Revealed: The cost of popular puppy breeds has TREBLED this year as suppliers struggle to meet the demand from families searching for a lockdown pet
- A Pets4Home study detailed how this year has driven a record increase in prices
- The Cocker Spaniel has seen the biggest cost change, according to the report
- Price of the puppies have increased from £727 to £2,230 on average in the UK
The prices of popular puppy breeds have trebled in a year as suppliers struggle to meet the demand from families searching for a lockdown pet.
With people now feeling they finally have time to care for new dogs while working from home, small breeds such as French Bulldogs, Cavapoos and Cockapoos are becoming exceedingly favourable.
A study from Pets4Home, one of the UK’s largest online pet marketplaces, has detailed how families buying puppies to bring joy into their lockdown lives have driven a record increase in prices.
The Cocker Spaniel has seen the biggest change in price with soon-to-be owners facing costs more than three times what they would have spent this time last year, with the figure increasing from £727 to £2,230.
The prices of popular puppy breeds have trebled in a year as suppliers struggle to meet the demand from families searching for a lockdown pet
The drastic increase in demand for dogs this year coupled with a lack of increase in the number of advertised pets for sale, has led to the average price for puppies more than doubling.
During the lockdown, many dog breeders stopped advertising their litters for sale because they faced strict government-imposed restrictions around essential travel and social distancing.
As such, there is now an imbalance between supply and demand for pets – but prospective owners appear more than willing to pay out large sums to secure a dog.
Breeders and sellers have recognised this, leading to price hikes across the most popular dog breeds, the report showed.
The average price of a puppy advertised through Pets4Homes jumped from £810 to £1,875, more than doubling this year.
A table showing the percentage increase of the cost of puppies from 2019 compared to 2020, according to Pets4Home’s new study
The Cavapoo – a cross between a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and a Poodle – went from £1,119 to £2,949, while the Cockapoo leapt from £878 to £2,471.
German Shepherd also saw a whopping increase from £791 to more than double that price at £1589.
Labrador Retrievers are up from £756 to £1,948 and the cost of a Jack Russell increased by 195 per cent, from £360 to £1061.
French Bulldogs went from £1,180 to £2,389 and the Chihuahua increased from £558 to £1250, boasting a 124 per cent rise.
For those with expensive tastes, the most big-budget breed on the list of most popular puppies was the English Bulldog with an average cost of £2,994 – 86 per cent more than last year’s £1,610 price tag.
The drastic increase in demand for dogs this year coupled with a lack of increase in the number of advertised pets for sale, has led to the average price for puppies more than doubling (stock image)
And it’s not just dogs that are proving more and more popular as the global pandemic continues, since cats sales also increased by 42 per cent.
The British Shorthair cat will cost a family £555 on average, up from £217 four years ago.
The Pets4Home study said: ‘In these challenging times our study found that more people than ever before have turned to pets for much needed companionship and we have seen a staggering surge in demand compared to previous years.
‘Dogs remain the most popular pet companion in 2020, however while demand skyrocketed, supply did not follow the same trend.
‘This imbalance caused by the global pandemic resulted in a sharp increase in pet prices with the average price of dogs more than doubling towards the end of this year.’