2000 francs for a puppy? The real accounts of a serious breeder

Whoever hasn't heard this phrase (or never said or thought it themselves) cast the first stone. Yet, when we're talking about quality puppies, these figures shouldn't shock anyone. On the contrary: two thousand francs is still a rather modest sum, because for breeds that are harder to raise, the figures can be quite different.

A rip-off

Speculation? "Profiting from the lives of poor, innocent little animals," as animal rights activists often try to suggest, frequently bitter enemies of serious breeders and selectors—who, on the other hand, would be the first and most effective response to the problem of stray animals and animal trafficking.

The fact is that normal people don't know what they are actually "paying for" in a puppy, nor what the real costs a breeder and selector has to bear are. Here you'll find a preliminary list of factors that contribute to forming the price of a puppy, so you can get an idea of how a "real" breeder and selector works. "Dog dealers," or traffickers, belong to a different category.

1 — You're paying for selection

Testing the temperament of breeding stock and especially their health — that is, performing X-rays for hip and elbow dysplasia screening and other investigations like eye exams to ensure they are free from hereditary diseases — has a cost. Finding beautiful, healthy, and strong breeding stock (perhaps from all over the world) and selecting them with expert judgment comes at a very high cost.

2 — You're paying a portion of "reimbursement" for the actual expenses incurred in raising and selecting a pedigree litter, which are not few and include: a) medical expenses to monitor the dam during pregnancy, to intervene with a possible C-section if birth doesn't occur naturally, and to recheck the dam and puppies in the days following birth; b) expenses for high-quality weaning food for the puppies, specific high-quality "puppy" food, vaccinations, deworming, microchipping. These maintenance expenses are borne by the breeder for up to three and a half months, because a good breeder and selector will rarely let a puppy go before this date: both because the puppy at that age still has a "psychological" need to live with its mother and siblings — it will learn the basics of socialization, which will prevent potential behavioral problems in the future — and because some defects are absolutely not detectable in a younger puppy; c) expenses related to registering the puppies with national registries and issuing regular international documents.

3 — You're paying for the puppy's actual beauty (although it would be more accurate to say the "promise" of actual beauty). A serious breeder and selector will never sell you an imperfect puppy or one with poor tail carriage at full price: but producing, raising, and maintaining it cost them exactly the same as the others. Therefore, in general, the expense you bear for a pedigree puppy also partly covers the "breeding and selection risks" represented by imperfect puppies that a serious breeder cannot and will not sell — but commercial breeders do! — and that are usually given away for free or at a steep discount.

These are the reasons why a serious, conscientious breeder and selector, who performs selection and offers certain guarantees, can NEVER maintain the same prices as someone who produces and trades puppies "randomly," let alone someone who buys and resells dogs at an extremely low base price, like puppies from "puppy mills" in non-EU third countries.

Another question to ask: which official state canine body controls the work of the breeder or selector? Who oversees their work and who regulates the dictates they must follow during selection and reproduction?

The franc-by-franc calculation of a breeder and selector.

Let's start from the assumption that I have three breeding-age dogs: even though a breeder or selector usually does NOT only have three dogs, because there are also youngsters (who don't yet bring any economic advantage) and especially the "retirees," meaning the old dogs who no longer breed. What do you do with them? Throw them on the street? I wouldn't even think of it, because I'm a selector who loves my dogs. So I keep them, they eat just like the others, and they cost me more in vet bills, because old dogs always have a few aches and pains. Anyway, to simplify things, let's say I only have three breeding dogs and we'll roughly calculate some figures.

1 — The dogs didn't fall from the sky: I bought them

The price of an adult dog starts at 3,500 francs and goes through the roof. If I had bought them as puppies, I would have paid about 2,500 francs each, but I would have had to keep them for at least two years, and the expense would be more or less equivalent.

2 — I certainly don't use a dog for breeding without first having X-rays for dysplasia and checking for other genetic diseases, in compliance with the rigorous dictates of our Kennel Club KAS and the WDF. The checks vary from breed to breed, but let's say the average is two checks (hip and elbow dysplasia, or dysplasia and eye diseases, or even dysplasia and echocardiogram). Minimum 1,500 francs per dog.

3 — Dogs eat, right

Let's say I use food that costs 120-150 francs a bag (not true, what I actually use costs 250, but let's say I'm a slightly less obsessed selector and I use a cheaper one). A fifteen-kilo bag, with three dogs, lasts me twenty days. How much is that per year?

4 — My three dogs will have at least one health issue a year — oh, if only it were just one! Three vet visits, even with a doctor who works almost at cost, come to 1,500 francs a year.

5 — We want to vaccinate them, right? 170 francs every year, for each dog.

6 — Do we do prevention against transmissible diseases

And the collar to prevent bites from parasites and skin mites, do we put that on them? 90 francs for collars, 60 francs for antiparasitic prevention, every 6 months.

7 — My dogs are my friends, not "objects" to squeeze puppies out of

So let's factor in toys, dog beds, coats (if the breed needs them), bones, little games, etc. I'm not quantifying because there's too much flexibility, but these things cost money too. Am I a cold and cynical selector who doesn't even buy my dogs a toy? Well, at least we want to give them two bowls each, or do you think I'd throw food and water on the floor? A stainless steel bowl costs about 40-50 francs depending on the size: multiply that by six. Do plastic ones cost less? Sure, but every two months I have to buy all six again because the dogs have gnawed at them. Let's not even think about it, it's better.

And now, voilà, we're ready to breed the dogs

My dogs, if there are only three, will obviously be three females: what would I do with a male in such a small kennel?

8 — Do we want to do a smear on the female, just to know when the right day is and not make a wasted trip? 200 francs.

9 — Let's not quantify the trip, because I might be lucky enough to find a male I want close to home. But more often (and in certain breeds it's the norm) I have to go abroad to find one, losing at least a day, sometimes two.

11 — I have to pay for the stud service: a titled and famous male won't cover just for my bitch's pretty eyes. Minimum 3,500 francs, like a luxury gigolo.

12 — Did my little dog get pregnant? Ultrasound, minimum 150 francs.

13 — How many puppies will she have

I need to know this to get an idea of the reservations I can take. X-ray, another 200 francs.

14 — A pregnant female, at least in her second month, can't just eat the same cheap stuff I've decided to give the others. At least during this period (and for another two months of lactation) I switch to food that costs 300 francs a bag: and then we add supplements, vitamins, calcium.

15 — We arrive at the time of birth: would you trust leaving everything to the dog

I wouldn't. Presence of the veterinarian: minimum 500 francs. In some breeds, caesarean section is the norm, in others not, but something can always go wrong and it may be necessary. If it happens, at least 1000 francs (always with our veterinarian working at a discount).

16 — Hooray, 5 puppies were born

Now we need to: a) deworm them at least three times, about 350 francs for 3 times; b) vaccinate them, 150 francs for five for three times; c) passport and specific vaccinations to validate it, about 200 francs; d) microchip them, about 500 francs. In the meantime, I have to give the mother postpartum oxytocin and start supplementing her diet even more than when she was pregnant, because breastfeeding "consumes" her much more.

17 — Around 30-35 days, I'll have to start helping the mom, giving the puppies powdered milk, then the first purees, then weaning foods. A can of powdered milk costs about 50 francs. Do you know how many times these puppies will eat before being delivered to their new owners? Don't make me do the math, it makes me sick.

18 — Is it summer, by chance

Oh, there will be fleas and ticks. Protection for everyone, including mom (and including the other two female dogs, poor things): about 300 francs for each summer month.

19 — The mother, who in the meantime has been dewormed, continued to eat highly protein and expensive food and took all her supplements, has a problem: her milk won't dry up. Here I go broke with Galastop, which costs 50 francs for a 15 ml bottle (I have to give 1 ml per 10 kg of dog weight per day: imagine how great that is if I breed or select Great Danes or Neapolitan Mastiffs).

20 — In the meantime, the puppies are weaned and eat like locusts (puppy food, the most expensive in the world, super protein: but we want them to grow well, yes or no?).

Do I already have a queue of waiting clients at the door

Good, I'll only have to keep them for three and a half months (if I delivered them earlier, I would NOT be a serious selector). Don't I have a queue at the door? Then it can happen that one or more puppies stay in my kennel for up to four or five months, or maybe for their whole lives, because it's nowhere written that I'll find someone willing to adopt an already grown-up dog.

And this is what happens if everything goes smoothly, or almost ( "everything-everything smoothly" is so rare that I don't even think it's worth considering). However, many more things can go wrong than what I've described. Example of something wrong-but-not-too-bad: a coccidia infestation. One tablet of specific medicine per 4 kg of puppy for 5 puppies, every day. The box costs 35 francs and lasts two days. Example of something very wrong: all the puppies die. It can happen: all it takes is a viral infection against which it's almost impossible to defend.