Hi. I love this site and i was hoping that you might help resolve an argument between myself and my friend. We were discussing which breed of dog is the most expensive on average to buy as a puppy. My friend thinks it will be a large or giant breed, but i think it could possibly be a smaller one! We both have dogs, so we both think we know what we are talking about!!! Ha Ha Ha!! Could anyone please settle this dispute??? :-) :-)

Well the most expensive breed that I have seen is the British Bulldog, I have seen puppies for anything from £1,800 to £2,000. I could buy about 5 puppies of my breed for that!!!!!!

I have also seen chihuahuas for over £700 and they are the smallest dog, but have seen Irish Wolfhounds for £650 and they are the biggest!!!!!

I would say the Bulldog too - I have known them to be between £1200 - £2000 depending on the breeder so a varying amount but still very very expensive! Not sure what would closely follow this but I do think it depends on the breed rather than the size.

Harlie Great Dane - can go for £3K upwards!

Wow, thats alot of money for a puppy, I once saw a lab for sale and he had been made up to a field trial champion and they were asking about the same price!!!

Is this because harlequins are so hard to breed? I read that somewhere, might even had been on here can't remember now!

I have just bought a Mastiff puppy a few weeks ago, and i paid £1500. When i was researching this seemed to be the going rate.

Coton de Tulear, up to £2,000  !! I think that this is unbelievable myself. 

I've imported a new breed myself so I know what goes into it, but I would never ask such a high amount for my breed.  Myself and friends who originally imported our breed decided to keep the price low so that hopefully the right kind of people would buy them.  Doesn't always work and you will get people who think differently and will only come into it for the money but I'm glad that I stuck to my guns and didn't put a high price tag on my breed.

I hope I don't offend the people who have Coton de Tulear's or of course the other breeds that charge a high price because I don't mean to but these are my feelings ONLY!

I agree, I think some people see the prices of these puppies and think they can make a good profit breeding them,I saw some bulldog puppies for sale at £2,000 and they had 7 pups for sale, thats £14,000 total, thats more than some people earn in a year working 40hrs a week. I have noticed a lot more bulldog puppies for sale in my area over the past year.

I mean no offence to any reputable bulldog breeders who may be reading!!!!

£3000 is also not unheard of for Bulldogs :)

"£3k is not unheard of" well I have never seen any pups for that price! You should expect to pay £1500 - £2000 for a bulldog puppy from a reputable breeder, but no more. You are being ripped off if paying more than that.IMO.

You are being ripped off if paying £1500 - £2000 for a bulldog IMO!

I do hope the OP isn't trying to find out which breed is the most lucrative.

In some ways I agree Chloe, but they are not an easy dog to breed (not going into this one now!) and that is the going rate, so if you want one, that is what you pay :-) It is like anything, the price is set at what everyone charges, the breed clubs have been trying to get the price down but if that is what the breeders charge, then they all do (if you know what I mean). And yes I wanted one so I paid the price, it was my desicion and if he had cost any less I would have doubted the breeders experience and reputabilty (sp?)

It is dificult for good breeders to go against the flow too, as if they feel the price is too high and they charge less then people will think their pups are substandard as well as causing problems for them among their peers.

Brainless you are so right.  There are a number of people in my breed who are now charging between 3 and £400 more than I am.  I am going to stick to my principles and continue to charge the lower prices.  If people are fooled into thinking that paying a higher price is the best way unfortunately there's not a lot that I can do about it!!  In my breed about 80% are from the same lines so the argument of you pay for the best I feel is not quite right (by this I mean that as they are nearly all the same bloodlines this does not apply).

Sorry, but paying more doesn't always mean that you are getting THE BEST.  The dog that I've just used is a Sp. Ch. and I won't be charging any more for his pups than I will be if I used a dog that wasn't a champion.

I'd suggest the price is set at what folks are prepared to pay in most cases. Its a sellers market.

I'd have to agree even if you had a C section and a singletone puppy each time that would easily cover the costs.

Our imported dog cost us £3000 to buy and get through quarantine, so I cannot see the justification for such a price unless the dog is already a Champion? and even then I would use him at stud rather than buy him or have a puppy from her if uit were a biitch.

I agree with husky and think that the op is trying to find out which dogs are the most lucrative to breed from.

Warm regards

In that case they have worded the question wrongly since if breed 'x' sells for £500-600 but produces 10-12 pups in an average litter and whelps easily on its own and breed 'y' sells for £2000 but averages 2-3 pups per litter and often needs assistance then then its not the expensive breed that is the most profitable
Archer

Well said Archer, that is exactly right.:-)

Tigerlily

There are Bulldogs out there that people are paying £3000 for, belive me! I have known some people pay a lot more than 3k.