How can pet breeders justify charging hundreds and even thousands of dollars/quid for pedigree dogs?

Question

Who frickin' decides what the breed standard is? All these supposed "lovers of dogs"? Who do it purely for the love and not for all the cash? And their the first ones to cry out against puppy farms(which I DO NOT ADVOCATE)but should they not bear some of the responsibilty?(Sure hurts their market share, doesnt it?) I mean hell, its a profitable racket, isnt it? Who made it that way? They dont carry or birth the pups themselves? So why do purebred animals cost so incredibly much money??????????????????????????????? Is it not enough to provide them with loving homes? And the margin is sickening. You can get a fully spayed/neutered and vaccinated dog from one of the hundreds of thousands of animal shelters around the world for less than a hundred US dollars. So these "papered" dogs are worth ten times as much? Feel free to disagree, I would love a genuine reason for this phenomenom? Why ounce for ounce some dogs are worth more than GOLD?

And while im in a ranting mood(have had a terrible day, should be in bed) Is it even morally comprehensible that people pay that kind of money for a dog? With all the problems in the world today, and i always quote this cuz it my favorite fact 1/3 OF THE WORLD HAS NO ACCESS TO CLEAN WATER but hey, the westerners have money to burn to GENETICALLY ENGINEER DOGS. You think god meant for them weiner dogs to have them big long bodies and little *** legs? I was just informed by a veterinary professional that its good to spend 1800 bucks on a dog cuz its been prescreened for genetic disorders.....hmmmm......i wonder if once all morality is gone and we can legally do that with our own human children will we be able to buy them? If by that point anyone can afford them.

Are only well-off people good pet owners? Poor people cant love dogs? **** even most middle class people aint paying a months wages for a dog, not the ones i know anyhow. Not unless it does the laundry.

You dog-people are ignorant. Let us all pray for the end of the world, im happy to die as long as you go too. This whole....dogs are equal to people ****, jesus. And just a wee note to the obnoxious answer about how gold costs 600 bucks an ounce, you're gettin ripped off by your jeweler as well, douche bag.

Answer 1

sorry, didn't finish reading your diatribe; just to answer your question: as long as people pay those exorbitant prices, animal traders will charge them
don't get a dog from a breeder or a pet store;know where it is coming from
if dog ownership were truly about love and companionship, there'd be no such concept as breeds; they are all dogs

Answer 2

The members of a breed club decides the wording of a standard. These members are show breeders and they generally make little or nothing on their dogs.

"pofitable racket"??? Some breeders spend HOURS and HOURS just studying pedigrees before even making the decision to breed. It can cost THOUSANDS to get a championship! Then you have health testing, which can also get very expensive depending on the breed. Then you have a stud fee of $700 - 1500. Traveling to the stud, or an AI which can be about $1000. Then you have the possibility of a c-section. And theres Vet care and quality feed for the babies, not to mention checkups for the dam. ***WHY*** the ***HELL*** should my puppies cost the same as some idiot who was just to stupid to keep their pet from getting pregnant, with NO thought, NO health testing, NO decent care, and NO EXPENSES!!!

Quit ranting about things you know nothing about!!! I WORK so that I can AFFORD to show/breed!!! Considering that gold is currently somewhere around $600 an ounce that would make a 8lb puppy something like $70,000? Your right, that IS an awfully expensive puppy!!!


"I was just informed by a veterinary professional that its good to spend 1800 bucks on a dog cuz its been prescreened for genetic disorders.....hmmmm......i wonder if once all morality is gone and we can legally do that with our own human children"

Ya, NEWS FLASH! Its called genetic counseling!



Anchor cranker - "Get a mongrel.... they don't have the genetic defects that are delibrately bred into some of the so called pedigree lines"

WHAT are you talking about!!! LOL!!!


Soobee - "if dog ownership were truly about love and companionship, there'd be no such concept as breeds; they are all dogs"

SOME people like knowing how the personality of their dog will be, as well as what it will look like. Did you know that different breeds have very different personalities? Not to mention I don't think a generic dog will be very good at what I like to do with my dogs, I can just see a Poodle cross bouncing along after a lure. I am sure many hunters would feel the same way. What should they do, go duck hunting with some GSD cross? LOL!!! There is more to dog ownership than just having them laying around the house, at least for some people.

Answer 3

It is far from a profitable racket!!!!!!! It is a LOSS with each and every litter!!!!!! If you are making money on breeding dogs, you are probably a backyard breeder or a puppy mill. They do not care about the breed standard, the health clearances, the health of the bit ch, puppies going to new homes with microchips,vaccines,worming,and temperment tests. They breed to make money of puppies. Good breeders do not. We breed because we love a specific breed and strive to breed better and better ones. If I could breed and get one great puppy, there would be no need to sell any. I breed only when I want another dog to add for showing or working. Not to make companions for others. There will be companion puppies though, and those are treated the same as the top show prospect and placed carefully. All puppies I have ever bred are in good homes and right now I know where each and every one is and am available to take them back anytime from now till the dog dies if need be. Like if the person does not have the money to take the dog to the vet!!!!!!!!!
Some of us enjoy the sport of dogs and enjoy a specific breed that does specific things. IF we can afford it, why not. Is it any smarter to buy a $200 purebred from a backyard breeder and have to deal with very expensive health issues?????????

I am sure it is better to have a dog that you cannot afford!!!!! I guess it does not matter what you paid for your purebred dog, because you still cannot afford to take it to the vet!! We must also remember it is not in pain though. Just limping.
That is also part or the price of a good dog. If people can pay for the dog, they are more likely to TAKE CARE OF IT!!!!
And there are a lot of people who are willing to pay a fair price for a good dog!! I have 2-5 people contacting me DAILY looking for a puppy.
A lot of people do not realize the cost that goes in to rearing a litter the RIGHT way!!! This is above and beyond the cost of showing the sire and dam,the health clearances for both of them, and the costs of the breeding and pregnancy. Then there is the cost from birth on. Not just good food, but there are all sorts of expenses!!! There is a lot of thought and effort going into each litter. If I was charging by the time I personally put into each litter, the cost would be too high for people. I can sell puppies for $2000 because they are worth it to me and MANY other people. That is just how it is.
Nobody owning a dog can preach about all the starving kids in the world, because they all spend money on the dog!1 Why don't you sell you dog, and then you do not have to take it to the vet and you can donate the money to charity!!!!!!!!

Answer 4

Probably because when you are talking about money, those breeders have spent a fortune on their dogs. Forget about the money spent to actually acquire a puppy with healthy lines, you have to get hips certified, eyes certified there are all kinds of costs involved. And if you are breeding puppies for service or K-9 dogs it adds up to even more money you spend having the puppies trained. My puppies are almost always sold before they are born. Also, I raise one or two service dogs every 2-3 years myself and train the dog. I go through all kinds of governmental agency checks because I donate those dogs to someone who needs a service animal that can't afford one. When I give that dog to the person, I've spent $1000s of dollars already on the vet checks and training, and the person that keeps that dog, never has to pay a cent for apartment deposit if required, vet bills, heartguard & frontline, the only thing they have to pay for is the dog's food. The sale of other puppies pays for the vet bills, etc., for the life of the service dog. This is not something I get rich off of, I have a regular full time job, it's something I do so people can get a quality dog, and it helps me pay for the service animals that I donate.

Also, my females have two litters in their life time usually, a few had 3, but never any more - do you have any idea how expensive it is to do that? That dog is part of my home at that point, so it's not like I would sell her because she is no longer making any money.

BTW - my dogs are not status symbols; more often than not, they get a bad rap about being children eaters or biters when in fact, they are very good around children.

Answer 5

Pure breed dogs are so expencive due to the vetereinary bills, for both the father and the mother, as well as healthchecks before, during and after pregnancy, the time involoved in finding good responsible owners, the time involved in showing training and registering the pure breed dog to prove itself to the standard.

also the standards are set by a breed clubs which have a registry, and get aproval from the parent club. The primary in the U.S. is the AKC, but there are others around the world.

The reason many shelters have a much lower cost is the fact that that do not have the over head cost for each dog. and the practice of euthanasia (putting to sleep) of dogs determined un adoptable helps to reduce the overhead. though many rescue agencies have pure breed dogs and no euthanasia policy have just as much over head and thus an adoption fee equal to some pure breed breeders.

I could go on but I have to Go....

Answer 6

All of these dogs are the creation of years of selective breeding which even now has to be kept up in order to maintain the integrity of the breeds. This means by the way that alot of dogs that are born never make it into the further breeding pool and in many cases are destroyed,it's a high waste business to breed high quality dogs in certain breeds.

Each breed has their good and bad points so what you get is entirely up to you,if all you want is a companion pet then there really is no reason to get all worked up because there are alot of pets available out there for much less money. However if you desire a specific breed then it costs you because it costs the breeder to maintain a quality bloodline. None of these animals occur in their current states,as I stated they are a product of selective breeding and many must be culled from breeding population in order to maintain proper size,shape,build etc as there is a small tendency for a breed to try and degenerate to its original form if this was not done,that is a cost which must be passed to the consumer if they want that breed.

Answer 7

When we decided to let our dog have puppies (she was a golden retriever), we were advised by the vet that dogs of this type are liable to have a problem with their hips and it would be responsible to have her 'hip scored' before we bred from her. This involved an x-ray of her hips and cost £350. We were then told that for similar reasons she should have an eye test, which also cost £350. Vacinations, Worming etc all up to date = £££ Moved to slightly better quality feed = ++ ££££ and then when we tried to find her a husband (another Golden Retriever) we couldn't find anyone locally with a Golden Retriever male who hadn't had his bits chopped off. So we had to hire a professional 'stud' dog. Cost = £750. This experience is pretty common after forking out all this cash you obviously can't guarantee puppies.

Our retriever had a fairly small litter of 4 (very beautiful) puppies - we charged £500 each for them which is slightly under the standard rate. We reckoned we made a loss. We were never in it for the money though - the puppies were gorgeous!

Less scrupulous people wouldn't bother with all these responsibilities!

Answer 8

I get all my dogs from a Humane Society, but I did work with a dog breeder all summer.

She breeds an extremely rare breed called Cirneco dell'Etna. This breed was almost wiped out during the two World Wars. The are an amazing breed.

The dog breeder I know had to charge as much as $2000 for a perfect Cirneco because her breeding stock had to be imported from out of the united states, and she pays quite a bit to show her dogs. Without showing and trials, you can't guarentee that the breeding dogs are the best. Also by charging as much as they do, they are hoping to make sure the dogs go to the best home that has the best interests in mind for the dog.

Answer 9

I think they cost so much money because they know someone will pay all that money for a puppy or kitten. Paying also makes you think you got something really good. I have seen a Yorkie puppy that the owner paid $1500.00 US dollars for, the puppy had really bad knees, an open frontal, and a bad bite.
The breeder might also feel that if someone would shell out that much money for a animal that they would be able to provide a really good home for that animal.

Answer 10

So you think we do this for the "Big Bucks" that quality dogs supposedly go for??????
The national breed club for each breed determines what the breed standard is.
Over the course of years the amount of actual cash spent on proving dogs, researching the backgrounds of other dogs, shipping dogs, etc,etc would absolutely astound people that are not involved in dog sports.
The link below is the ped for our Beagle litter for this year, every dog in the four generation pedigree except for two in the 4th generation was a Champion either as a field champion or as a show champion. Because of which champions are in this pedigree, they represent a total investment of well over one million dollars.
That said there was not one single puppy from this litter offered to the public, every puppy was spoken for long before the breeding ever took place. Total profit from this litter,,,,,, MINUS $2,500.00 ! ! !

puppy ped
http://www.seventhsonbeagles.com/saraxroosterped/index.html

Like to see the little guys??
http://www.seventhsonbeagles.com/puppies/index.html

.
Toyegirl
Was your Golden from "Hollaway" stock ????
Absolutlly wonderful dogs

Answer 11

Supply and demand. As long as folks are willing to pay, they will charge it. I understand your frustration and have been there. But, It's like anything else that costs an arm and a leg today. Does a Nike shoe last longer than an athletic shoe from Wal-Mart. Perhaps, but not always. Usually you pay for the name. Of course breeders will tell you that they spend oodles on meds and the care of the breed, but anyone decent would do the same. They are over charging because they can. That's what America is all about, sadly. If you want a particular breed and feel you can't afford it, hold out for a better deal somewhere else. My Yorkie is purebred, & I managed to get him at a steal for $600 compared to the $2,000. everyone wanted to charge me. $600 was still too much, but like I said, it is all about what you are willing to pay. Good luck.