$1,000 -$1,500 is a lot of money, especially when you don't have it. Whether or not it is too much depends on what you get for your money. There are all those foreseeable and unforeseeable expenses in breeding. It seems to me that all this cost is incurred and how much is incurred is directly proportional to how much effort and care you give the litter before its bred and after the little ones hit the ground. The truth is that the vast majority of people making big bucks in animal husbandry are owners of the Kentucky Derby winner and those cutting corners in terms of time and money (mass breeders). This is a generalization; there are some larger facilities making solid money on their dogs but as VC pointed out, they are due that profit margin. I do think, however, that this is assuming all the best measures are taken throughout the entire process as VC, and most all others here, do. Making money honestly on a fairly represented litter is no crime at all. If that were the case, Cathi Richardson would be the most righteous among us!!!! Although the underlying theme to this thread is dishonest breeders charging exceptionaly high prices for dogs that would never work out under the best of circumstances, let's not forget two seriously important points:
1) It your money and nobody made you spend it. It is the purchaser's responsibility to ensure they are getting what they pay for through an explicit contract and research
2) Puppies are more affordable than green adults because they are a gamble by nature, that is why one pays less for a puppy than one would a green adult. With time, energy and training, the price on the very same animal should be expected to rise.

I've said this before and I think it bears repeating - if $1500 breaks your budget for a puppy, you're going to find the sport of SchH itself very unsatisfactory. The overall cost of a puppy is not that high when we look at what we spend to train and compete in SchH.

SchH is an expensive sport to train in. Personal training equipment of good quality will set you back at least $300, if you include crates, leashes, collars, etc. Add an E Collar to that and you're topping $500. If you're a helper, add at least a few hundred dollars more for your scratch pants and sleeves.
Club dues in most parts of the Country are at least $150 yearly, and often are higher.
And when you add the cost of competing, the money really starts to add up - trial fees, gas, hotel costs....ouch.
Go to a few seminars a year....$$$ <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />
How many of us are driving SUV's, pickup trucks, or vans, just because we haul our dogs around? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

So for me, spending $1250 for a GSD puppy that'll do the work ( or $800 for a quality Mal puppy ) doesn't keep me up at night.

I just bought a new pup and the price was the best deal I've heard of from many breeders and owners. Awsome pup from a working police K-9 sire.


As for the cost of training. Just depends on how far you drive and how often you train. How much equipment you need. I've learned to improvise and get by.

Yes, the cost of training can be expensive but so can so many other endeavors we undertake. Then again, what does it cost to train at home. Isn't this where most training should take place.

My advice to any person that wants to get into Schutzhund i snot buy a pup but get a started young dog. You then have a better chance of getting what you pay for.

Then many of us enjoy raising pups and watching them grow to their full potential.

Then I'm far from being the expert as most here are. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Truth be told, dogs are the lesser evil when compared to horses. Nothingof quality is cheap, although overpaying for too little in return is a common occurance. In the perfect world, breeders of top quality dogs would ask a price that would cover the capitol outlay and the rest would be a labor of love that is self rewarding. That would be the perfect world and my address would be P. O. Box 493, Disneyland, Anahiem, Ca.

This sport can be cost prohibitive, even for a 47K state cop with two kids. If it were not for an opportunity offered to me by a breeder of top quality working dogs, I would still be mapping out off duty jobs to afford one.

Simply put, there are those among us who cannot or will not pay the price to be competitive. If you cannot; been there and it SUCKS!!! If you will not, look at your priorities; there is no crime in admitting you rather not afford the sport. But again, I am not suggesting that we all stand in line and get bent over at the waist like a prison.....you get the point. Should you elect to afford the sport, whether its difficult or not, I'm here to tell you that you will never be more personally fullfilled in an individual sport.

I think it is unforunate to discourage someone from getting a puppy and trying to train in sport work because of $$ or lack of. Jacob, get a puppy, & do your best with the dog. If it fails at the sport then at the very least you'll wind up with a great companion. No one says you have to run out and buy all this equipment in a day. You'll have the dog for hopefully many years and buy stuff along the way as you need it. Good luck!

Thanks John and everyone else that responded. I think I have found the puppy I was looking for and at a fair price. Will let everyone know how it turns out.

Jake

Well, ya'll can feel free to disagree with my point, but I'm basing my comments on my involvement with the sport of SchH for almost 25 years now. I've seen folks come and I've see folks go. And I've observed that people scrapping by financially to compete in the sport do not stay long in the sport at all.
That's just the way it goes.....

My only point is that I think the sport suffers when others don't encourage newcomers that show interest to get involved. For the average person the sport is about having fun with your dog. Not everyone has aspirations of competing at a national level. Most people won't travel to trials anyway until their dog is old enough to compete. A "good" club that charges $100 to $200 a year is a bargain as far as the knowledge one gains from working with experienced people. Each person will have to determine the commitment they want to make as far as time & money, but the future of any organization is in the recruitment of new members.

I have kept my mouth shut so far on this one, but I do have an opinion that I think I need to vent.

There ARE dogs out there in the under 1000 range from good stock with guarantees. There are also a lot of dogs out there that are listed as $1500 pups from NEW breeders who are asking that amount simply because "well so-and-so gets it for his puppies".. what they don't want to acknowledge is that so-and-so has experience and time in, as well as more losses.

If I charged a pup price based on what it costs me to train no one would be able to afford the pups. As another example- if Karmen Byrd charged a pup price that incorporated what it has cost her to trial Dante at the National level no one would be able to afford the pups. I am not saying it is wrong to want to break even or even have a little jingle in the kitty from time to time, but breeding is a labor of love.

I could go on sirius dog right now and show you exactly what I mean. MANY brand new breeders charging more than a "fair price" for a fair pup. I am NOT against higher prices from breeders who have experience- but I am from the "instant" breeders who seem to come and go... usually go about the time the first couple of dogs have to be replaced.