How much money does it cost you when your dog has puppies?

Question

I was just wondering, I know that breeding pure breed dogs is good money, but how much does it cost to have a pregnant dog and to have the puppies and actually care for them untill they are sold? There are doctors visits, shots,food....and personal time to care for them! After they are sold, do you actually just break even or make more?

Answer 1

Where do I start??? Do you know that 3-4 million pets are put down......that means KILLED....every year in the US, Unwanted pets that are in shelters. Why in the world would you want to contribute to the pet overpopulation crisis that this nation is facing right now ? Have your female spayed, forgoet about breeding..and if you want to make money ...get a job! DON'T BREED OR BUY WHILE SHELTER ANIMALS DIE !!!!

Answer 2

You barely brake even - most often you're in the hole.

Let's say your prized champion show female has 6 puppies - a pretty normal sized litter.

The first puppy is the stud fee
The second is the prenatal care
The third is the first puppy shots
The fourth is the food bill
The fifth is the reimbursement for cost to get Momma Dog her championship so her puppies would be "worth more."
The sixth is the cost of advertising/caring for the puppies until they're sold
The seventh is the - hey wait! there were only 6 puppies!

And this is assuming that all 6 puppies are show quality - which most puppies are not...

No. You breed dogs because y ou love that particular breed and want to contribute to its improvement.

You do not breed dogs to make money.

Answer 3

When it's done right you break even if your lucky. By the time you calculate in health testing to ensure your bi-tch is OFA hip, heart clear (3 to 4 hundred). Brucellosis $80, stud fee's of sometimes $1000.00 because you are choosing a stud who is health tested and has a CH title. Progesterone testing to find out when your bi=tch is ready to breed. (Because it is unlikely that a suitable stud is in your own back yard.... ) Those are 80 bucks a pop and usually there are 3 or 4 involved. My repro specialist is an hour away so gas to cover several trips to her. Travel to the stud which in our case is 740 miles round trip. Hotel cost $80.00 per night and I will stay 2 nights. Food and gas for that trip. Vet checks, ultra sounds, money to prepare for the litter. More Vet checks, and guess what... My ***** didn't even get pregnant! So I am easily a couple grand in the hole til the next time. I might get lucky and recover the money or I might have the same luck or maybe only 1 or 2 pups are born. I might have trouble and end up spending a few grand on C-Section. There is a HUGE cost of raising puppies the right way to 8 weeks, doing home checks, interviews of possible owners, countless hours on the phone talking about care of the puppy to adult hood. Discussing diets, vaccines, any other questions. Don't forget to that if you are talking profits... I fed and cared for all my dogs for the years prior to the breeding. So even if it seems like payday when the pups leave,... When calculated.. I am still in the hole no matter what.
The only breeders who are making a dime off of puppies are the puppy mills and back yard breeders who do none of the above and feed the lowest crap food and do no vetting and breed to the free dog in their back yard and get rid of pups as soon as the mother stops feeding them.

Answer 4

Let me tell you my friend's story. She got a pure-bred shih Tzu from a "breeder" (I use the term loosely) and found out it was pregnant. Instead of having the uterus of the b*tch taken out she decided to "give the puppies a chance" and let the b*tch go full term and whelp.

She took the dog to the vet to get her checked and the vet told her she was not pregnant. Two weeks later she took the dog to another vet who said she was a month along and did a radio graph to prove it. Six heads were seen and my friend was short $400 (from both vet visits).

The bi*ch went into labor right on time and nothing happened, no puppies. This went on all night. Finally my friend took her dog to the vet the next morning. The vet did a cesarean section on the bi*ch and took all 6 puppies out. One died and the next day my friend took the litter and mom home and her wallet was $2000 lighter and the ***** still had her uterus (not sure why the vet didn't take it out when the puppies were born).

Since the bi*ch didn't have the puppies naturally she never nursed them. My friend and her husband were up every 2 hours to bottle feed. The puppies started to get sick one by one. Three died before they were a week old and the forth died a week after that. She visited the e-vet several times and that cost her close to $1500.

Her bi*ch started to get sick so she took her to the vet. Mom had a pyometra which is an infection in the uterus. Mom needed an emergency spay. That cost just over $1200.

The last puppy was given away to her friend…so she ended up in the hole $5100!!

Even GOOD respectable breeders that show and charge $1600 per puppy DO NOT MAKE MONEY breeding dogs.

Answer 5

Purebred, health tested quality breeding is not for someone hoping to make a big profit. If it is not the intention of the breeder to breed for the betterment of the breed, they shouldn't be breeding.

With the 3 litters we had over the last 7 yrs, 2 of them we ended up in the red (one was deep in the red), but I know the pups we produced were quality from extensively health tested parents that were sound in both mind and body.

The 3rd litter, I believe we might have come out about $80 in the black. 9 wks of prenatal care, 24 hr whelp watch for 3 days and 8 wks of constant puppy care. Vet visit at 1 day, 6 wks and 8 wks. That doesn't include a bout with a sick pup. After care for female.

For a 1st time litter.... Including buying a quality male and female, raising them for a minimum of 2 yrs until they are old enough to breed, all health testing (OFA, Cardio, CERF, vWD with my breed, Thyroid, burcellocus test), quality food, annual vaccs, breeding, ultra-sound done at 25-30 day, x-ray done at 50-55 days....tails and dewclaws by 3 days..goodness..... you get the picture I hope...
In a nutshell......... $8,000+ and that's without incidentals (emergency c-section, sick mother, sick pups)

Which is why the health testing and quality bloodlines is essential. With everything you've put into the litter, you might end up with 5 pups worth about $800-$1,200 (depending on registration), and that leaves you about $1500- $2000 in the red.

Someone not having any experience whelping pups, mortality rate could be high. You could possibly lose the mother or mother and litter.

Again, it's not for just anyone.

Answer 6

If you are a responsible breeder you will not make money you will lose it. You have to get the mother and father OFA certified, they have to have there pedigree and show rink certifications, and they have to get 3 sets of shots. Dont make profits out of puppies there are over 1 million dogs in shelters because people who want to make profit and/ or think it would be neet to have 12 little pups running around. Here is a site that can answer some questions about breeding and it will make sure you are ready:

http://www.shershihtzus.com/id144.htm

Answer 7

If you're doing it right, you will not make money. The costs vary depending on your region, but there's also the stud fee, some breeds you need to take time off work, emergencies, advertising, deworming, and of course the cost of the pre-breeding tests like OFA, CERF, thyroid, vWD or whatever (depending on the breed). And if something happens and you lose the litter (or, God forbid, your bi tch) then you've spent a whole whack of money for nothing.

Breeding dogs properly is a hobby (or rather, obsession), not a business.

Answer 8

I think every one has give you a realy good forcast of what it takes to breed a quality pup. I just wanted to add that in 1999 I did have a slight profit from the breeding of 2 litters. One in the spring from one dam and one in the fall from another. Here's what I made back then $37.57 Thats what I made! Just about enough for a 40 pound bag of dog food.
Never made a profit that big again!

Answer 9

you're conscious that there is no such breed as a Golden Mountain canines. those are only go bred canines and the so referred to as breeders are only attempting to benefit. there is no way i might pay $600 for any go bred canines. you may no longer understand no rely if the canines might have wellbeing subject concerns or whether the dad and mom have wellbeing issues. The decrease back backyard breeder who's attempting to sell those doggies at an exhorbitant fee isn't going to allow you recognize if the two of the dad and mom have undesirable hips or different issues. they are going to somewhat permit you recognize the two canines are from stable traces and except you spot the pedigree of the sire and dam and analyze the traces you will no longer understand. you're saying you will get a organic bred of the two breed for the comparable fee. consistent with hazard from a decrease back backyard breeder yet the place I stay it might fee plenty extra advantageous than that for registered pedigree canines from wellbeing examined, titled dad and mom. i do no longer understand what a honest fee may be for those go bred canines the place you reside even even though it does no longer be everywhere close to $600.

Answer 10

You have forgotten the Hip Displasia X-rays, The Eye tests. The test for Non Fusion of The Anconeal Process. The Hip scores. The Stud fees. The travelling to wherever that Stud dog might be. The whelping box and the heating lamps and a host of other expensive things just to start with.
Leave it to the professionals!