After speaking to Mayhew Animal Home and the RSPCA about the vast increase they saw in adoptions over the lockdown period, I believed the next step was to investigate the attraction to having a dog as a pet.
I reached out to Animal Behaviour Specialist Sarah Whitehead, who has created a respectable career in the animal industry, writing multiple books on practices with dogs and more recently featuring on Channel 5's 'The Dog Rescuers' as their official behaviouralist.
Sarah is a Certified Clinical Animal Behaviourist and explained the mental health and physical benefits we get from tactile interactions with our dogs and the psychology behind the bonds we create with them.
With the demand for puppies being so high over the past few months, it has consequently resulted in a rise in the number of dogs being imported into the U.K, many of these dogs are bred in puppy farms. It is predicted that 1 in 4 new dog owners may have purchased their dog from a puppy farm.
Many of these puppies suffer behaviour and health complications which are predicted to cost the U.K £400million in vet bills to treat.
Sarah explains the behviour issues these puppies are prone to.
It is important to train your puppy, however with social distancing rules in place many new dog owners have found it challenging to train and socialise their dogs with these limitations and cancellation of puppy training classes.
Sarah gave some advice on what to do in this situation.
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