​THE PERFECT PUPPY: WHAT SHOULD I EXPECT TO PAY?

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:

• $3500+ Female Cavalier with DNA testing, OFA certification, champion or similar bloodlines with full breeding rights.
• $3500+ Male Cavalier with DNA testing, OFA certification, champion or similar bloodlines with full breeding rights.
• $6350+ Annual ASPCA average cost of dog ownership for 5 years. This is on the low end for this breed and I can assure you most breeders spend much more due to higher quality food, supplements, extra medical visits and more. This number represents the 2.5 years of care for both the male and female dog prior to their becoming eligible for breeding under the current recommended breeding protocol.
• $600+ The breeder will have paid a minimum of $300 per dog for additional heart, eye and related OFA exams. This number is likely higher for quality breeders that test their dogs annually, get echocardiograms and/or use breed specific testing such as MRI's when recommended by their vet. 
• $400+ AKC registration, DNA and related testing to screen for genetic issues in both dogs and other OFA registration fees related to the same.
• $200+ Additional veterinary care for pregnant female. Again, this is a low estimate and only includes one ultrasound and assumes no complications. A bitch who has to undergo a C-section will incur costs between $800 - $3000.
• $14,550 Total investment the breeder has in two dogs at 2.5 years.

 
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:

1. You cannot determine if a puppy is fairly priced if you don’t know the history of that dog, that breeder and whether or not they are actually incurring the expenses mentioned. See our post on initial questions to ask. 
2. Someone charging $3000 for a high-quality pet only AKC registered Cavalier King Charles Spaniel with all testing is not charging too much. They may not even be breaking even. They are entitled to charge even more for a true show quality dog or if you want full breeding rights.
3. Someone charging $800 for a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel is cutting corners. They may be skipping the medical testing (hence the high occurrence of heart issues in this breed), overbreeding their bitch, inbreeding, feeding low quality food, etc. You will have to ask the right questions to figure out how they are capable of doing this but the fact is that it’s simply not possible to breed a healthy quality dog for this price. This is a huge red flag and one not to be ignored. Just because someone else got a healthy dog for $500 does not mean you will be that lucky. It's also likely that person's puppy isn't old enough to have been diagnosed with the issues that will inevitably occur.
4. Someone charging a lot is not an indicator that they are a quality breeder. In fact, you should ask just as many questions of an expensive breeder as you do of the discount dog. There are a lot of puppy mills and breeders with bad reputations who are simply taking advantage of your willingness to pay. Get what you pay for! Do not purchase an expensive dog from someone who refuses to answer your questions, claims they don't share their pedigrees or acts insulted that you are asking about health testing. 
5. An inexpensive puppy with no health testing, OFA certification or pedigree that can be researched will cost you much more in future medical expenses than a high-quality puppy with a reputable breeder and a solid health guarantee.
6. If you’re shopping for a hybrid breed, this scenario still applies but the original costs of the dogs may change (poodles are often less of an investment); however, this is where it really does matter if you are getting an F1 or other generation hybrid. F1 is the highest quality and therefore the most expensive. Understand the difference. 

 
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!

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