What would you pay?

[caseyolee]

I've been contemplating the thought of keeping my pups until they're 6-8months old and selling them already crate trained, house broken, and obedience trained instead of selling them at 8 weeks old.

They have good bloodlines, the parents are great stock dogs (with titles) & they have good conformation, temperaments and personalities. They come with up-to-date healthcare and CEA/Hip Displasia contracts. They are also garunteed to show interest in livestock.

What kind of a price should I put on a pup that is already pretty much house broken, crate trained and has a good start on obedience training (sit, stay, recall, down & has been introduced to stock)?


What would you pay?

 

[wolfsoul]

Personally I wouldn't like to pay much for an older dog from a breeder, but older pups are usually alot more expensive. At this age you can usually tell if the pup is going to be a good working dog. People who raise working dogs for herding stock and such usually like to know if the pup is going to have the drive and the instinct needed, and it's much easier to tell at this age. Buying an 8 week old puppy when you want a superb working dog can be a crap-shoot. I often look at breeder's websites to see what they charge for their started/working adults and puppies, and it's often in the thousands. You just have to make sure you have a market out there for people needing great working dogs.

 

[caseyolee]

The pup doesn't neccessarily have to be a working (herding) dog. Some one could want an agility dog, or just a pet. Either way, these pups are garunteed to work stock.

I would just like some price suggestions on an older, trained pup. Keep in mind theses pups will be well socialized when you get them.
You won't be getting a 6 months old pup that has had nothing done with it.

 

[MomOf7]

My suggestion is to sell most the pups and maybe keep one or two to crate train and basic ob.
If you have the market for it then just try one or two this time. If theres more of a demand then do more.
Its been my experience and observation that its hard to get out of a pup what you have put into it unless your a really well known kennel.
Talk to a few of your breeder friends and see what they say. Maybe they can lead you in the right direction.

 

[SummerRiot]

I'm with Wolfsoul on this one..

I know personally I'd rather train the pup myself so it also bonds with me..

But it is a very good theory and works well for horses

 

[RD]

Personally I would rather train the pup myself, but let's say I changed my mind on that one

For one, it depends on the breed and cost of a pup to begin with. What would you charge for an 8 week old puppy?

What you are describing sounds like something a bit like what breeders sell as "started" dogs, where they've been introduced to stock, trained a little and given a firm ground to work up from. I've seen some breeders selling started pups for $1000 or more but then again I have no idea what they would charge for an untrained 8 week old pup.

Slightly but not totally OT - Are you breeding Flye?

 

[zoe08]

Personally I would also rather get the puppy at 8 weeks and train it myself. For me I feel it is important for me to do the training so the pup will bond to me.

Also I dont really know anything about breeding and stuff, but if you keep the whole litter together that long, won't they get separation anxiety when they go to different homes at 6-8 months, when they spent their whole lives together?

 

[Allykat]

I agree with everyone else. I want to train my own puppy MY way and do his training according to MY rules, not someone else's. I also want to bond with any pup that I get from a breeder because I am spending money on a dog and I want to have a relationship from the very beggining.

 

[bubbatd]

It's much better to me that a pup is settled in his own to be home at 8 to 9 weeks.... by then I had them socialized , used to crates, ( only as a nesting area ) almost completely paper trained and eating well ... Family bonding was more important to me than extra $$ .... all pups were spoken for anyway . At an older age they are bonding to each other . I would nix this idea . Don't sell to a family that can't toilet train! Or sell the pup and have him/her do doggy care at your house.... but I'll grantee , this won't be a happy camper!

 

[fillyone]

If I was entering a serious sport (Schutzhund, herding etc) for the first time I might consider an older pup/young dog. For what I want to do (Tracking, obedience etc) I would prefer to get a young pup. Dante was 4 months old when I brought him home and I really want to do the "puppy" thing next time.

Since many of the pups from breeders I'm looking at for my next pup are $1000.00 - $1500.00 for a baby, I'd expect to pay at least $2000.00 for an older pup that has been imprinted on the sport of my choice with the appropriate drives for such. For an older pet puppy, I'd expect to pay the same as an 8 week old pup.

 

[Buddy'sParents]

I would rather get the pup at 8 weeks so that we could personally train it and bond with it.. those are important times!

 

[oc_spirit]

Personally I''d rather get an 8 week old puppy too. If the young dog was proving to be an exceptional leader (sled racing Siberian Husky) then I might bend a little but I still prefer to train them on my own.

The next breeds I''m going to be looking at getting it is especially important you get them as pups because they bond very closely and are fiercly loyal to their initial family. The Sylvan only bonds to one person in their entire lifetime and I''d want that person to be me.

 

[JennSLK]

I wouldnt get an older dog. People want to train the dog their way.

 

[MomOf7]

If your training for a certain sport. And you can get the basic works down there are those who would rather have all the puppy stages over with.
Some kennels will buy already finished dogs at outragous prices..Not really outragous but top end. Like a Field Trial dog who is titled can go for as much as 30k or more.
Just depends on who is looking for what at the time. It changes from year to year I have noticed.

Either way I want to wish you good luck with either choice you make. Raising pups is hard work. If you decide to keep a few make sure you put a price tag on them that reflects all the work you have done and how accomplished that pup is.

 

[mojozen]

Id take an older pup in a heart beat. It's what I look for in shelter dogs, I always bypass the puppies... because I can bond just as well with an older dog than a puppy. I don't know how much I'd pay for a purebred (haven't ever had one!) but if I were interested in the breed you were producing, I'd be someone that go "Older pup?! awesome!"

 

[bubbatd]

I'd go older pup as a rescue.. but not someone asking more for an unsold pup .

 

[memyselfandmiah]

Not to be a punk, but I think with this crowd the idea is not going over very well

I would imagiane that A LOT of people that are getting a dog for the family would LOVE one that was trained, though.

It is definatly something to look into, but I think that I would talk to 1st time dog owners that are getting a purebred, not the folks on these forums. (Not a knock to you guys, just a demographic thing).

On the other hand, the more that I think about it, I think that you may have more buyers that are buying the dogs for the wrong reason. BUT (and everyone has a butt) I think that dogs that are already trained would GREATLY reduce the chance that they end up in a shelter.

Just my $0.02

 

[caseyolee]

Thanks for all the replies. I have a lot of stipulations on my pups, so I USUALLY turn first time dogs owners away. I also turn away non-working homes and city folks MOST of the time. I DO make some exceptions. It just depends on the situation.

There are some ranchers that I know of that want to bipass the "puppy stage" and go right to "ready to work." Those are the people that will pay big bucks for older pups.

The thing about me is that I don't care if my pups sell or not. I don't mind if I am left with 6 puppies. I'll keep them for the rest of their lives. I just adore them THAT much. Like I said....money isn't an object

 

[whatszmatter]

working homes are a totally differetnt arena than pet homes. I'd seperate the litter, there's now way i'd keep back a whole litter and try and train all of those things. No matter the lines, some will be better and more suited for work than others.

Like someone said, i'd keep back the best 2-3 and work with them. Pet people want a pet, they want it from puppyhood, and hopefully beyond. They just want a healthy pet and unless they have money to burn, most aren't willing to pay twice as much for an older puppy, when all the "fun" and "cute" time has already passed.

Now working homes are willing to pay that extra money because they know what they'll be getting. I'd personally wait a year so that I can check the hips and elbows, but that's the dogs I look at. Just for some prospective, new pups, 8-12 weeks i would pay 800-1800 for depending on the breed and breeder. from those same places i'd spend 2000-4500 for a year old working prospect that has already shown the drive and temperment and health clearances to do the work i want, but that has nothing to do with OB training or crate training.

and if you did keep them back, they'd have to be seperated from each other. As for bonding with owners needing to be done in the early weeks of development, well, research would tell youthat is the period when it happens the most. But i've never had any trouble bonding with an older dog EVER and know many others that do the same.

 

[MomOf7]

Along with what Whatsz said..
You can Cerf your pups at 6-8 weeks old. This is becomming more of a standard now. There are accidents and injuries that can happen that will effect the pup and cause them to not pass thier cerf later on. If you had a cerf done early you can avoid any question that the pups who didnt pass was a result of an injury. Retinal folds, displaysia ect can be detected early. PRA is sometimes hard to determine at a young age. So lets say a person came back a year later and said my dog didnt pass his eyes due to a injury you can prove that the pup was fine before it left. You can also have a OFA prelim done at an early age. The percentage of dogs failing after passing a prelim is something like 3 or 5 percent. Just a good way to Cover your butt.