Dog walkers in a England have taken to wearing body cameras while taking their pets out for exercise amid growing fears over thefts. There has been a rise in dog snatching as demand for different breeds of dog skyrocketed during lockdown.

Amanda Knight, who runs a website for dog owners, told The Telegraph that she has been receiving emails from worried owners “two or three times a week”. The average price for puppies more than doubled between March and September 2020, according to the Pets4Homes website, while Dogs Lost, a missing pets website, reported a 170% rise in stolen dogs.

My comment:  without statistics I can only guess that the demand for puppies is led by young children, confined to the house, who think a puppy would be a welcome and cuddly distraction.

Well, yes, but who is going to walk the doggie? Children can nag all day, but the truth is that, after the initial excitement, it’s Dad who has to get up extra-early, walk the dog and maybe feed it before starting work.  Then all this phas to be repeated after a hard day’s work.  Mother sensibly keeps very quiet.

This isn’t social science – it comes from personal experience and from the heart!, (P.S: I loved our dogs, and they did make me exercise. But to the kids the dog was a nine day wonder, part of the moveable furniture).