Did you buy a puppy in 2020?
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How is that relationship going?
I hope your nearly one-year-old is continuing to bring you joy and laughter, along with the chewed underpants, ripped up pieces of toilet paper and annoying jumping up on visitors (oh, sorry is that just my dog?!).
Pandemic pets were a movement in 2020. In Japan alone there was a reported 15 per cent increase in cat and dog ownership in 2020. In the UK more than 50 per cent of households are now estimated to own a pet. Australia is the pet loving nation of the world with 61 per cent of Australian households enjoying the company of a dog or a cat.
As the coronavirus grip begins to loosen (ish), our love for the furry ones is diminishing. Apparently people are beginning to remember why they didn't already have a pet in their lives before March 2020.
A Labrador owner from South West England described what many new puppy owners have said before: "I always had to be watching the puppy...I couldn't even take a shower alone."
According to the same article from the BBC the number of online searches for 'sell puppy' or 'selling a dog' has spiked in November with people offloading their now adolescent pandemic puppy and also trying to recoup the thousands they spent on their overpriced oodle.
ACM's masthead The Canberra Times saw all of this coming back in May at a time when we were all hopeful that a return to the workplace was just around the corner.
Journalist Amy Martin spoke to the RSPCA ACT which provided a list of tips to help your puppy transition into the new normal. I reckon now is the time to dust of that list, grab your bag of dog treats and get on with the hard graft of training.
While you're at it, you might also want to make sure your pet is up to date with its tick treatment. A deadly dog disease has killed hundreds of dogs in Western Australia and the Northern Territory. Ehrlichiosis is now a nationally notifiable disease and there are fears it is going to spread everywhere.
Right. I'm off to Petbarn.
Today's Informer was written by ACM's head of audience and dog lover, Gayle Tomlinson.
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Gayle Tomlinson
Editor of the Illawarra Mercury. Scottish but fell in love with Dharawal Land. Send us your feedback and questions. Subscribe so we can continue to speak up for the Illawarra.
Editor of the Illawarra Mercury. Scottish but fell in love with Dharawal Land. Send us your feedback and questions. Subscribe so we can continue to speak up for the Illawarra.
