Dog owners who purchased a puppy because of the 2020 phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, or whose dogs have problem behaviors, experienced a greater burden of dog ownership, but most chose to keep their puppy, Bree Merritt at The Royal Veterinary College, U.K., and colleagues report on February 12, 2025, in the open-access journal PLOS One.
In the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic, as people in the U.K. were confined to their homes, demand for puppies increased. This led to concerns for the welfare of these 'pandemic puppies', which may have been bought impulsively and brought into homes that would be unsuitable in the long term. Animal welfare advocates feared that this would lead to problem behaviors, weak relationships between dogs and their owners, and ultimately, many pandemic puppies being rehomed.
To investigate, researchers surveyed nearly 800 U.K. dog owners who bought a puppy between March and December 2020. They asked participants about their reasons for buying the dog and their training and care regime. The researchers then conducted a follow-up survey with the owners when their puppy reached 21 months old, to assess their emotional relationship with their dog and the downsides of dog ownership that they experienced.
Despite 40% of survey participants saying that their decision to buy a dog was influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, 98% still owned their dog at 21 months of age. However, owners who were motivated to buy a dog by the pandemic tended to report higher costs of dog ownership, such as having to give up activities they enjoy, tidy up their dog's mess, or spend a lot of money on their dog. Owners who reported problem behaviors, such as separation anxiety, control problems or aggression, also reported feeling a greater burden of dog ownership. But only aggressive behaviors had a negative impact on owners' emotional closeness to their dog.
Owners who rehomed their dog may have been less likely to take part in the follow-up survey, so these results are likely to represent a best-case scenario for the outcomes of pandemic puppy purchases. It's also possible that some owners relinquished their dog after the 21-month survey point. The authors say that evidence-based solutions to improve problem behaviors may be particularly beneficial for this cohort of dog owners, helping them to reduce the burden of dog ownership and improve quality of life for both dog and owner.
Dr. Bree Merritt, lead author of the study, adds: "Relationships with our dogs can be immensely rewarding, but it's not all fun and games. Looking after them can be hard work, expensive or even change day-to-day activities. Problem behaviors are likely to be a much wider concern beyond just those dogs who were brought home during the pandemic. These results show how important it is to find evidence-based help for problem behavior to improve the emotional health of dogs, their owners and sustain their relationship."
Dr. Rowena Packer, senior author of the study, adds: "Impulsive acquisition of dogs based on short-term circumstances is an enduring challenge for the canine welfare sector. Here, we demonstrate that puppy purchases that were a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic, such as having increased time for a dog during this atypical period, resulted in owners who felt a greater burden of dog ownership by the time their puppy was a young adult, compared to owners whose purchases were planned based on longer-term circumstances. U.K. campaigns have long encouraged owners to consider their ability to care for a dog for the duration of its lifetime at acquisition. However, if the efficacy of these messages remains limited, greater interventions may be needed to emphasize the responsibilities of dog ownership, ideally prior to purchase."
In your coverage, please use this URL to provide access to the freely available article in PLOS One: https://plos.io/4gm8DiJ
Citation: Merritt BL, O'Neill DG, Brand CL, Belshaw Z, Dale FC, Pegram CL, et al. (2025) Lasting lockdown love? Problem behaviour and pandemic and non-pandemic related risk factors influencing the owner-dog relationship in a UK cohort of dogs reaching early adulthood. PLoS ONE 20(2): e0316166. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0316166
Author countries: U.K.
Funding: This research was funded by Battersea Dogs & Cats Home, www.battersea.org.uk , grant number BAT21M/Research/002 awarded to R.M.A.P. as primary investigator and D.G.O. and Z.B. and co-investigators. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
