To think the cost of a puppy is bizarre?

[PersonaNonGarter]

I am completely baffled by the cost of puppies.

I have been thinking about getting another dog. I’ve always had older rescues but this time I wanted to get a puppy. I googled puppy and OMG, all the sites showed dogs from £550 to £1300!

I am not going to buy one at that price, obviously, but it seems so strange. Who pays this, why, and why isn’t the cost so much lower?

Delatron that wasn't meant to come across as 'buying KC is no better than buying from a byb' - apologies if it did. Anyone who buys responsibly, ie checks out the breeder, checks out the dogs etc as you did is imo a responsible owner.
My point was that people seem to see KC registered breeders as the be all & end all simply because they are KC certified. Which sadly is not the case.

That’s true pissedoffdotcom. You still need to do your research to avoid the puppy farms kennel club registered or not.

Definitely it's possible to adopt a dog and puppy with kids. It does take some work. There are so many puppies, especially older ones (4-6 months) that end up in rescues because people working full time got them and they don't have time for them. Often more "power couples" who have high flying jobs, no dc yet and think this is the next stage.

We've adopted a dog twice from two different rescues. One was 4 years old and one a puppy. It is important rescues have rules and recommendations about dogs and the fit. As well sometimes it is their insurance that won't allow families to adopt - due to unknown social history about a dog.

I would contact maybe 4-6 local(ish) rescues and explain your family situation. If they can't adopt to you then they should know one that does. For example Battersea does and people adopt from them who live all across the country.

There are also specific rescue groups that are breed specific. Friends got a 4 month old golden through a breed specific rescue, exactly like I mentioned before - childless couple working 12 hours a day got a puppy and realized it was a huge mistake.

There's little to no reason to support breeders. There are so many homeless pets, if everyone committed to rescues even for 5 years we would see a massive difference.

Perhaps we should all just have cats.

For those who swear breeders are spouting bollocks when they say it costs a lot to breed a litter.....

I breed roughly every 6 years, if that. I’m not counting the upkeep of the bitch for her entire life because she’s my pet, but I will count the cost of buying her as I selected her for her blood lines.

Bitch purchase ; £850.
Pre breed health check and blood tests= £115
Pre breeding health related tests £85 (my breed is very healthy, only one test recommended)
Blood tests for ovulation= £45
Stud fee for dog service = £750
Diesel to stud dog= £100, two trips.... £200.
One short shift day off work= £60.

Scan for positive pregnancy and foetal count: £45. Cheap as I use a local expert.

Quick check by vet as we approach expected whelp date, £24.

New vet bedding, every litter gets new fo cleanliness £60
Gloves, Vaseline, Milton fluid, whelping essentials £10.

I have a whelping box already, and a battered copy of the dog breeders manual, and lots of experience. Otherwise these would need buying too! Puppy pen panels= £65.

Four short shifts off work for husband £240. After that we are able to coordinate work so that the pups are NEVER left alone for the first three to four weeks.

Goats milk, tripe, lamb, turkey mince, puppy milk, eggs, quality puppy biscuits, chicken wings. All in probably about £300 to get them to 10 weeks old. Bitch also requires extra- £100 over and above her normal food.

Vet check for pups at 2 days, vet comes to us as minimise infection risk- £100.

Vet check at 3 weeks- £24.

Vaccinations and microchips- £32 per puppy.
Registrations and paper work £32 per puppy.
New home kit- £40 per puppy, to include a supply of their food, a teddy that smells like us, and a few packets of their pup mince meat. Thy also get a collar and lead.

Theres definitely stuff I’ve forgotten here, and I’m not counting the twice daily washing machine and tumble drying, laundry powder, cleaning equipment, Brandy for stress, extra fencing for puppy area etc etc,

If anything went wrong, a C sections starts at £1500.

I charge £750 per puppy. Still think I make money out of this?! Average litter size in my breed, is 3.

I do this for love, for conservation of the breed, and to produce healthy and sound, well balanced dogs of excellent temperament.

Puppy owners sign contracts, they must visit twice, they are home checked, and amongst many other things I guarantee to have the pup back at any point throughout its life.

Buying a pup from us gets you a life time of support, a years membership to the breed club, someone on hand for years to come to advise, and free boarding for when you go on holiday, up to twice a year.

Still think I do this for cash? Does that seem expensive, £750 a pup, considering all that?

@MidniteScribbler

I’d say we are cut from a similar cloth! People wait for pups from us too, many people don’t get through the questioning, we don’t advertise.

Oh and PP was saying about how many litters bitches have......only ever one from a bitch, and not always even that.

Only once have we done a second litter, after there was just one pup in the first litter and the waiting list had five on it !

It’s supply and demand OP. People will pay it to get the puppy they want from s reputable breeder.

Please adopt. Rescues have puppies. We got both our dogs from s rescue at 10 months old. The first came from Romania as a puppy with her siblings. We wee her second adopters. The second was handed to the rescue by his owners who ‘couldnt cope’ at 7 months. He was in foster until we adopted him. Our son was 7-8 when we got them. Our rescue has no minimum age limit for children. They match the dog to the family.

Please ignore the typos!

@starabara

I can see why someone who does it like you do incurs massive expenses, the problem is there are too many people doing it for a quick buck. They know the going rate for a puppy is X so churning out litters is an easy money making exercise. I've seen home bred staffies, with no kind of vet checks or certificates for sale for £400 on selling sites.

A friend bought a cockapoo from a home bredder for stupd money (£1000+) the dog had a dental problem which ended up costing £2000 to fix. Less than a year later a colleague went to buy a puppy from the same breeder, was warned dog had buck teeth but nothing to worry about. Having talked to owner of puppy 1 they knew that the squint teeth was actually a big problem, yet breeder will continue to churn out litters making huge profit each time.

There needs to be a distinction between breeders doing it for the good of the breed & byb doing it cos they're selfish cunts. 'Home bred' dogs 9/10 are idiots breeding because they can. Anybody paying £££ for a 'designer' mutt is a moron IMO.

It's supply and demand. If people think some mug will give them £2000 for a puppy then that's what they'll ask. There's more money in puppies than in drugs and there's nothing illegal about it.

If you're turned down by a rescue because you work full time why do you think you know better? People getting puppies and leaving them all day, unsocialised and un- housetrained is one of the main reasons many 6-9 month olds end up in rescue in the first place.

I've fostered a lot of puppies for rescue,and put a lot of effort into turning out nice, calm, social, housetrained puppies - no way would I then hand one over to someone who wasn't going to be around for them.

We have a cockapoo who was a rescue; he came to us at 12 weeks and is just delicious. However, and this is a huge however, I would never, never have paid upwards of £800 for this dog; it's a scruffy, silly crossbreed and whilst as a freebie rescue I adore him, I can't see how he'd be worth anywhere near that price (which is what friends of ours paid for their cockapoo 18 months ago). The whole concept of people paying for dogs just goes right over my head; ours are both rescues and are both great dogs.

Friends of ours have bred dogs forever, they're the pickiest, most pernickety people about their potential adoptees, they don't advertise, they are ruthless about the whole dog breeding industry and I've known them be brutal in their decision making. But not a single one of their dogs has ever had to be returned or had complications, not a single one of their owners has been unhappy and not a single on of their dogs has ever looked anything other than thrilled by their pampered lives. If you have to breed, I'd like to think that's how it should be done.