfortheanimalstrust.co.uk
https://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/media-centre/2021/september/bepuppywise-survey-results/
https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/15619/pdf/
https://petkeen.com/pet-adoption-statistics-uk/