Some people are sometimes surprised when they are told the selling price of a puppy exceeding 1 000€. How is the price of a puppy of race  calculated?

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There are the classic " veterinary fees ", food, external and internal deworming, LOF registration that the buyer will immediately include in his calculations. They can easily be calculated around 200€/puppy.

If there are genetic screenings before the sale, know that they easily cost around 150€ minimum for each puppy in the Collie and the Shetland.

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We tend to forget that to have this litter, you needed a " maman " and a " papa_5-cc7519035-cc78190-de -bb3b-136bad5cf58d_”. The female dog is cared for 365 days a year by the breeder, possibly also the male or else there have been "  expenses of projection " which amount to between 400 and 1000€.
The annual maintenance of an adult dog costs between 600 and 1000€ depending on its size, therefore to be multiplied by 2 if the couple is present at the breeding.

There will therefore be between 600 and 1000€ to be divided between the number of puppies and to be added to its selling price.

I'm not even talking here about the amortization of the purchase price of mum and/or dad, sometimes imported from very far away with all the costs that go with it...

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If, as with us, the breeder has had dogs for several years, he certainly has “ retraités ” to maintain as well, perhaps they are even the grandparents of your puppy ? These dogs are legitimately included in the selling price of litters.

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To accommodate all these little people, you need a house, with  breeding buildings (8m² per dog according to regulations), away from the neighborhood, the land...Depending on the region and the cost of real estate, the breeder often commits to a substantial loan over many years in order to be able to settle down.
Dogs benefit directly from heating, light, running water for the maintenance of their premises : all this at a cost that is part of the selling price of your puppy.

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The breeder concerned about the well-being of his dogs will have invested in quality materials for the construction of their place of life (coating, grids, fence…), this is amortized over several years…

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There is also all the " petit " essential equipment for breeding : baskets, heat lamps, whelping boxes, playpens, toys, upholstery…and the consumables inherent in hygiene : approved detergent, approved disinfectant, shampoos for dogs, cleanliness mattress pads, latex and pharmacy gloves etc…When you have a lot of dogs, it wears out quickly and represents a significant cost over the year.

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Let's not forget the phone bill, internet, and the cost of ads to promote breeding and sell the litters, nor   gasoline and car credit to transport dogs and puppies.

Like any business, breeding pays taxes, but also taxes to the MSA which are very important.

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Once everything is put together, it is easy to understand that it is necessary to produce a significant number of puppies to cover all these costs ! Which is obviously not the case in a family breeding like ours where passion comes before money.

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To be " rentable ", we should separate ourselves from all our pensioners, have only bitches  at home who would do litters at each heat, buy supermarket croquettes and limit veterinary costs as much as possible… Not a very pretty picture, is it not ?

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Note that the private individual who has his only female dog reproduced every year has little cost, no taxes, often does not carry out expensive genetic screenings and will therefore be able to " s 'fill your pockets ' with the sale of his litter.

I would like to draw your attention that in all these calculations, we did not speak for a moment of the " SALAIRE DE L'ELEVEUR ". And yes ! You had forgotten this little detail I'm sure…it's also often my case !

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I cannot “  live from my passion ” by raising with the ethics that are mine.

To be able to feed myself, dress myself, pay for my leisure activities and take part in the upkeep of my household, I have to work in addition to my work as a dog breeder, which takes me 7 days a week.
I made the choice to have only half-time outside the breeding in order to properly take care of my dogs and puppies.

Because raising dogs, for me, means getting up  at 6 a.m. to ensure care and hygiene as well as the first outing, it means cleaning up every day to living in a healthy and clean house while having the dogs with us and not in kennels means organizing your schedule in half-day intervals so as not to leave them alone for too long, it means only going away for a week holidays a year with my husband because it is difficult to entrust your breeding to someone, never on weekends, it's asking for vetbeds at Christmas rather than something for yourself, it's canceling appointments at the last minute due to birth or sick dog, it means getting up at night to watch the puppies during their first weeks of life, it is sometimes skipping meals to have time to drink before going to work, it is spend long hours with adopters to convey my passion and ensure the quality of life what you have to offer my little ones is to jump in the car as soon as I have an hour free to walk the dogs in the fresh air, it is to break your back pregnant wanting to continue washing the dogs for clean is going to bed at 11 p.m. so the dogs don't have to hold on too long at night sometimes it's not sleeping a wink because I'm worried about one of my loves aging or sick...

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It's an all-consuming, absorbing passion to which I give myself up completely and around which my family has miraculously been built.

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If I sold my puppies for double what I sell them now, then maybe, yes, I would " fill my pockets " or more objectively, I could “  live from my passion ”…

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I hope this little article/testimonial can make you aware of the real value of the puppy you buy from us.

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