[i_have_too_many]

I just got back onto the board after being at a show all weekend and found an interesting thread that had been closed before I had a chance to expand on the OP's opening statement. Daisy, brought up a few good points.

When I first started looking into purebreds I read a comment somewhere that a good breeder will not be making lots of money from their dogs (contrary to what many believe) because they have put so much into them before they get a single pup. We just had a litter of puppies in January, and I would like to go over the expenses we incured, keep in mind this was a healthy litter with no suprise expenses, and numbers are rounded to the nearest $10.

Before our dog was bred; we spend $150 on getting her Tracking title, about $300 on showing, $200 on getting hips x-rayed, $50 for an eye test and thyroid check. $200 on training for the tracking title. This does not include the annual vet check, vaccinations, and food (x4years). Total so far $765, money made, $0.

Once we decide to breed, I spent hours seaching for the perfect stud, then the breeding took place. This alone costs $1500 for stud fee, not to mention the gas it took to drive 3 1/2 hours each way, twice.

Now the pups are here, luckly we had an uneventful delivery, no extra costs, but that does not always happen. The food intake for mom increased x3, so that cost is up x3 starting a month after breeding. Day 1; pups go for checkup and tail docking, 7 pups = $300. Continued increased feeding of mother (puppy food, $40 for 18Kg bag, lasts 2 weeks). New total: $2725, money made, $0.

Now the pups are a month old and eating puppy food, so I am feeding a bag of food every week, $40. At 7 weeks they go for another check up and needles, 7 pups = $350. Microchips for 7 pups, $115. I insert them myself, otherwise it would be another $35/pup for the vet to do it. Litter registration with the CKC, $20. Now the total is up to $3330, money made, $0.

By the time the pups are 8 weeks old, I have spend another $80 on food, they are eating 2 bags a week. I still have to register each pup, which is $50 each. I have not included any costs associated with actually selling them, such as phone bills and web page. We are lucky and are able to sell the pups by the time they are 8 weeks, but our last litter in the fall, I ended up holding onto 3 pups until they were 5 months old.

We are keeping 1 pup from this litter, so we are selling 6. You may think that now we will get lots of money, well it is temporary. Ok 6 pups x $1200 (they are not common so we are able to sell them for this much), = $7200. Now subtract the $3760 we spent, = $3440. This may sound like a lot, but since our litters pay for the other dogs we have, we are now in the red, litterally.

While we were waiting to sell this litter, we also had to feed 4 other dogs and assiciated vet costs. One of those bills was well over $300 for one dog. I was also showing 2 others, at $25 a show for each dog ($100/weekend), it quickly adds up. Now we have some money to pay these outstanding bills.

This is where the good breeders are separated by the backyard breeders. You see, byb's do not have all the same costs, in fact, they have very few, since they do not do health checks, usually do not have stud fees, do minimal vet checks, and rarely register the pups, they only pay for food and a few necessary vet bills. The money that they do make goes into their pockets, not their dogs.

Good breeders do it for the joy and pride in producing a good litter and finding the pups great homes, if they have to hold onto a pup for a few months to get it the right home they will. They will only breed when the time is right, not on every heat cycle like many byb's. They spend more $ on the dogs, then they make.

Just for your information, our bank account right now sits in the -, and will for a long time, but I am still showing our dogs, and doing health tests, in fact, I have to x-ray a dog soon for a hip check, that will be another $300 which we do not have. I do not know when we will have another litter, maybe when my hubby has worked hard and brings home enough $ to afford one.

I do not need anyone responding who is going to come on here and complain that we are making money, I can give you names of other breeders who will tell you the same thing. Good breeders do it because we love it, it is a hobby, a very expensive one. Imagine we had the same expenses but had another $1500+ bill for a c-section (a breeder I know just did). Or pups that were very ill and needed special care, or had pups die and could only have a few to sell. Breeders are lucky if they get to keep a portion of the money they get from the litter. If I was breeding a type of dog that was more common and was only able to sell the pups for $500, we would have only made $3000, that would not have even covered expenses.