High purebred puppy prices - good or bad?

Question

Background:
I was on a van pool with a nationally known and respected breeder/judge for a semi-rare breed. He had just had a litter and was showing pictures around, so people on the van started asking questions:

How many pups – 6 pups

Are they sold – yes, some people have been waiting several months.

How much do you get for a pup? For a show pup, I get $xxxx (a LOT of money).

Well as we got off the van, 5-6 people commented – WOW, 6 x $xxxx – that’s $$$$$$$$. Man, I need to have a litter. (or get into breeding – you get the drift).

So on the way home I started asking some specific questions of the breeder to make those people with $ in their eyes think:

You have a national reputation as a breed expert , how much do you spend on showing each dog.? -The answer was a lot higher than the puppy price.

How much do you spend on health checks? – again the price was a large amount.

Are all the pups “show quality”? – No, 3 are only pet quality. They are less (The price was still expensive though to most people )

When you use your champion for Stud, do the “breeders” owning the female get as much  for the pups? – Well, No. Most of them have to have me help sell the pups as they are not known as well and they usually get a lot less. Sometimes they can’t sell the pups at all.

So here is my question – responsible breeding is expensive , that I will grant you – you barely break even in most cases but is charging very high prices really a determent that keeps the “wrong homes” away or guarantees a person will not get rid of the dog if it is a bad match or not winning enough (yet many show buyers will breed the dog first to recover some of the cost. Pet pups are usually spayed/neutered)? Or do very high prices from responsible breeders just put dollar signs in the public eye encouraging BYBs and puppymills?

GSD &amp; Mastiff Owner · Accepted Answer

Price sometimes determines the type of buyer. Price is also determined with how rare the breed is (let's say the Irish Wolfhound), the quality, the blood lines and the health/temperament.

As you say reputable breeders rarely break even but yes, it does encourage people to breed and they will always profit because they do nothing that the reputable breeder does.

Love-A-Bull · Answer

I am not a breeder, my dogs are just my companions, best friends and fur-babies! : ) However, I do personally know two reputable breeders. One, I bought my first APBT, Brooklyn, from, and the other is just a good friend. I know that both of them are wonderful, they put SO much money, time, energy and love into what they do. I know that, at least for them, their prices do have a lot to do with helping to ensure their pups go to good homes. Unfortunately, a lot of people that want/get APBTs (and other "pit bull" breeds.. AmStaffs, Staffies, etc.), only want them to fight them, to abuse and neglect them, and/or to make them aggressive to scared people, etc. The breeder we bought our Brooklyn from checked out our home, made us fill out a questionnaire, we had to sign a contract, etc.  He puts a lot into just finding good home for his pups.

As far as the BYBs go, of course they just want to get as much money as they can. It's horrible that SO many people buy from BYBs! : ( So many people just hear that the puppy is registered and they will buy it! They either don't know, or don't care, to find out whether or not the pups were well bred, whether or not the dam and sire have good, stable temperaments and are healthy, etc. In fact, countless people specifically want certain breeds, like the APBT, that DON'T fit the breed standard, and that are either HORRIBLY bred or not a real "pit bull" breed at all! They want a 100lb+ so-called "pit bull", etc. They also don't even know that when a breeder tells you they have Pittbulls, or Pitbulls, or PitBulls, or Pitt Bulls, they are NOT a reputable breeder! If they 1 - don't know what breed they own and are breeding ("pit bull" is not a breed, it's a term used to group several breeds.. the APBT, the AmStaff and the Staffie.. and it's also used as short for the APBT) and 2 - they can't even spell "pit bull" correctly, OBVIOUSLY they DO NOT know what they are doing!  And these ignorant BYBs obviously do not care about any dog, period.

I could go on and on and on about this, but I won't! lol! Again though, I believe that reputable breeders do use price as a way to help ensure their dogs go to a good home. And I absolutely believe that BYBs are just pathetic, heartless, money-hungry, scum of the earth people that are destroying breeds and their reputations and they don't even care as long as they are paid! : (

Ca Danh · Answer

Well let me just say this I bought a dog for 2000$ and the parents were both high in the show ring and so when I went to get the dog I was hoping for a dog that would do well in show but he is more agile and agility trials suit him better of course he was a pure bred, any ways though if you sold a dog like that you are obviously encouraging BYB and puppy mills more and saying that if I were you I would lower the price to the 1000$ - 3000$ range.

Anonymous · Answer

Personally, if you tried to sell me a GSD pup that was under 800-1000$, I could almost gurantee that it was from crap breeding.

Purebred dogs are pricier for a reason. At the same time, are you trying to tell me the pups were 6,000$? That is WAY too extreme for ANY breed, IMHO, breed expert or not. I could find a high quality working lined GSD pup for 1,200-3,000$ MAX. Even rare breeds I've seen from good breeders are about 2,000-3,000$ MAX. So I don't care WHO you are, selling pups for 6,000$ just because of YOUR name is a rip off.

marci knows best · Answer

High prices are a reality because it is the only way most honest hobby breeders survive. Few are independently wealthy and can afford to show the dogs or pay a handler, and health test and feed premium food and pay the Vet bills and.... if they don;t charge premium prices. Education is the key, not expecting legitimate hobby breeders to charge less.

Julie · Answer

Charging high prices for pure bred dogs does ensure that the people who are getting them are going to care for them.  I mean whose going to pay over $200 for a dog and not care for it?  It also guarantees that the dogs are not going to end up in the dog pound because the owner doesn't want them anymore. As far as encouraging puppy mills, it might but most puppy mills are probably not going to want to spend hundreds of dollars to breed dogs they could sell for a large amount of money.

Take it from me.  Spending a large chunk of money on a good dog is a good investment.  We once bought a Golden Retriever puppy for $250 and she was the best dog we ever had.

Hope the answer helps you.

? · Answer

Get a toy poodle. You do realize that "teacup" Poodle is not an actual breed it's just a poorly bred runt. Start out by checking shelters and rescues

ladystang · Answer

high prices is what byb see

Anonymous · Answer

good

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High purebred puppy prices - good or bad?

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