I have recently (3 weeks old) bred a litter of 14 gorgeous Flattie pups, I have sold all but 4 of them as I came upon some oppisition regarding the price I am selling them for, I understand the going rate is £500-£550 but as I am looking for something other than your average pet owner and my puppies are gorgeous I am thinking of charging £700. I dont think this is too much to ask, after all I have reared these babies and I think that if these potential owners are willing to spend that bit extra then they are that bit committed?
For obvious reasons I am not going to give details on this litter but I would like opinions please? Do people aggree that we need to increase prices for the good of the breed?

Just because people can/will pay more does not make them a good owner.

JMO

I am not a breeder so cannot give you a point of view as one. Nor do I know much about FCRs. However, if I was looking for a pup (of any breed) and saw two litters of equivalent quality but one breeder was charging £200 more than the going rate, I might be inclined to think they were in it for the money. That is just my opinion, though.

I also agree with Liberty, the ability to pay more is no indication of a person's suitablility as an owner.

there are good prospective puppy owners out there who will scrimp and save every penny tp purchase a good dog, (whatever the breed) and put a some money aside for unexpected emergencies.  There are also the prospective purchasers who have money to burn, so how do you come to the conclusion that a wealthier person will be the better owner????  My puppy prices are on a par with most of the top breeders in the showworld, (in my breed) I have no reason to assume that charging an extra £200 is going to bring me a better owner.

Please do not join the band of moneygrabbing breeders who exploit the breed for financial gain. You may also find that overcharging will bring your name into ill repute. 

I agree entirely.  In our breed there is a going rate and everyone pretty well charges the same to within £50, makes life a lot easire when swapping enquiries between breeders when noit enough of one sex available or too few pups.

Hi guest,

I agree completely with the other posters re. willingness or ability to pay an inflated price is certainly no guarantee of a better standard of owner and IMO puts out the wrong signals to prospective purchasers about your own motives for charging so much more than what is a well known and established average price amongst well respected breeders.

As to

>Do people aggree that we need to increase prices for the good of the breed?

If anything I'd say increasing puppy prices by ridiculous amounts in any breed is likely to be detrimental as it would only encourage the ill thought and irresponsible breeding for making money - which I'm sure you know is not something any genuine custodian of their much loved breed would want to see happening.  Regards, Teri :)

>Do people aggree that we need to increase prices for the good of the breed?

On the contrary - if extortionate prices are charged, unscrupulous people buy them to jump on the bandwagon and try to make a fast buck. I'm assuming your pups are Champion sired out of a Champion bitch to justify charging so much over the odds, especially when I'm told there's a glut of FCR litters around, and many people have pups unsold at several months of age.

Please explain why it is "for the good of the breed" to inflate the price.

All you are doing is exploiting our lovely breed - there are plenty of lovely and very well bred puppies (ie parents are Champions) who are sold for the "national average price".

Also - you can not guarantee what those puppies are going to turn out like.  Yes - they all look gorgeous at 3 weeks and to the unitiated eye they will always look gorgeous.  But - what have your puppies got that is not available from other well bred, well reared litters.

Becky

I also feel IMO that if people start over charging (for the good of the breed?) that a lot of good owners will be forced into buying from not so good breeders.

I would imagine that your puppy buyers who have already paid for their pup know you are charging £700? If not many of them might think twice and you might have more than 4 left to sell!

I used to work in rescue, and one dog we rescued was from a millionaire's home. They had gone off and left the dog alone. Somebody got in and fed the dog and gave it water. Then the estate agents turned up and said the family had decided they didn't want the house and had said to the estate agent everything there was to be "got rid of". So the estate agent called the rescue and we went to collect the poor bitch. Money was no object to this family they could not have cared less about the dog, it was just like a piece of household rubbish, disposable!

Rather than protecting the breed this seems to be a money making exercise, and I don't think anyone from any breed would agree with your comments about protecting the breed or the puppies. I know several people who have had to scrimp and save for a dog and they spend all their spare time with that dog. Every penny they earn has been lavished on the dog as well. They will go without food to make sure the dog is fed well. Your generalisations are not well thought out, perhaps it is because you are an inexperienced breeder?

Inflating prices to £700 is only going to do one thing and one thing only ........ ENCOURAGE PUPPY FARMING!!!

The only people who are going to buy inflated priced pups are those who think that they may be in for a lt of money when they breed their dog!!

Most of the breeders in my breed charge around the same price as everyone else thankfully and I think that it's good for the breed that many people do.

People with more money are not necessarily better owners because they have more money. Often, they are too busy in their high-flying jobs to spend the time with the pups.

When clients tell me what they paid for their pups and it is a ridiculous price, then I am very quick to tell them what an unscrupulous breeder that person is and to spread the word around.

My FCR came from very good and PROVEN lines and I did not have to pay more for her. In fact, I was so confident in my breeder (this is after seeing 3 litters) that I didn't even bother to ask the price, since I knew she was very conscientious. As it turns, the price was the average for a FCR.

Please don't join the money-grabbing club of breeders. It won't do you any good in the long term.

However, perhaps the dam or sire are field-trial champions???

Cheers,
Patty

I totally agree with the above posters, I really cant understand why you would want to charge more than the going rate other than to make more money.  Most puppies are gorgeous at three weeks, what makes yours better?  I would really be very interested to know.  My flatcoat is extremely well-bred by an experienced, well-known breeder.  She charged the going rate and, quite frankly, would not have let us have a puppy for £20,000 if she didn't think we would love and look after her - we felt honoured to be trusted to have her.  If I bred a litter and the choice of owners was between an 'average pet owner' who would look after, love, train and stimulate a puppy but could only pay £500 and one who I didn't feel would offer a good home but could afford £1000 I don't think I would have much trouble choosing. (What is an average pet owner anyway, I think once you've had a flatcoat nothing is quite 'average' again!!)

>If I bred a litter and the choice of owners was between an 'average pet owner' who would look after, love, train >and stimulate a puppy but could only pay £500 and one who I didn't feel would offer a good home but could afford >£1000 I don't think I would have much trouble choosing.

I had an absolutely PERFECT home lined up for my last litter. Experienced in the breed, everything I wanted -but they could not afford the full price at that moment in time. (Which didn't mean they couldn't afford possible vet fees etc.) So I sold the pup for less. The right home matters most.

Marianne

Totally agree and good for you.  I bet you're still in touch and enjoying hearing about your puppy, it's just such a shame that money is the main object for some people.

Benefiting the breed? All you're benefiting is yourself with some extra money in your pocket. What a stupid way to look at things. Like previous replies, the higher the price does not indicate the better owner. Is this your first litter as your silly remarks indicate you haven't got a clue.
Surely the important thing to you is that your pups find the best home you can where they will be loved and have a great life. It doesn't matter if they're pedigree sired by the greatest of the great or a little crossbreed.
Any responsible person would want the best for their little ones.
I paid a fair amount for my lovely dogs which was in line with what the breed was selling for. However if they had been £200 higher I would have lost out as I only had a certain amount put aside for the puppy and all the initial costs. Am I a bad owner? Well the second puppy came from the same place. I have become great friends with my breeder and the only thing I've been accused of is being to soft and spoiling them.
Here's how you improve the breed. DON'T BE A BREEDER!!!!! It doesn't need people like you!!

OOOh nearly £10,000 from one litter even if you take £2,000 for stud fee etc that still leaves £8,000 earnings so I do hope you are declaring the income to the taxman !

Good for the breed ? nope Good for your pocket yep(even less tax)works out as over £450 a week before tax from mating to sale!

Also noticed that guest seems to have no plans on keeping any of the pups, so would assume this litter is purely for financial purposes :(

Why don't you ring Mrs Johnson - litter Secretary for the Flatcoated Retriever Society.  Providing the parents are hip and eye tested you will be able to put your puppies on her register and find these so called "special owners".

I am very confident that she will be able to give you some extremely salient advise as to a sensible price to charge.

Her telephone number is 01638 718231.

Regards
Becky

I have a feeling that we're being wound up here, but hope I'm wrong.

Anyhow, do phone up Mrs Johnson, O.P. - I'm sure she will help you with the value of your pups!

Jo and the Casblaidd Flatcoats