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Permalink Reply by Aj on October 4, 2009 at 12:34am

I got Ein for $800 but he came with a lot of his supplies, like play pen, water bowls, brushes, food, leash collar, flea medicine, pee pads, toys, bed, you know--the works. Not from a breeder, but from an individual who got him from a breeder (with papers). After a week of keeping him, she found out that she didn't have enough time to properly take care of him.

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Permalink Reply by Sky and Lyla on October 4, 2009 at 10:38am

Oh, those kinds of people make me angry. Did you not know your schedule before you brought the dog home?! It worked out really well for you though, didn't it! I'm glad Ein's with you now!!

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Permalink Reply by Amber and Kirby on October 4, 2009 at 3:03am

i got kirby with papers for $500 and i had to sign a strict contract to get him. i got him from a guy who didnt relize his female went into heat in time (but evidenty his male picked up on it real quick)

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Permalink Reply by Jane Christensen on October 4, 2009 at 7:39am

Just curious what the contract was about...if you wouldn't mind sharing!

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Permalink Reply by Derek on October 4, 2009 at 9:02am

The difference is that this is a show quality dog. With the puppies you only put so much time and vet bills into them. The adults are a lot more training and care and the cost to compete is a lot. You don't really make money from showing your dogs, it is a hobby. It also depends on if she is selling the adult dog with full registration papers. Full papers means this dog can remain intact and compete in AKC, and can be breed and have AKC registerable pups. This costs a great deal more than a limited reigstration where the dog is strictly a pet and has to be fixed. The testing she is refering to is for the health of the dog with respect to passing on genetic defects. If the dog has failed the PRA test or their hips are no good, the dog cannot and should not be breed. Many adult dogs that look perfect for show fail the test and so are put up for sale instead. They are great dogs, they just should not be breed.

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Permalink Reply by Derek on October 4, 2009 at 9:05am

Oh, and if you just want a pet, I would check with other breeders, and just tell them you would like an adult pet quality dog, and they often have one that did not work out as a show dog. These tend to be much less expensive than your $1500 dog, but usually are around the same price as the pup. You get to skip the puppy stages of chewing and peeing, and they took care of the vet care completely. They are trained (with rare exceptions, I cannot imagine having a lot of dogs and not having at least some control of them all). When you think about it, for these reasons it is not unreasonable to ask for the same amount of money for an adult dog as a puppy.

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Permalink Reply by Beth on October 4, 2009 at 10:56am

It depends on the reason for placement, usually, not the quality or what has been put into it. Our show-quality dog was placed for free because she was just looking for a good pet home for her. Active breeding stock that will still be used for breeding and is proven will be more expensive. If you are getting a performance dog (hunting, field trial, etc) that is well started in its training, then they fetch a premium price and can be several thousand dollars. You are paying for the work that went into it AND its future potential. That exact same dog, with the same hours put into it, who is now "retired" even if fairly young would probably be the cost of the spay/neuter surgery, or free with donation, depending on the circumstance.

Breeders and raisers of any stock, from dogs to horses to cattle, will set a price for adults based on the future potential of that animal to give some sort of payback to its buyer. So our show champion breeding quality dog was free because she was looking to place her in a pet home. The costs that already went into that dog are identical as the costs that went into a dog of the same age and background who is now being sold as breeding stock; the difference in price reflects the potential future ability of that dog to give something back to its new owner other than companionship (ribbons, puppies, titles, etc).

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Permalink Reply by Derek on October 4, 2009 at 4:26pm

It sounds like you had a really nice breeder, to give you a dog for free. Our breeder had dropped her prices because she accidentally had 2 litters at the same time (someone got loose and had fun) and she was over flowing in pups. But she would never give a dog for free. Her price changed because she was needing to lower her numbers and people were not buying the pups fast enough. She went right back up in price this year.

What is the name of the breeder you got your dog from? She must be a really nice person. Even the pet quality Cardi's I have found were all no less than $800 for a pup and $650 for an adult. Most of the time they were all over $1000 no matter the dog and every one was with a pet contract (no breeding rights).

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Permalink Reply by Shepdog on October 4, 2009 at 5:27pm

I will say that most of the breeders I know place many retired pet dogs for free or a nominal fee, charging for spay-neuter and that's it. Heck, I've done it when I used to show cats - our retired show cats were placed in pet homes after they were fixed, under contract. It's a win win for me and other breeders, we know these guys are being taken care of and well loved.

Heck, our breeder when she was ill signed over co-ownership of our Shepherd's brother to my husband in case something happened to her. Luckily, we never needed to use it, but we were his safety net, just in case.

Also, uh, I guess I'm one of the odd men out in this post about cost. I think that 1,000.00 for a purebred, well-bred, well-socialized dog from health-tested parents doesn't surprise me one bit, and doesn't phase me at all. Heck, I guess I sort of think it's on the cheaper side.

Like Beth said - I've been involved in the the working and show aspects of dogs for a while, and she's right. My SAR dog - if I had paid full price for him as a pup - would have cost me more than my nice used Volvo. ;)

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Permalink Reply by justine moeller on October 4, 2009 at 5:34pm

I also am not phased by the $1000, it seems to be normal around here. There are backyard breeders selling them for about $400-600 but the real breeders all ask around $1000. I was just curious about the older female being sold at such a high price but it has been cleared up now. She is being sold with breeding rights, hip tests, etc....

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Permalink Reply by Beth on October 4, 2009 at 7:07pm

Out of curiosity I googled "Finished gun dogs for sale."

There's a finished field-trial English Pointer/ future stud dog from a sought-after line going for 9 grand. Yep, $9,000 for a young adult. :-)

I grew up riding horses. Honestly the prices don't make me blink too much. A good quality show horse costs more than most people's houses, the difference being a mare can only have one foal a year and it takes a good 6 years for it to be ready for top competition.

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Permalink Reply by Derek on October 5, 2009 at 8:48am

I think Miranda was worth the money I spent, it is just that I cannot afford to spend that much on every dog if I am saving up for a down payment on a house. It is more an issue of what else can I use the money for and should I spend it. If they ever got sick I definately have the money to handle any situation, and I think more people should prepare for those occurances. But if I can get a loyal happy dog for half the price, I would, provided the quality is the same. Now that I know of breeders who do this, I am going to keep that in mind for next time... and we all know there will be a next time. Cannot have just one Corgi!

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