14 Feb 2022
Veterinary school asks owners to take part in a national online survey to determine whether changes in puppy buying during the COVID-19 pandemic have returned to their pre-pandemic levels.
Joshua Silverwood
Job Title
The survey will examine whether changes in puppy sales during the pandemic persisted in 2021.
The RVC is once again calling on puppy owners to take part in a national online survey to understand the pre-purchase motivations and behaviours of owners of puppies purchased during 2021.
Data from the survey, known as “Pandemic Puppies – The Next Generation”, will be used as a comparison to previous years (2019 and 2020) to determine whether the changes in puppy buying in the UK seen during the COVID-19 pandemic have returned to their pre-pandemic baseline or persisted into 2021.
Rowena Packer, lecturer in companion animal behaviour and welfare science at the RVC, said: “The COVID-19 pandemic led to changes in the way many of us bought our household goods, with online ordering and delivery a common feature of lockdown life.
“The pandemic also led to changes in the way the UK bought puppies during 2020, due to the many restrictions to travel and social contact during this period.“
Results from the Winter 2020 survey – which involved more than 7,500 respondents – uncovered several changes in buying habits. Owners were more likely to buy a younger puppy and pay a deposit without seeing their puppy.
They were also more likely to be first-time dog owners with children in their household and pay more than £2,000. Other factors included owners being more likely to see their puppy without its littermates and collecting their puppy from outside their breeders’ property or having it delivered.
Dr Packer added: “Many of these so-called ‘pandemic puppies’ became much-cherished companions, helping households cope with lockdown life; however, there are concerns that some owners were duped into buying from unscrupulous breeders.
“We are interested in whether pandemic-related changes in puppy buying persisted into 2021, so we can best support owners of puppies bought during this period going forward. We would love to hear from anyone who purchased a puppy during 2021 to share their experiences.”
The survey is now open for responses and interested owners must be over 18 years of age, residents in the UK, have brought home a puppy (any breed or cross-breed) aged younger than 16 weeks old during 2021, and must have purchased their puppy from a private seller rather than rehomed or bred the puppy themselves.
