Hi,
   I was wondering why do dogs seem to be so expensive? Most i've seen have been around 400 pounds. I really want a dog and i know the expences don't stop once you've bought the puppy but i'm not sure if i can afford one?

                                   Thanks

£400 is probably quite cheap guest when you consider some of the larger and rarer breeds as well as some of the tiniest toy breeds can cost double and treble that. I like your responsible attitude though as you are obviously weighing up the costs of pet ownership without rushing in, which is to be commended.
Why not save up for a puppy whilst contacting breeders of your chosen breed until you find the breeder who has a litter planned which might suit you, that way it will be something really worth waiting for and you will love your puppy even more and feel they are really special because you will have worked so hard to get the money to pay for the pup :-)

Of course if you just want a nice pet dog, theres always the option of a crossbreed or mongrel, most of which cost much less than £400 :-)

dogs are expensive but you could always go to the animal shelter. You still have to pay a fee but it won't cost as much and there are a lot of dogs needing a good home and who will give you as much love . Hope you find what you are looking for.

Yes, they are expensive - many breeds cost well over the price you have quoted, but hopefully your companion will be with you for at least 12 years, and no price can be put on the amount of love and loyalty you will be given in those years.

The reason for why pedigree dogs are expensive is that properly bred ones cost an awful lot to rear -before even considering breeding the bitch (and dog) is shown and/or worked to ensure she is of good enough quality to breed from, then both the parents have to have had the relevant health tests which usually involves x-rays (for hips, sometimes elbows as well), eye tests etc, a stud fee has to be paid, the bitch owner often have to travel far to get to the stud, and more than once as well. The puppies have to be reared well on good quality food (and the bitch needs a lot of extra food whilst pregant and nursing), have to be wormed several times, registered etc etc, you will most likely end up with vet fees for the bitch, all sorts of equipment is necessary, people who work will need time off to care for the puppies -the list is endless really, so caring breeders do not make a lot of money, quite the opposite. Those however that cut corners by not doing health testing, not using the best possible stud for their bitch, they do make money -but instead produce dogs that often end up unhealthy with lifelong problems.

Marianne

To rear a pedigree pup cost a lot.  Each pup for me will cost some £250 to £300 to rear.  They are sold at £500, hardly a large sum for the amount of work involved over at least 8 weeks sicne their birth.  any surplus over the rearing costs helps offset some of the not inconsiderable costs of keeping a breeding line (in my case 5 well spaced female generations and a quarter share in a dog imported from abroad and put through quarantine).

Sadly there are also puppy producers who charge the sme and yet do things on the chep.  They make no investment in theri breed, do not health test, or provide the best poossible food and facilities, yet still charge the dame or more than reputable caring breeders.

why does it cost you £300 to rear a pup if you dont mind me asking?
do your dogs have a lot of health problems? I have never had a litter of puppies that cos me as much as £300 per puppy to rear, are you feeding them cordon belu food or something ? :-) I genuinely want to know how it can be so expensive for you? Feeding costs shouldnt be so high unless your using a premium brand like hills or eukaneuba, and worming doesnt cost too much, registration is £12 each a very minimal cost, please can you tell me where the other £200 or so comes from and that is PER PUPPY (dont know how to do shocked smiley)

BB, take into account the health tests for the dam (varies according to breed), stud fee, pre- and post-natal vet checks, extra high-quality food for dam, puppies' food, puppies' pre-sale health tests, etc. My last litter (in 1999) cost me £895.10 (because I could reuse my existing whelping box, bowls, puppy pen, etc; otherwise it would have cost £1014.31). I sold three puppies at the then breed average price of £350 each ... you do the maths!

Of course, if I add in 8 weeks lost salary ...

If it costs so much less than £300 to rear a puppy, BB, can you please explain to my why bulldogs in particular cost so much???

Margot

Why do you guys bother to breed dogs if you make such a loss of money on every litter? Wouldnt you just be better going to a good breeder to get another puppy if it costs you so much to have a litter to keep one back, wouldnt it be cheaper to buy a new puppy in?
Bulldogs are notoriously expensive, because a lot of lines carry health problems and need c sections and after care, but if you get a good healthy line, theres no reason why a bulldog should cost any more than any other pup to raise, its a rip off if you ask me, thats why my partner and i went for the old tyme bulldog instead, they are twice the dog with half the health problems, and in some strains, no health problems at all. I wouldnt go back to having a pure british bulldog again knowing what I know now. The price of an old tyme bulldog is usually around £500 - 800 which is a lot less than a british bulldog, in my opinion, i wouldnt pay the prices people are asking for such a dysfunctional dog.

I am not a breeder but I am very good friends with the breeder of my current 2 dogs.

They recently took one of their bitches across to France to be covered as they wanted to bring in another French line. So far they are £2000.00 out of pocket and will probably be at least another £1000 down by the time the pups are here.

The costs include, health checks before the mating, ie, eyes, hips etc, Pet Passporting and all that it entails, travel costs, accommodation whilst there, stud fees and now that they are back, vet checks, dietry needs and this is all before the pups will be born This isn't taking into account his loss of earnings from his day job whilst they were away, care and cost of pups for 7 weeks before going to their new homes, care for the other dogs whilst they're away, plus all of the whelping paraphernalia that they already have.

Touch wood, the birth will go well and as the breed is on the whole, extremely healthy, this is quite normal when you are as dedicated as they are to improving the breed.

They have often said that he wouldn't have to work as hard and as many hours as he does if they didn't dedicate their entire lives and finances to their dogs.

I deplore anybody that thinks breeding dogs is easy and profitable. I would love to one day start showing and possible having one or two litters, but that day will probably be some 20 years off so that I can be mentored for at least another 10 and then spend the final 10 years building up my finances and making more time.

Every time your name appears in a thread, BB, I know you are going to disagree with the majority :)

Glad to hear it fillis, sometimes the majority of people can be wrong and its good to see things with your eyes wide open and not just follow along with everyone else like a sheep :-)

If you look at the total costs of rearing a litter, I include the following:-

Preliminary health check/tests at vets
Stud fee
Travelling to & from stud dog's home x 2 (or even x 3) - averaging 200 miles round trip per time
Scan fees/vet check
Wormer for bitch
Additional food for bitch
Whelping box (new for each litter)
Disinfectants, etc
Heat lamp
Vet bed
Time off work for whelping/looking after litter - 3 weeks' salary
Vet fees for checking bitch & litter after whelping
Tail docking of puppies
Additional heating costs
Additional laundry costs for vet bed
Registration fees
Wormer for bitch & puppies
Additional food for bitch and puppies
Additional cleaning materials once puppies are on their feet
Phone calls to prospective owners
Photographs of puppies for prospective owners
Vet eye check for litter
Vet check prior to leaving home
........have I left anything out????

It mounts up - and that is why we've had 2 litters in 10 years!

Margot

That is the point we have the passion to wnat to maintain and act as custodians for our breed, if we didn't do it then there would be no breeders, only puppy producers.  We do of course have to count our pennies and at least try to offset some of the costs of this life consuming hobby.

£500 to £800 a puppy for dogs where there are no registraion costs, no health scheme costs, and you question why it costs £300 a puppy to do it properly? 

I think a price 50% over the rearing costs (after all there is the lifelong after sales service to the new owners, possibley having to take dogs in to rehabilitate and re-home) is plenty to ask for a dog. 

How much do yours cost to raise, and why such a high prive for them then?

>wouldnt it be cheaper to buy a new puppy in?

Yes, much cheaper - but then your line dies out.

You say you wouldn't pay the price of a KC bulldog - but I wouldn't pay the sum you did for an unregistered dog (who won't have cost more than about £300 to rear - and you think even that sum is excessive!)!

Not directed at you BB but the bulldog prices will never " wash" with me. :-)

I have a breed who only have a few puppies on average and charge 1/4 of the price of some Bull dog puppies. Not that I think my breed should be more I just think the price of Bulldogs today is exploitation completely.  I think people are daft to pay it.

People could say they have this and that but so do most breeds. In fact breeds that require eyes, hips etc to be done probably spend more.

They are hard to real.. Hello !!! :-) most people sit of their puppies for weeks regardless of the breeds.

This is one breed the taxman should be looking at ;-) 

Here we go with a littter bred in Sept 2002.  cost me £1129.65 without reckoning in electricity washing powder, disinfectandt/bleach etc.

Stud fee (for our own dog owned in partnership so normally would ahve been double) £250, Travel to stud £50, Vet expenses for birth (eye test, Hip Scoring, Premate tests, Pregnancy diagnosis, post whelping check) £395.46, Wormer £18.02, Registration fees for pups, Tattoos, affix maintenenance fee, £113.00, Food (Puppy formula, Meat, complete) and an advert in dog press £126.71, Miscellaneous items for pups (collars, vet bed, dog care books, new heat pad, vaccinations for one pup) £101.46, £75 donation to rescue.  I haven't counted stationery printer ink, phone calls etc.

The litter was four pups of which one was kept and the 3 others were sold at £500 each.

This is fairly typical.

I should also add the ongoing costs of importing and maintaining the litters sire which above the stud fee paid when any of us has used him (this is to be fair to all the owners one of whom has no bitches to use him on) has cost each of his 4 owners £1500 each since January 2002.

Hi Guest

Yes dog's / pup's don't come cheep. I got my very first dog aged around 10 years from a family friend. He was given to me and he was a collie x,,,mongrel, mutt,,whatever. He was a great dog.

Why not go to a local rescue,,they have full pedigree dogs and also mongrel's. They will be fully vacinated / wormed / de-flea'd / nutured / micro chipped all for a very small price.

All the best in your search

Most of the items you have all listed should be one off's,such as heat lamps etc. Surely you dont pay out the huge amount for each litter?

There are only a few 'one-off' items. The rest needs to be paid out for each litter. The stud fees, the heating, the food, the vet bills etc. Again, not to mention the 8 weeks in time - two months' salary is how much?

>two months' salary is how much?<

Absolutely too much for me to ever contemplate breeding. You and/or your OH's must have well paying jobs to be able to shell out all that money and take 2 months off of work on top of it all.

No - just willing to live in near-penury! :)

Near-Penury JG, :D not even that close.  ;)

Last weekend It cost me app £1000 in stud fees and travel costs, incidentals etc, etc. Round trips totaling 1400 miles in 3 days.   My bitch has small litters for her breed, the last litter being only 3, so no way do I ever recover costs.  That is not what breeding is all about!!!  And that is only assuming she is now pregnant!!!!

Heat light - ok - we could have got away with the one used 8 years earlier - but would you risk an electrical appliance that hadn't been used for 8 years?   We preferred not to take the chance (and in fact, sold the one bought for the last litter immediately after using it for the litter).

I preferred to use a new whelping box, for hygiene reasons and yes, I bought NEW vet bed, again for the same reasons.   Would you risk all second-hand stuff for a new-born baby?

Margot

> Would you risk all second-hand stuff for a new-born baby?<

I used the same cots,blankets,beds etc. with my kids :) They were still as good as new from my first child,i did the same with the newborn clothes that they grew out of in weeks

Many of us will give the bedding to the new puppy owners.  All mine get a piece big enough to line a basket.  Yes a heat pad may last to the next litter but then soemthing else may need to be bought or replaced, or other costs incurred.

My next litter will be a maiden bitch.  Will be using a stud at the other end of the country (what is the distance sunderland to Bristol anyone?).  Will be travelling more than once or staying over.

Her next litter may well necesitate me taking her abroad, glad I will have two years to save.

Dont forget we are talking about giving birth in the box/on the bedding. It is not quite the same as clothes passed from one baby to the next - much more messy and likely to cause infection.

Not to mention that they will pee and poo on it :D

Then add in the cost of keeping the bitch all her life ! After all without the bitch there would be no puppies

Yep that is why the pup should cost a reasonable amount more than it's rearing costs :D

I was just thinking exactly the same Hailey. I also notice things like washing powder etc are noted, surely I wouldnt have thought washing powder would have been a huge expense lol, i mean you have to buy it anyway to wash your own clothes, so its only a case of a few extra tablets, or an extra box if your buying some to wash dog bedding like vet bed etc. I use shredded newspapers so thats recycles them as well as saving money.
I think some of the people who have quoted costs here have added on one-off purchases, and things they would normally pay for anyway, such as electricity and washing powder. I still cant see how some people can say £300 per pup I think thats just a way of breeders trying to justify their own breeding, while trying to put other people off doing the same by saying it costs a lot of money (yes it costs money but not that much :rolleyes: and i think some breeders do this to make it sound as though they dont breed for any financial gain whatsoever. Hmmmm I think not :-)

If you notice I emtioned that this was NOT FACTORED IN, :D  Dauly washing of bedding will increase not only the Electricity (I would hardly mix the dogs washing with my own) but of course the use of detergenets and disinfectants :D

Tell me of the detailed breakdown I gave apart from the bitches Hip score and the new Heat pad which were one off costs?

These would easily be outweighed if I had payed the normal full stud fee of (£500 instead of £250) for that mating.

There was no mention of the costs of a kennel and run for older pups to be able to have outside shelter during the day, the costs of whelping box, puppy pen etc etc., these were all the loss in my first litter and replacements factored into litters since.

Yes pups can be bred for less ...but not properly!!Cost for a second litter from a bitch are slightly less since hip scores etc are one off expenses.
I also,would never pay £500-800 for a non recognised breed...which is to all intents and purposes a mongrel.How can you say that they have little or no health issues if no health tests are performed and if dogs aren't registered how can the health issues be documented and acknowledged within the 'breed'?
Archer

Obviously you must be judging by your own criteria as you have said yur dogs are sold for £500 to £800 yet cost a lot less to rear than mine???

Now I have given you a detailsed breakdown of a typical litter with minimla one off expenses added in.

I have had a litter of 7 cost me £1800, and pups were then £450.  Not overpriced by my reckoning.

You haven't given a breakdown of yoru own breeding costs to show us where we are being overly extravagant.

  I love Olde Tyme Bulldogs and did go to see a beautiful litter last year, Dam was absolutley amazing and the stud dog was like nothing on this earth I have ever seen before he was just gorgeous, plain and simply :)  He was one of the best looking dogs I have seen period!!! :)

The price of these puppies was a reasonable £450.00 and there were blues and blacks in that litter, all the same price! :)  The breeders were really nice hospitable people with a true love for their breed.

£500 to £800 is a lot of money for an Olde Tyme Bulldog when I saw an outstanding litter last year for a lot less than you quoted.  I was very tempted to take one of those pups from the litter I went to see, but I had a Corso whom was still a puppy so realised I would have my work cut out :)

I can carry on hoping that they will breed again in the near future and produce a litter of equal quality to the one I saw last year :)

My last two litters saw me so much out of picket my youngest 2 I have bought.  It was cheaper for me. Honestly.

I have never even broke even except my very first litter where I had 6 pups.

I do think guest that some breeds are sadly over priced though. most breeds can be bought for between £450 and £750.

Whatever you decide make sure you go through the breed club.

Just to add... (I'm no breeder btw) non-reputable breeders have no reason to charge as much as reputable ones as they do not do all they should e.g. health tests, worming, registering, etc etc. So when you do buy a pup, go to a reputable one as they have good reason to be charging this amount and you will be getting more from your money.

Sorry archer think we replied at the same time :) and posted pretty much the same :)

If you take into consideration how much it costs to keep the mums in the peak of fitness it is not a lot.  I know that pet owners have to pay all vet bills etc but there is a lot more involved with all the extras for a mum to be.  I personally charge a lot for my puppies as I think if people can afford the price of my puppies then they wont have too many problems with vets bills etc.  One of purdys numerous accidents cost me £1800 to have put right. 

At the end of the day while £400 which seems very low for a pedigree dog to me is a lot of money in the scheme of things is not a lot I have spent more than that on one car repair bill and it has not given me even a fraction of the pleasure my dogs have. :)

I paid the average price for a pup of the breed. To me it was an awful lot of money but no more than I would spend for a one week holiday abroad. I will do without my holiday this year. Simple. I will hopefully have the dog for many years so missing out on one holiday is no sacrifice at all.

Ah now holidays are something I don't ahve as can't afford to have someone look after the dogs.  Kenneling for 5 woudl be more than I would pay for a holiday :D

I have done the odd overnight trip to a show woth the dogs, with the ones left at home being seen to by doggy owning neighbour.

That's why I get house-sitters in, Brainless! It's much cheaper than kennels for that number. (Though now I put pressure on the son to do the dog-sitting for me. I can relax more with the professionals though!)

Even housesitters beyond my budget :D  Luckily offspring no 1 workign and pays for own hols now, adn younger one can often be sent of with Grandad :D  I would miss the dogs.  My holiday this year was my weekend away at HoundAssociation of Scotland, and last year the ocernight coach to St Patricks (no hotel to pay as travelled overnight). :D