Cost of PWC Puppies
I was just looking into buying a second PWC puppy from a breeder, and just found out that prices are way more than I ever anticipated. I'm talking $1,500 per puppy. Now, I realize that producing quality dogs to breed standards is very costly and that breeders don't really make much money on their puppies, but this seems very expensive. I bought my current corgi from a responsible breeder located in OK (I was living in the midwest at the time) just two years ago and he was $900 (which I thought was just about right for the price).
Are the prices just that much higher b/c I live on the east coast near Boston? Can anyone from the general vicinity confirm or negate this seemingly high price?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Avyon on
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Yea Roxi's breeder usually charges 1000 for the first round I believe.. then started dropping the price for the older puppies. So we got our discount puppy for 400 lol at 4 months old.
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Permalink Reply by Sky and Lyla on
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I kind of think that in a lot of things, puppies included, you get what you pay for. Now, I know there can be a variable price range between even show breeders and if you feel just as comfortable with the $800 show breeder as you do with the $1200 show breeder, than by all means, go for it, but when I start seeing puppies for under $500 I get suspicious and uneasy. I say this only because I have bought these dogs before.
Two of my dogs were in the $250-400 range. Both from BYB that did no health testing, no temperament testing and no early socialization outside of where the litter was kept (I will say, to be fair, one of the breeders was still head and shoulders above the other though). Both were bred for profit and no regard to breed standard, long term health, temperament, or working ability.
My third dog came from a breeder who actively shows, trains, and trials her dogs, does all the health testings, spends a lot of money on getting just the right sire for a litter, and her pet puppies start at $1200 and her show puppies start at $2500! And yet, having a dog from her, it is worth every penny! I know more about his lines, and while that in no way guarantees he'll never have a problem crop up, it makes a difference and give some piece of mind. He is also the most stable, temperament wise, of my three because she spent a great amount of time socializing her puppies.
And the support I've received with her... amazing! The BYBs of my other two dogs have not stayed in touch, and rarely answer even if I send an email to let them know how/what their dogs are doing. My third guy's breeder, well, I talk to her several times a week! It's like having a 24/7 hotline whenever I have a question about him or even just dogs in general.
So, all in all, I think sticking to a well bred puppy is so much more important than price. I will never again shop for a "bargain puppy" like I did with my first one, but rather wait until I have enough money to get the one that will be best. In the long run, it saves money on vet bills, behaviorist consultations, etc.
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Permalink Reply by Allison Musick on
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I can understand your perspective, but I feel like there are exceptions to every rule. There are people out there who overcharge for their dogs (or even other things, not just dogs), and just do so - like someone else said - because they can. My dog is possibly the cheapest dog mentioned so far; she was listed as $300 but b/c of the community I live in (it's a kind of odd story), the breeder liked us so much that she dropped the price and offered an additional puppy at a reduced price b/c she knew they'd be going to good homes. I only got 1 puppy (I wasn't prepared for 2 even though they were adorable), but my dog has been great. No health problems, no behavior issues, and a very enjoyable Corgi all around, full of personality and the Corgi spunk that we all love. :)
However...I was just looking for a pet, not really a show or working dog. If you're going to do something like that with your dog, DEFINITELY put the money into it up front!
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Permalink Reply by Bev Levy on
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This is truly a "buyer beware" discussion. I am sure there are backyard breeders that are trying to produce a good pup for a lower dollar amount and lots of people get puppies and rescues with dubious backgrounds that turn out great. However, when things go bad it is really bad. we had the experience of having a poorly bred puppy. She was adorable from day one! Watching her deteriorate over time was heart breaking! Many of her health issues could have been prevented with testing for genetic problems. I still struggle with it since her sweet personality makes me still glad we had her but the expense we went through and the pain she endured at a young age was awful. Unfortunately you can not really even go by price in determining a good breeder but try to research as best you can before making a decision. The breed clubs should be helpful. When we got Izzy I went with a breeder I had talked to at the dog shows and I had talked to some people that had her pups. We have not been sorry we went to the extra expense. Poor Buffy cost us much more in dollars and emotional pain over her short painful 6 years.
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Permalink Reply by Chris West on
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I totally agree with these suggestions! You should not be asking about price, but about the breeders. If any breeder you are talking to is interested in the breed, and not just in making money, they should be completely willing to discuss with you aspects of the other breeders they know. They may be able to recommend another breeder who has puppies best suited to your needs if they themselves do not. It can be frustrating to pay so much for a puppy, but it is worth the wait if that is what you really want.
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Permalink Reply by Beth on
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Yes, our breeder was referred to us by another breeder. The first one only breeds sporadically and does not often have pups, but she was a wonderful source of information and knowledge. She referred us to the second breeder, who breeds more often and has litters, it seems, a few times every year.
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Permalink Reply by John Wolff on
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I don't even know, care, or want to know what we paid for Al 3.5 years ago in Seattle, but I think it was around $700-800. He was bred for show by a pretty serious breeder. This sounds like "earnest money" to me; she's covering her costs but not making much money from it -- in it for the dogs, not the bucks. +/- a coupla hundred dollars, I'd think price is no object compared to the support you get from a good relationship with a good breeder.
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Permalink Reply by Ace and Jen on
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I live West coast and the Cost for puppies can cost up to $1200+
Though Ace only cost me $400 but i think thats because he was Farm Raised =)
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Permalink Reply by Joanna Kimball on
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That sounds around right for this area. Pems are actually very low for show-bred dogs; I don't know the range for all of them but Danes would be around $2000-2500 and Poodles around the same. We did an informal survey maybe six years ago on my show breeder list and pet puppy prices in all breeds ranged from $900-1800 at that time, so they'd be higher now.
It's pretty standard for prices to go up $50-100 a year, so a $900 puppy would be $1100-ish now, and in Boston it's going to be much higher. If you look at the Want Ads the hideously bred puppies are up around a grand, so when as much has been put into them as a show breeder does, it's higher.
Just to give you some perspective, when I bred my litter last year it was $850 just to get the semen from there to here, and that did NOT include a stud fee (typically around a thousand), her vet costs during the pregnancy, her c-section, etc. Just progesterone testing and shipping. The stud dog owner, in Arkansas, would have paid half that much because her vet costs are so much lower.
Around here, puppy prices much under a thousand would be a red flag, and prices should NEVER go down as the puppies get older. If anything, they go up because the puppy is trained and socialized and vetted.
Oh, and I wish I made ANY money on them. I typically lose several thousand per litter, and I think that's consistent among show breeders.
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Permalink Reply by Shepdog on
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(And I'm still kicking myself several times over for not getting on your list.)
If there ever is a next time... ;) I'll be there handing over my resume. *grin*
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Permalink Reply by Brian Ambrosius on
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Thanks for sharing this info. I don't think I ever realized just how many costs add up to produce a litter of pups. Very interesting about how Pems are relatively low on the scale of prices. But anyways, at least I get the sense that $1500 isn't out-of-the-ballpark in this region, so now I'll know more of what to expect.
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Yes, around here the vet costs are so high that it makes a huge difference. AI was $850; a typical stud fee is a thousand, c-section was around a thousand. Cardigans are a few hundred lower than Pems; not sure why. My Cardi puppies are sold for $1200 but I rebate $200 after they're sold, to pay for puppy K and so on; the end result is that I sell them for a thousand. So that was three puppies right there, just sucked up by getting them born. Start adding up the day-to-day costs, food, training, lost work, microchipping, shots, etc. and I'd have to have a litter of eleven to break even. Every time I bring a puppy to the vet to get it ready to leave (get the health certificate that shows that they are healthy and have good hearts) it's $75. Not a big deal, you think, when the puppy is being sold for a thousand, but I bring in nine puppies and I'm paying six hundred bucks. There goes any "profit" for an entire puppy.
In this last litter of nine, I sold six (kept two, one here and one on a co-own; gave away one). I don't want to think about how much I was in the red; if I do I start to feel like I have to apologize every day to my husband and kids!
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