Cost To Produce A Puppy

Dog Training
Border Collie Puppies
Our Dogs
Ranch Services - Herding & Sheep
Boarding & Grooming Service
Upcoming Events
Training Articles
Map & Directions
First Aid / CPR Classes
360 Degree Rescue Dogs
Home

The Cost To Produce A Puppy


Males, Females & Fond Memories		Current & Planned Litters

How Much Is That Doggie In The Window?

There are many expenses that go into producing a well bred puppy, many of which are unknown to a typical puppy buyer.

	Direct Costs	Stud fee, if applicable, Vaccinations, Wormer, Bedding, Food, Toys, Microchip, Registration etc.... These are typically things that actually touch the puppies, including high quality care and attention during the most formative weeks of a puppy's life; early socialization.
	Semi-direct costs	Time spent screening and chatting with potential puppy buyers. Cost to maintain and update website with new puppy photos and advertising to a target market of high quality, conscientious, caring puppy buyers.
	Cost of the breeding parents	Routine veterinary care and maintenance, genetic or other health screens
	Cost to demonstrate performance ability in parents	Maintenance of livestock and farm facilities and/or cost of herding lessons or clinic fees. Trial entry fees, travel to trials.
	General Overhead	Facilities and utilities (electricity, heating/cooling etc)

The assumptions which were made when the following table was created are:

	Labor for direct care and early socialization of the puppies and any administrative work was at a rate of $15/hr (really cheap)
	Labor for technical functions (website design and upkeep) was at a rate of $20/hr
	A litter size of 6 puppies was used to calculate the "per puppy" costs in this table
	The costs associated with the parent's maintenance was spread across six puppies
	The breeder performed veterinary care such as worming, vaccination and micro-chipping at a rate of $15/hr
	Parent's minimal health screens included one preliminary hip x-ray, one final OFA hip x-ray, Optigen DNA screen for CEA/CH, one CERF test (no additional tests are included)
	One Working title/parent assumed travel within 6 hour drive from home, two trial weekends, four class entries (to insure three qualifying legs, at typical AKC Herding Trial cost of $40/run).

NOTE: The final "Total Cost To Produce A Puppy"

	*Does not* include ANY profit for the breeder - all costs are actual expenses**
	Does not include any additional health screens required beyond Hips and Eyes for the parents
	Does not include fertility testing (i.e. progesterone tests) for appropriately timed breedings to outside studs.
	Does not include travel costs required to breed to outside stud dog. As an example; The total travel costs to breed Moxie to USBCHA National Champion Bart were over $900 (that does not include the stud fee).
	Does not include labor hours for training or maintaining working parents. Does not include facilities and livestock upkeep which is required to train the dogs. And, no labor hours were charged for the time to attend herding competitions to acquire the performance titles.
	Does not include facility or any utilities overhead costs to maintain the parents.
	Could be reduced minimally if the parents were to be bred a second time. However, all direct costs would be repeated on each future puppy, as well as all overhead costs. Only the health screens that are performed once/parent could then be spread across, perhaps 12, versus 6 puppies. Routine maintenance of parents would still be added into the equation, and one can assume that additional herding titles would be sought in time (so that expense would not be absorbed over additional litters, as it would probably increase with time).

	DIRECT Input to Create a High Quality Puppy	$/puppy
	Stud fee - when applicable (approx. cost)	$200
	Bitch and puppy Care: Labor hours first four weeks	187.5
	Bitch and puppy care and socialization: second four weeks	300
	Bedding last 4 weeks (cedar, changed frequently, keeps puppy sanitary and dry)	22
	Nemex-2 wormer X 2 applications	1.5
	SafeGuard wormer X 3 days	6.3
	High quality vaccine	3.9
	CERF eye exam	30
	Travel to Board Certified Vet Ophthalmologist	8.7
	Micro Chipping	18
	AKC Litter Registration	6.5
	ABCA litter Reg	8
	Puppy Food	24
	Toys for social training	2.75
	Puppy Packet	4
	Gift Basket (toys, chew bone, etc)	6
	Regional Advertising	22
	On-Line Advertising	20

	TOTAL - DIRECT Costs	871.15


	Parent's Minimal Health Screen and Maintenance	264
	Acquiring 1 working title/parent	170
	Facilities & Website Overhead Costs (utilities, heating/cooling etc)	166

	Total Cost To Produce A Well-Bred Puppy	$1471.15

	As new genetic markers are identified for diseases such as epilepsy (currently under study for Border Collies), it will become useful to add those to the health screening panel for breeding animals. Although some of our dogs have been screened by OFA for Elbow Displasia, the incidence in the breed is so low that it doesn't really warrant testing without due cause, in our opinion. However, it does add cost, of course, which is not captured in the table above. The same holds true for the BAER test, as hearing defects in the breed are quite low - so we have not felt it necessary to test each puppy and add additional cost on to the puppy buyers. However, with time, there may be additional health screens which will be very useful to increase the overall health of the breed, and as that happens, the cost to produce a well bred puppy will increase.

	We currently price our Border Collie puppies at around $900 (more for litters where we incur added expense, such as a breeding to an outside stud dog). At that price, we are essentially absorbing nearly $400/puppy by reducing our labor costs or donating them, entirely! Some breeders have not done the calculations and are selling puppies for well below what it should cost to produce high qualities puppies. But, also, many breeders do not offer such high quality puppies as we do. We applaud all the caring, committed, quality breeders that do! Not all breeders provide follow-up resources, training and management advice and agree to take back a puppy at any time in its life, regardless of the reason, either.

	It is actually quite difficult to find Border Collie breeders that truly work their dogs on a regular basis (so that they can assess their potential breeding stocks' herding strengths and weaknesses in order to make good breeding decisions). And, not all (perhaps not even 1/2) of the breeders provide evidence of health screens performed on the parents. Most do not have decades of experience owning, training and trialing the breed - so cannot make intelligent, informed breeding decisions.

	Lots of breeders are not aware that the first eight weeks of a puppy's life can influence it's potential as a working dog and as a companion animal for the next 14 years! So, appropriate early socialization is critical, and it's hard to find in many breeders. We are highly dedicated in that regard.

	BENEFITS OF EARLY SOCIALIZATION is an interesting reference on the importance of early care of a litter. We follow the guidelines in this article during the first weeks of our puppies lives. Not all breeders are as dedicated and spend as much time with their puppies as we do. We are always very happy to hear about those that are! Since we work right here on our ranch (providing professional dog training services) we are present and available during the whelping and rearing of our DarnFar Border Collie puppy litters.

	Like the saying goes, you get what you pay for. And, sometimes, you get even more! That's what we think about our puppies, and that's why we screen buyers quite thoroughly. We put our hearts and souls into raising superior puppies and we want to make certain they are well loved and cared for, for the rest of their lives. It really is a labor of love.



Moxie's sister Sprite at 4 weeks old	DarnFar Moxie at 4 weeks old

Males, Females & Fond Memories	Current & Planned Litters

	Puppy Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
	How Do We Socialize Our Puppies?
	What Are Our Health Guarantees?
	Where Are The Puppies Raised?
	What Health Care Is Provided To Puppies?
	When Can I Visit The Puppies? When Do I Choose MY Puppy?
	What Is The Difference Between Smooth & Rough Coated Puppies?
	What Do You Mean, Border Collies Are Quirky?
	What Are Your Standards For Choosing Breeding Stock?
	What Does It Cost To Produce A Puppy?