I am interested in a particuliar breed.... Dogue de Bordeaux.  And I have been carefully watching prices for about two months.  For such a "rare breed", there seems to be an abundance for sale all over my local paper (Ad-Mag) and internet sites.. epupz and planetpetz (not sure if its okay to mention names if it's not feel free to edit).  What is confusing to me is, breeders seem to price the puppies as if everyone is interested in showing them.  I simply want a dogue de bordeaux puppy... and have no interest in showing it. (I also use to have this breed, so not new to breed, I am replacing my beloved Tiger Lily, who was also a DDB).  I have visited at least 12 breeders in the last few weeks... and am quite surprised.  Some places are obviously puppy mills (one lady told me to pardon the appearance of her house, but that she was fitting her kitchen with the profits from this litter... she also showed my parts of the house that a previous litter bought for her).  I've done my research and i'm surprised how many breeders could not tell me a hip score.. one person said.. "You're the third person to ask me about that hip stuff.."!  Another place was what appeared to be a half million dollar property and neither of the breeders worked full time.  They had 43 puppies for sale!! At a price of 900 pounds each! And sold more than half of them. (i still dismiss any notions that breeders do not make more profit than lost, unless someone can tell me it cost more that 43,000 pounds to breed 5 bitches) I'm not poor, but not rich either.. some of the prices have been amazing.  If you look on epupz you will see pups in london going for 500 pounds and some in leicestershire going for 1500!!  This makes itconfusing for me.  (My Tiger Lily, i did not pay for, it was given to me as a gift).  The people selling dogs for 500 pounds this week were selling them for 850 last week!!  My conclusion... and it's not based on much... is that breeders maybe hope to cash in on the christmas market, but if they get desperate, they will sell at whatever price they can get.  Honestly, i was going to treat myself for christmas... i have no kids and i live alone and having just bought a house with a bit of property, i thought it was time to replace Tiger Lily.  (I've read on these forums about christmas puppies... ive lurked for two months... just give me a break tho'... ).  Am i naive to think that the price will drop in January?  My neighbor has been looking for a Shar-Pei and believes that breeders are jacking up the prices as well for the holidays... Any thoughts...

It would not surprise me in the least if puppies from these sort of breeders are more expensive at Christmas so although the prices may well fall in January that does not get away from the fact that they are not really the sort of breeder that is likely to supply you a fine healthy puppy at whatever cost.  This breed appear to only have a provisional Breed Club but they should still be able to help you find a breeder that will have the best interests of their puppies and you :) in their hearts at hopefully a realistic price

Thanks Isabel i have been in touch with them.  And have called a few breeders.  I am actually going to there event in Coventry in two weeks as well

Yep. Find a breeder you like who health tests and has the occasional litter for the right reasons (ethical reasons!) and pay what they are asking for the right aged puppy.

You will find pups may go down in price as they grow older, go up in price with demand, go down in price if the breeder has too many, go up in price if supply is short. A GOOD breeder should have a consistant pricing policy in line with the Breed Club recommendations :)

Reputable breeders do not change their prices according to the time of year and most sell within a particular band.

It is also rare for good breeders to allow dogs to go to homes at Xmas for their welfare etc.

Breeds can go in and out of fashion and prices vary according to what people are prepared to pay, after all if no one was prepared to pay the price, then the price would have to be lowered.

There are people who raise "cash crops"  but it is easy to sort out the wheat from the chaff by getting in touch with the appropriate breed club who can direct you to members who abide by their codes of ethics/conduct and carry out the relevant health checks.

I have to add that although for most of you it's probably easy to distinguish reputable breeders vs non reputable... it can be hard for novices.  For example, each breeder shows you a pedigree.  (as a sidenote, half the dogue's in this country must be related... everyone mentions a dog name "hooch" or "regedit".  Then they go on and on about lines and such... (honestly i would pay less for a dogue without a pedigree.. im not into breeding and will not show).  They impress you with thier knowledge.. or lack of and you leave feeling as if you've just met the most knowledgeable person when it comes to dogs... EXCEPT..... When i say that i will have to visit other breeders and will not be leaving a deposit.  Fire is not really as bright in some of their eyes then.  I can't smear all breeders.  I've been in contact with one from this forum (I didn't even know she belong to this forum but put a few of her posts together and she seems to know her thing).  I just hope you guys could understand a person's frustration when it comes to the prices of some dogs. I know the fellows in London probably have no problem dishing out 1500 pounds but not all of us inherited property, lol!!

We do realise that it is hard for novices that is why we always say seek guidance from a breed club.  I certainly would not get an unregistered dog (all dogs have a pedigree, this is just a family tree, doesn't even have to be the same breeds in it :))  Registration of a pure breed is of value to all pet owners as well as breeders and showers.  It give pretty good confirmation of what the actual pedigree is and, although possible for unregistered dogs, is most often an assurance that the appropriate health screening has been carried out.  Of course this only applies to Kennel Club registration with has a very long established data base to support it other registries will accept any registration without any checks against a data base.

I would be very suspicious of people selling them for £500.  I think the going rate is between £1,000 to £1,500 for the DDB (not that I agree with this price in some cases).

If I was you I'd go with reputable breeders who KC register their dogs, hip score their dogs as this is a very big problem with DDB's and also see all the dogs that they have as temperament is also a big factor.

You will need to contact the DDB Club to find out reputable breeders, sorry but I don't know their details.

I keep an eye on the prices of pups of my breed just to feed my curiosity.  The price for my breed varies by only £150 from those I've seen advertised on epupz and CD boards.  Interestingly those kennels that breed champion after champion and who are well known and respected in their breed circle do not charge the top price from what I've seen so far.  Top price doesn't mean top dog necessarily.  I have learnt so much since buying my dog and know exactly where I would go now to buy another pup. 

I started by going through the Kennel Club website to find breeders.  I was lucky I have to admit because one breeder recommended another and that's how I acquired by pup and she is lovely and sound.  What I didn't realise then was that being KC registered doesn't necessarily equate to a good breeder.  A better start would be what the people on this forum usually recommend and that is that you go to the breed club because that narrows the search for a good breeder further still.  They will know which reputable breeders to put you in touch with.  

You say that you don't want a show dog but those breeders that do show their dogs are usually extremely concerned about health and welfare of their dogs.  So buying from a show breeder should pose no probelms when asking to see certificates regarding health checks. In fact they should be pleased that you ask because it shows that you too are interested in the health and welfare of the puppy.  Not all breeders that show dogs have dogs that are suitable for show and these are good quality pets.

edited to say that puppies should not vary in price according to the time of year.  Perhaps it would be better to wait until after Christmas anyway as this will give you a chance to properly research the best breeders to approach.

Well, ive called the breed club, and they sort of do a backwards confirmation.  According to the secretary, i believe i spoke to Carol.  Rarely does anyone call up to say anything nice, but rather to complain about the breeder.  But when i mention this particuliar breeder, she was very familiar with the person and said that there has never been any complaints about her.  So, im heading in the right direction.  Thanks.

On a side note... what do breeders fell like when they see thier breed being sold next to another ad for 400 or 500 pounds less?  Sometimes, i scan the ads, and wonder how the guy who is advertising today for 1300 pounds completes with the older ad for 600 pounds, you know?  As a novice interested person, and im sure im not alone.  The first thing i do is sort by price...

Unfortunately many people do put price first and then end up with a dog that was cheap for the initial purchase but which works out incredibly expensive in the long run.

True Story

Some time ago someone asked my specific advice about a breeder from whom they were planning to buy a pup.  Knowing that this "breeder" was not a member of any of the breed clubs and that they bred from underage bitches, and had up to six litters a bitch etc not to mention that I had seen specimens with long term health problems the words "touch" "barge" and "pole" came to my lips.

However, unfortunately although people may seek advice, you cannot force them to take it.

One year on and this dog has been very ill for a long time and had many expensive operations etc costing thousands of pounds.

And all because this person chose to ignore my advice.

I feel sad for them but it was their decision, no one put a gun to their head and I had no agenda other than the best interests of the prospective purchaser and the breed.

Good breeders know that their reputations are worth more than £sd and they do not "compete" as such with each other.

I'm not a breeder but when I was looking for our current dog I went through the Golden Retrievers breed club who put me in touch with some breeders.  All of the breeders charged roughly the same price (varied by £50 or so) and that seems to be the case with other breeds.  The reputable breeders seem to charge similar prices, the other thing I found was that they were not particularly expensive compared with some of the "less" reputable breeders, I did see an ad for GR cross Poodle puppies that were about £200 more than kc registered Goldens.  If you are looking for a certain breed I'd always go via the breed clubs you are much more likely to get a healthy dog and you are likely to be paying a reasonable price for it.  If you want a cross breed go to a rescue it'll be much cheaper!

Could you give me the details of the Breeder you are on about, as i am also looking to get a DDB.

Many thanks

If you click on the link at the top of this thread it will take you to the provisional Breed Club who would be the best people to put you in touch with ethical breeders.

Thanks for that , i have phoned Carol and she recomend looking at the Hip score of the parents and checking their health, if the parents are heathy the pups willl generally be.

She said the best thing to do is to find a breeder have a chat to them and then she will let me know if she has had any complaints against them.

Not a problem in my breed as we all try to stick to the same price so you would not expect to find more than about £50 difference. 

The price has been £500 for about 3 years now, so most I have spoken to are going to charge £550 for their pups next year.

The general consensus is that we charge a realisitc price for the costs and work involved in rearing our pups, and sticking to the same price means it makes things much easier when exhchanging puppy enquiries to ensure people get the puppy then want.

We are not in competition with each other regarding puppy sales rather wanting to encourage new people into owning our lovley breed, if uit is likely they and the breed are compatible.

That's exactly what we do in our breed as well brainless. It makes a lot of sense I think. Very similar price as well.

Could you give me the name of the Breeder ?

Vodaberry will not be able to tell you on the board because of the TOS.  If you click on their name you can send a private message and they will see that if they look at the message board at all whether or not they come back to this thread.

Whats TOS ?

Terms of service, in other words the rules and regs of this site.

Dawn R.

Oh silly me.

Thanks