BlacksheepCardigans
Songster
Quote:
Put $1500 in a savings account RIGHT NOW. That's how much it'll cost for her c-section.
I hate to get into the "nobody can breed dogs except me" arguments, because I DO breed my dogs - but honestly breeding dogs is not "fun." It's enormously expensive and heartbreaking and if you do it right you will lose thousands and thousands of dollars every litter. Nobody can make money on dogs unless they cut corners, because dogs are not a production animal and you can't cull them (well, you can't cull them and have anybody call you responsible, anyway). If you're not doing it because you are so head-over-heels for the Golden Retriever breed that you are actually improving it by breeding your girl, save yourself an enormous amount of trouble and spay her before they breed.
Average sale price of a well-bred Golden puppy is $1000-1800 right now. So when I say a puppy's sale price below, that's what I mean.
If you do it right, you'll typically spend about two puppies' price on health testing before they breed. Goldens need hips and eyes and hearts and thyroid and a few others depending on the lines you're working with, and you should know the pedigree and who's had cancer and try to breed away from it.
Since you presumably didn't have them health tested first, you'll still pay for it in the end, because you'll have to take adult dogs back when they end up with issues and need treatment the owners can't afford. But you'll make a little more on the front end.
A c-section is another puppy's price.
You should plan on "losing" two more puppies (the sales price, at least) to the cost of raising the puppies to eight weeks. Besides the unimaginable amount of laundry you'll do, and the cost of losing someone's work for a week at least (I sleep beside the whelping box for ten days, which means I am not working during that time), they need to be wormed every two weeks and they need first shots before they leave. If any are being sold across state lines they need a health certificate from the vet, which runs me about $75 per puppy. They'll eat a huge amount too.
With a fifth puppy gone as a stud fee, you can see that you'd have to have a minimum of six puppies and NO c-section and sell everybody for $1000-1800 each just to break even and keep one. And that just breaks you even; doesn't pay for the years you raised the female or for her food or for showing her or for anything else. Just getting the puppies on the ground and gone.
Since putting a championship on a dog typically costs me $5000 or more, my females don't start making me money until they produce something like 40 puppies... in other words, they NEVER make me money. Dog breeding is just a big hole you throw money into. My spayed and neutered pets are the only ones who don't completely bleed us dry
.
If you read my description and say "Wow, sounds awesome" and you actually mean it... go breed your dogs. If that sounds either a) untrue and crazy, or b) like nothing any sensible person would do, tell your kids that they can breed their girl when they have five grand in the bank and nothing better to do with it.
Put $1500 in a savings account RIGHT NOW. That's how much it'll cost for her c-section.
I hate to get into the "nobody can breed dogs except me" arguments, because I DO breed my dogs - but honestly breeding dogs is not "fun." It's enormously expensive and heartbreaking and if you do it right you will lose thousands and thousands of dollars every litter. Nobody can make money on dogs unless they cut corners, because dogs are not a production animal and you can't cull them (well, you can't cull them and have anybody call you responsible, anyway). If you're not doing it because you are so head-over-heels for the Golden Retriever breed that you are actually improving it by breeding your girl, save yourself an enormous amount of trouble and spay her before they breed.
Average sale price of a well-bred Golden puppy is $1000-1800 right now. So when I say a puppy's sale price below, that's what I mean.
If you do it right, you'll typically spend about two puppies' price on health testing before they breed. Goldens need hips and eyes and hearts and thyroid and a few others depending on the lines you're working with, and you should know the pedigree and who's had cancer and try to breed away from it.
Since you presumably didn't have them health tested first, you'll still pay for it in the end, because you'll have to take adult dogs back when they end up with issues and need treatment the owners can't afford. But you'll make a little more on the front end.
A c-section is another puppy's price.
You should plan on "losing" two more puppies (the sales price, at least) to the cost of raising the puppies to eight weeks. Besides the unimaginable amount of laundry you'll do, and the cost of losing someone's work for a week at least (I sleep beside the whelping box for ten days, which means I am not working during that time), they need to be wormed every two weeks and they need first shots before they leave. If any are being sold across state lines they need a health certificate from the vet, which runs me about $75 per puppy. They'll eat a huge amount too.
With a fifth puppy gone as a stud fee, you can see that you'd have to have a minimum of six puppies and NO c-section and sell everybody for $1000-1800 each just to break even and keep one. And that just breaks you even; doesn't pay for the years you raised the female or for her food or for showing her or for anything else. Just getting the puppies on the ground and gone.
Since putting a championship on a dog typically costs me $5000 or more, my females don't start making me money until they produce something like 40 puppies... in other words, they NEVER make me money. Dog breeding is just a big hole you throw money into. My spayed and neutered pets are the only ones who don't completely bleed us dry
If you read my description and say "Wow, sounds awesome" and you actually mean it... go breed your dogs. If that sounds either a) untrue and crazy, or b) like nothing any sensible person would do, tell your kids that they can breed their girl when they have five grand in the bank and nothing better to do with it.
