I suppose this is really aimed at dog breeders, but I wondered why pedigree dogs were so expensive (if you want them as a pet rather than for show).

The prices seem to start at about £300 ($560 ish), regardless of breed. Is it just the market rate for dogs or is it quite expensive to breed and raise new pups?

It really depends on the breed. I have a purebred American Eskimo who I paid a breeder $100 for. I have never bred him; in fact he has been neutered for quite some time.

Although knowing what I know now, I would probably have adopted a pup of the same breed from a rescue; as we all know, there are plenty of purebred dogs out there for adoption; they may not have papers, but who cares?

While prices do vary from breed to breed, the initial cost of the puppy is the least cost you will have over the life of the dog. Cheaper pups usually had cheaper upbringing which can turn into much more in vet bills for the buyer (you) later on. I'll give you a breakdown of the costs of whelping and raising a litter of one of my breeds as an instance, and I will not include the cost of showing the parents to Championships which add up to $10,000 to the costs.

1) I bred the mother so no up front cost for her but I would have paid a minimum of $750 for her, probably more like $1200 which is what I paid for my last breeding quality dog. Food for mother for 1 year prior while getting her ready to breed--$400. That's $1150 already.

2) Cost of health checks: general vet check-$100, Hip xrays and OFA #-$250, Heart, Eye, Thyroid checks and #'s-$200 (these are needed to screen for genetic diseases so your pup has a better chance of a healthy life). That's now $1700.

3) Stud fee for a well bred, health tested male-$750-$1000. Shipping to the stud owner's house and back-$500. Adding the lowest numbers you're up to $2950.

4) Assuming there's no emergency or CSection ($500), you get a litter of 6 puppies. Since the only legitimate reason to breed is to improve the breed and get another dog to show, I keep one, which leaves 5 for sale. Cost of puppy food from age 5weeks to 9 weeks-$100. Cost of vet checks and shots to the age of 9 weeks-$50 per pup=$250. Now we're at $3400.

5) Miscellaneous supplies, i.e. bedding, toys, wormer meds, collars, leashes for the puppies $200. Litter registration-$50.Microchipping each pup before it leaves my home- $100. Total now $3750.

Divide the $3750 by 5 puppies and that is $750 per puppy assuming there are no major vet expenses and mother is able to sucessfully care for and raise her own puppies. So $500 would be a net loss of at least $150 per puppy. I live in an area with low costs so puppies raised in other areas of our country would cost more. Each of my females is bred only every 18 months to a maximum of 3 litters. So even prorating the cost of mom over 3 litters, I would only break even providing she didn't eat or need worming or shots between litters.

So how do the people who sell dogs for $100 do it. They get the cheapest dogs to breed, usually give aways, or backyard bred dogs. They breed their females every season to the male down the street. There is no health testing done and ALL breeds have genetic diseases. They scrimp on food and give no shots or wormings to the puppies. So they can sell cheap, but still don't actually look at their costs or the pups would cost more. They do sell dogs that are likely to have more health costs down the road.

I know this is long, but, just like any product, there are production costs for puppies. Since I usually sell my pet puppies at about $600, I lose money on every litter but do it for the love of the breed. I charge the same price whether or not both parents are AKC champions. This explains why people sell their well bred pups at a certain price. But why is it that people buying "just pets" seem to believe that breeders are charitible institutions and have no right to break even on their puppies? Would you feel this way if you were buying a television? A puppy will live 12-15 years so a $600 puppy costs just $50 per year prorated over it's life and will probably cost less in the long run than that $150 puppy from down the street.

With a pedigree you can predict the type of behaviour they are likely to have, the sort of coat, the size of the breed and the amount of exercise needs, people With a pedigree dog know more about the dogs character, which helps when selecting the right temperament of dog for the right home, people have interest and passion within certain breeds. Breeders tend to breed theire dog with a lot more care and knowledge, and choosing the dog from a respectable breeder costs, but breeders are keeping the breeding standards high and therefore the dogs that get produced are of respectable background. Each breed is unique and offers something different.
When people purchase a pedigree from a breeder they are given papers that identify the dogs background and any health screenings have. There is huge potential for wiping out diseases in pedigree dogs, and within a matter of a few generations of rigorous DNA testing and selection of appropriate breeding mates, faulty genes can be removed from the breed's gene pool This benefit simply does not exist in the cross-breed population, primarily due to the fact that the dogs ancestry is unknown.
Breeders spend a lot more money on breeding pedigrees to their high standard and know exactly what they are doing, not like a dog getting pregnant on the streets without people knowing where they came from, who theire parents are, what is theire genetic background.
A lot of people ive met who have crossbreeds don't recognise what cross the breed is and therefore have never reaserched the breeds that they are crossed with, not knowing theire background or behaviour.
I previously owned a Golden Retriever and now own an Irish Red Setter pup and Personally i am much happier buying my dog from a respectable breeder knowing all about the breed. And i reckon that people should reaserch theire breed before deciding to buy them. The money you spend is money well worth.

Wow, goldiesmom! Thanks for taking the time to break the cost of the puppies down. I have always had this same question. I don't think that people always realize how expensive it really is for the breeder themselves.

That you are also buying an animal (dog or cat) from somone that will be there for you. All the animals we have are bought from a breeder, and whilst my cats are 8 and 9 years old, I am still intouch with the breeder that they came from. She has been involved in the cats and our lives and has always been a port of call when ive needed help or advise. Would a back yarder do that?

It's like everything, you have to pay more for quality.

It seems you are in UK maybe? I'm not sure how it works there but here pedigreed dogs are not so expensive.

I just saw a AKC registered male yellow lab in the paper for FREE and have seen other cheap pedigreed dogs for sale also.

What is expensive is quality, but you can't go on price alone. You have to make sure the breeder does things responsibly and has a good reputation.

There are dogs from reputable breeders that are costly because of all the time, work and money put into bringing the litter about. You will get a quality dog and pedigree will be part of it but doesn't make it worth more. Its not the papers/pedigree that makes them valuable its the fact that both parents and their ancestors were good quality in all aspects of the breed.

There are dogs from puppymill/bybs that are very costly also, they do this for profit and a lot of people think papers/price means they are getting a good dog when they are getting ripped of for say $2,000 with a dog that will have a poor temperament and be sick. They often breed fad dogs and even crossbreeds.

Then there are the cheap byb dogs that are just like above but the people sell for less hoping to get rid of them soon with papers/pedigree.