The Truth in Why Certain Dogs from Certain Demographics cost Soo Much.

Every now and again someone posts up a nice little blurb about why dogs from certain people who show cost so much. They'll tell you a nice tale of getting a puppy made just for you, from well selected sires and dams who have earned ribbons, have passed health testing, and buying from them means that you will not be supporting "bad" people who only care about money.


This is of course a load of crap to an extent. The average cost is very breed dependent and very demand dependent. Some breeds with VERY expensive health testing can cost $600 a pup and others with next to no suggested health testing or even no real health testing done on either sire or dam can cost well over $3000. Cost doesn't tend to change much if the breeder shows every weekend - rather it tends to cost the same as the guy who maybe hits a show every 8 to 10 weeks. Price rarely changes even if the dam had a c - section or a easy whelp.

So ... what affects the cost of dogs? Easy answer - it's what the next guy claims to get for theirs. If the average guy who they know and they are kind of like gets $1200 for a dog you can bet that they will ask $1200 for theirs - even if they have put little more than half that into the dog.

Why is this? Well to put it simply breeding show dogs is a mad process that has little to do with true dollars and cents. It is about influence and the appearance of affluence rather than hard dollars and cents. There is a certain element who believe a high price will dissuade the riff raff and the related problems.

I once sat through a puppy interview with someone who couldn't help but tell me how proud she was to have sold a puppy to royalty. She seemed rather put out that I didn't care who she sold her last dog to - because truth be told I didn't care. I was concerned that she cared for her dogs - that they looked like the breed I wanted- that she selected them based upon somethings other than ribbons - and that her prices were fair.  I was that day the typical pet buyer and needless to say I didn't end up getting a dog from her.   She wanted more boot licking than I was able to supply.

So here's the thing however - if you have your heart set on a breed however - you will have to pay the piper of what the going rate is but never let that person fool you for a second that you're getting the realistic fair market rate.  The dog market like the art market is not rational and the more skilled the person is at their craft the greater the amount they can charge for it. Look around that dog and see what this person has spent that money on. If the walls are dripping in rosettes you are paying for the cost of campaigning dogs. If the dogs live in the out building and the house looks like a dog never set foot in it - you are paying for something else.  Pay money to match the values you hold most dear and proceed with eyes open.

On the rare occasion I do have puppies around I tend to charge about as much as the average pet of my breed out of the newspaper. Reason being is that I feel it is a fair market price and I don't use my dogs to finance anything. They are a losing operation - I can't imagine I'd want it any other way.

So when it comes to finding the right person to buy a dog from that is another ball of wax entire and a post for another day.