What a crazy year this has been!
I think after the madness of the uncertainty around Brexit we all hoped life would come back to some sort of normal, but COVID-19 had its own ideas.
Like many I was a startled rabbit in the headlights when lock down happened. Wondering how we would steer the business through these challenging times. We were incredibly lucky that pet shops were deemed essential businesses, and also truly blessed by many of our clients who actively supported us through the lock down period.
So what I’d like to say is a HUGE THANK YOU to all our lovely clients!
As a small business losing a big part of our turnover as grooming was not allowed was challenging, but through offering free deliveries, our doorstep service at the shop, and our online shop booming we are still here and hanging on in there!
Now we are grooming again, dealing with some dogs with interesting cuts! (and I totally understand people would clip their dogs themselves, I would have in their shoes) to some horrifically matted dogs. We are super busy and working our way through our back log, so I would ask people to be understanding, firstly some dogs are taking longer so we might have delays, and there is a long wait time for an appointment…… we are in a pandemic, and we were closed for grooming for 8 weeks at a peak grooming time of the year!
One of the disturbing things going on right now which is very worrying for many pet professionals is the flood of puppies coming through our doors.
Puppies which are being bought now were certainly bred for the new want of puppies brought on I guess by the boredom of lock down or working from home.
I’ve spoken to my vet and a dog behaviourist in the last few days, we are horrified by the glut of puppies showing up in the last few weeks, some not well, some petrified of their own shadow, through no human contact.
We even had a puppy missing a toe the other day the owner had no idea, to people paying way over the odds for puppies so they can have the puppy now. The people selling many of these dogs are unscrupulous profiteers, they have no care for the dogs they are breeding, to them they are a commodity.
Please remember: A DOG IS FOR LIFE, NOT COVID19 LOCKDOWN!
I do worry how many of these poor puppies will be up for resale or rehoming when people go back to work, and realise you cant suddenly leave them alone all day, and they have needs that need to be met, even when their owner is back at work.
There are amazing resources on how to buy a puppy and help you spot unscrupulous breeders:
THESE ARE JUST A COUPLE OF RESOURCES, BUT PLEASE DO BE CAREFUL, UNSCRUPULOUS BREEDERS DO NOT CARE ABOUT THE WELFARE OF THE PUPPIES THEY BREED, AND THE REALITY OF THIS IS YOUR PUPPY MIGHT HAVE SERIOUS HEALTH OR BEHAVIOURAL ISSUES, THROUGH NO FAULT OF THEIR OWN.
