Many Facebook and related forums have restrictions on posting prices and therefore puppy shoppers often wonder what typical puppy pricing might be. Similarly, shoppers often post questions like “Why are these puppies so expensive” and receive responses from other shoppers either blaming breeders for price gouging or claiming to have gotten a perfectly healthy puppy for $500. While this post is not meant to establish a set price, it is intended to explain what you should look for in pricing and the dangers of a discounted dog. Let’s start with an example of a purebred Cavalier puppy and what a quality breeder (please see the post on locating a respectable breeder) paid make that puppy available to you:
While I’m sure some people will be inclined to debate these expenses, I want to assure you that these are on the low end because they don’t include a lot of expenses that buyers don’t consider such as raising a dog for 2.5 years and then learning they are not capable of breeding, have a genetic condition which makes them ineligible to breed, raising a bitch who then refuses to nurture her first litter and therefore can’t be bred again, etc. It also places no value at all on the time, energy and love respectable breeders give their dogs. Now, using our hypothetical and again assuming this is a respectable breeder, the female will not be overbred, bred too early or bred later in life. And, again remember our $14,550 number is only for the first 2.5 years of ownership so many of these costs will repeat. Let’s assume the female will be bred 3-4 times. Litter #1 – 4 puppies. For this breeder to get close to “breaking even” she would have to get $3600+ per puppy and in doing so this does not account for the medical expenses of the puppies themselves. Instead, she sells these puppies for $2000 to pet only homes. She spends $80+ per puppy on initial vet visits, additional funds on food and countless hours monitoring puppies, screening prospective buyers and getting puppies to their new homes. Breeder will now incur an additional round of expenses for post pregnancy care for the bitch, annual testing and annual ownership. As she owns the dogs another year and returns them for certifications, she invests another $3,140 in annual cost of ownership and increased medical testing. Litter #2 – 5 puppies. The breeder gets lucky with additional puppies but one fails to thrive. She is forced to invest funds in this puppies health but despite all efforts the puppy does not make it. She again sells the remaining 4 puppies for $2000. She’s still in the whole $1690 plus the additional costs of the puppy that doesn’t make it. This again does not include the $80+ per puppy on initial vet visits, additional funds on food and countless hours monitoring puppies, screening prospective buyers and getting puppies to their new homes. Repeat another year of ownership and another round of testing. Litter #3 – 3 puppies. All are healthy. One is “show quality” (please see our post on what this means) and can bring a higher price. She’s able to sell one puppy for show at $3000 and decides to sell another puppy for full rights to recoup some of her expenses. She almost breaks even but she’s unsure if she should breed this dog again. The bitch has shown less interest in this set of puppies and has struggled nursing them. She decides to retire this bitch and keep the other female puppy as a future breeder. Lots of puppies in loving homes but no actual earnings. She offers her male out as a stud to another breeder to try and get some of her money back. That stud cannot be used for this new female as they are related, and quality breeders don’t inbreed their dogs! Again, this is a hypothetical but one I’ve seen repeated many times. Sometimes a dog never breeds, sometimes you only get 1-2 good litters, sometimes you’re lucky and have a dog that loves being a mom and successfully has multiple litters which helps recoup lost money from the others. That being said, that point of this example is NOT that a puppy should cost $2000. The point of this example is the following:
Again, knowing what to pay for your puppy is inevitably entangled with the quality of breeder you are talking to. Every day, I see people looking for discount dogs, recommending breeders who regularly appear on the SPCA alert lists and ignoring red flags because they’ve fallen in love with a puppy. We hope this example helps you understand why we recommend you ask the right questions, be willing to sit on a waitlist and understand the dangers of a discount dog!
0 Comments
Online forums are full of misinformation on tear stains and owners are often too consumed with how to reduce the appearance without focusing on the cause of the tear stains. Before reading this post, please make sure you've read our post on the Causes of Tear Stains as the cause is much more important than the cosmetics. Once you've determined what's causing your dog's stains, you now want to turn your attention to treating them and then minimizing their appearance. Some of these suggestions may not apply depending, again, on what's causing your dog's stains; however, none of them are harmful and may help reduce the appearance of the stains.
As a reminder, we aren't vets but we own lots of dogs and these are the solutions our vets have offered that we feel have worked. We do not recommend any tear stain supplement until you carefully research as many of them contain low dose antibiotics and are not good for long term use. We also don't recommend many other internet options such as tums or human eye drops! Many breeds suffer from dark brown or reddish staining beneath the eyes ("tear stains") but they are often more noticeable in lighter coats of the Blenheim and Tri-color Cavalier and the lighter colored Cavachon and Cavalier hybrids. Tear stains are formed when porphyrin, a pigment found in tears, accumulates under the eyes causing the discoloration. For the most part, tear stains are not the result of a serious medical issue but are simply the result of excess tears accumulating in the fur under the eye. Basically, either your dog produces too many tears or can't drain them properly (or both). That being said, there are some exceptions dog owners or puppy shoppers should be aware of so they can consult with their vet. COMMON CAUSES OF TEAR STAINS:
This list is not exhaustive but are the most common causes. Unless you can quickly determine and remedy the cause on your own (example: tear stains appear immediately after a diet change and disappear when you revert to the prior diet) then you should see your vet as soon as possible to rule out anything more serious. If you are searching for a puppy and notice that a breeder's dogs have heavy tear stains, you are correct to be concerned. Tear stains in young puppies can sometimes be the result of excess tearing while teething but is more commonly a sign of poor diet, unhealthy living conditions or genetic predispositions (or all of the above). Unhealthy coat and excessive tear stains in photos is often the way that puppy mills are first detected by the cautious consumer. Before purchasing a puppy that already has tear stains, you should ask the breeder to take the puppy to the vet to rule out any birth defect, physical deformity, closed tear ducts or other problems. Candidly, we can't even recommend purchasing a puppy with severe stains that are already in place by 7-8 weeks old - it's a red flag. MEDICAL TREATMENTS - You can help you vet better determine the cause of the stains by recording when they first occurred, if they appear evenly in both eyes, if your dog has had any change in diet or lifestyle or any other changes in your dogs behavior or symptoms that might help narrow the cause. Once your vet determines the underlying cause of the tear stains, they can offer an appropriate treatment. Treatments can include saline washes, antibiotics, minor surgery, medicated drops or antihistamines (or other methods to reduce allergies if that's the cause). While getting to the bottom of the cause of tear stains, many owners also want to improve the appearance of their pups. For more information on what you can do to help prevent or remove tear stains after treatment, see our second post Reducing the Appearance of Tear Stains. While the internet is an amazing tool, it's actually made the process of finding the perfect puppy incredibly challenging. A decade ago, most of us would open the local classifieds and search in the animal section for a puppy that interested us. Today, and virtually overnight, anyone can put up a website and look like a reputable breeder. The introduction of DNA tests, shipping with flight nannies and designer dogs makes picking a puppy often feel overwhelming. There are simply too many options. So, how do you make the right choice? Here are our suggestions:
|
FTC DISCLOSURE
This blog contains affiliate links. I may earn commissions from qualifying purchases made from links on this blog. We do not recommend any products that we do not purchase and use for our dogs. Categories
All
Archives
April 2024
|