Why- Do- Puppies-Cost- So- Much?.

 

I am sitting here looking  at over $2000 in Vet bills and wonder whether the dog buying public understands how expensive it is to operate even a small dog kennel.

   Another way to title   this is  Here's why your puppy costs so much.

    I decided to try to explain using our actual numbers. First, I took 3 years  time frame of 2006-2009. The numbers to be discussed reflect our costs for the Havanese.

    The number of Havanese puppies produced here in the last three years is 38. Of those 38, six are still here either being grown out to be shown and then  will graduate if all health  testing is good to our future breeding program.

    During the three years 2006-2009 we paid for Vet fees, medicine, wormers , flea prevention, health testing ( baer  hearing, Cerf for eyes, Ofa Patella's, Ofa cardiac, Ofa hips) semen storage, AKC CKC registrations and pedigrees, DNA kits, microchips, vaccines, progesterone testing, stud fees. We paid a total of $45, 326.64 for those kinds of  things during that time period.

    Divided equally among the 38 puppies means that for those things  each puppy cost $1192.81.

    During those three years the dog food for the Havanese , includes puppy kibble, meat, chicken, Goats milk, formula, coat supplements, fish oil, treats and bones) cost $10, 579.32 or $278.41 per puppy.

    Dog supplies including toys, leads, collars, bedding, disinfectants, brushes, grooming products, dryers, kennel repairs, pee pads, puppy buyers packets, pedigree software, crates, x-pens, combs, shears, clippers, photos and the like coat $26, 300.20  or $692.11 per puppy.     Whelping supplies during this period cost $575.00 or $15.13 per puppy.  

    The county Licensing for this period was $287 or $7.55 per puppy.

    During those three years,, dog training, including books, seminars and dog classes cost  $1328.42 or $34.95 per puppy.

    So far, the costs peer puppy total $2220.96

    There are many, many other expenses that I have not included. I decided not to because while necessary, they are costs that can vary greatly depending on the predilections of each breeder. Those cost categories are as follows.

1. The cost of the foundation dogs.

2.Cost of fencing, camera's , computer, ISP Internet, advertising. subscriptions, postage, telephone calls, club dues and car expenses.

3. The very , substantial cost of creating the facilities where you feed, groom, bathe, hospitalize, exercise, train, whelp and nurse your dogs.

4.Finally, if your purpose in breeding is to try to improve the breed, then you test your progress by having your dogs evaluated by others in   the ring ( Conformation Shows). This , by itself, is incredibly expensive .  Costs include entry fees, transportation expenses, parking fees, lodging , meals  and handling costs.

    Depending on your resources and your preferences, the cost of these last four items can double or even triple the cost of puppies. In other words, the actual amount of money spent to produce my 38 puppies is not just $2220.96 but could be as high as three times that amount.

    When we decide to keep a dog in order to grow it out to evaluate whether we might want to keep it for  our breeding program, we have to consider how much that puppy actually cost us.

    Another way for  puppy buyers to consider this is to understand that when you buy a puppy from a good breeder, it is fairly clear that your purchase is being subsidized by the breeder.

    The amount of your subsidy is the difference , between what you pay for your puppy and the true cost to your breeder to produce the puppy.

    So, now you know:

Thanks Bill Burns  for doing this.

Amor Havanese sells puppies from health tested parents for :

Pets $1800

show $2000 and a puppy back  OR

$2500, show dogs must be shown and health tested.

The Following was written by DHMooring with permission to post on this web page. Dee is owned by her dogs and birds.

Why do puppies from a responsible breeder cost so much? As a  longtime owner of many dogs ( of shelter, poor breeding, quality breeding), I can truly say the initial high cost of a puppy is in the details- big details like

    1. Health testing of the parents, grandparents , aunts and                uncles

    2. Careful and objective evaluation of each litter and spaying            of a bitch when there are a few problems in a litter.

    3.Excellent diet for all dogs which mean well -nourished                    puppies-no bargain dog food

    4.Time indoors with the family and other animals for all of the          dogs which mean alternating males and females throughout            the day-sort of like being the ringmaster in a circus.

    5.Time spent holding, loving the puppies from birth on and                 exposing them to a variety of  people which actually                        increases the size of their brains and the quality of synapses         for a smarter more resilient puppy.

    6. Excellent and consistent veterinary care for the parents of         the puppies and at least one vet visit for each puppy so that          the vet can sign off on  the health of each puppy sold.

And then there are the other critical details:

If we, as the lucky recipients of these well-bred puppies, actually saw the critical process and delving deeply into pedigrees that goes into deciding which dogs should be bred to which bitches to produce beautiful, long term healthy puppies that move well, have strong knees, hearts , eyes etc. and a typical happy Havanese attitude, it would boggle our minds. Here , especially , we see how generations of details are so very important.

Experience with the animals in a line enables a breeder to fairly safely predict the outcome of breedings within a line. After all, he/she has spent much money taking dogs  into the show ring where judges decide how the dogs compare to others. A designation of CH. before the dog's name means many trips into the ring. The costly details : traveling to shows, entries, hotels, constant grooming and quality products involved, perhaps a professional handler are all necessary.

And, even then, quality breedings take courage because to maintain the strength of a line and avoid creating puppies that are too much of a type, breeders bring  in a new line and outcross. The same ( or even greater) work goes into planning a breeding but sometimes it's as if the genes are randomly tossed into a basket because the outcome is not as predictable. If a breeding produces a litter with problems or pups that don't meet the  quality  breeder's standards, then a bitch may be spayed or a dog neuterd but the quality breeder will never use that combination again and many dollars spent on show careers for those animals will have been for naught.

We pour our love and training into puppies we  bring home to be part of our families and they become just that- beloved family members. A quality breeder does  his/her best to provide us with a pup that will live a healthy, happy, long  life in our families. Even though we might have to plan for awhile to add a puppy from a good breeder, its worth the planning because that pup will be the result of integrity, careful planning, and love. And that breeder will be available to us for advise, and friendship for the rest of our dog's long life. The details do make all the difference.