Huge thanks to Willow Veterinary Centres for posting on Ralphie’s wall about a puppy scam which has made its way to Milton Keynes. The full details of the scam can be found on Willow’s website here but it’s a typical example of pulling on a potential dog owner’s heart strings, offering a pedigree puppy for free and then conning them out of money for ‘delivery’ never to be seen again. Pedigree puppies are not cheap to buy and it’s easy to see how people could be tempted by this offer, but please don’t be scammed.

We bought Ralphie almost two years ago now and he was £550; we paid a deposit of around £100 when we saw him and picked him out at just two weeks old. That ‘secured’ him for us and we paid the full amount when we collected him at eight weeks. when he was old enough to leave his mother. So don’t ever pay up front and in full for your puppy and don’t buy one without seeing it first, seeing it’s parents where possible and without having a chance to quiz the breeder about health checks etc – you need to make sure the puppy you’re paying for will be a healthy one. Equally, if you’re buying a puppy from a home where it’s no longer wanted, go and see it in its home environment first.