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Did Michelangelo buy the "close out special" paints at Home Depot before painting the Sistine Chapel? If you're planning on training and running hunt tests, the initial investment is like buying paint - the additional time and money you'll invest makes the initial price insignificant. The right breeding provides value long after price is forgotten. Of course, all you really asked was "is this a typical price?". People who post on forums lack the ability to post a reply of "yes" (me included)
I would recommend you do what I did. I made a list of traits that I wanted in my dog. I called breeders that I felt bred my kind of golden (top notch breeders in my opinion). My calls took me to California, Wisconsin, Florida, Oregon. I spoke to one well known breeder who is also a FT Judge. She had no puppies left for me. We discussed a couple of ads and pedigrees. We looked at one in particular and she had told me that she had judged several dogs in the pedigree and recommended that I call the breeder immediately. I traveled quite a distance to get my puppy and had my pick of the females (I wanted a female).
Here is my point. Decide what you like. Do research. Talk to someone who has seen dogs in the pedigree work or get to see the parents yourself. Be realistic about what you can handle. (My own golden is too much dog for 95% of those looking for a dog but is exactly what I wanted.) Based on my research I decided what I would end up paying for a dog. Titled parents did not concern me. I would have gone anywhere for my dog. I was most concerned that my dog came from an exceptionally strong working background because I am not satisfied with the qualities of a lot of goldens that I see in the field (This may be unique to my location).
Good luck.
The pool of working Goldens is much smaller than the pool of working labs. Take a look in the classifieds and the sheer number of well-bred working lab litters compared to the number of working Golden litters is quite dramatic. So yes, part of it is what the market drives. The other part of it with Goldens is the sheer number of tests that are run--hips, elbows OFAed, eyes CERFed annually, Hearts cardiologist cleared (possibly requiring an echo cardiogram to distinguish an innocent murmur from an SAS murmur), and then DNA tests for the PRAs and Ichthyosis. It adds up to a lot of expense before there are ever pups on the ground!
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Originally Posted by gdgnyc
bad plan,
Chessies ain't for everyone ;-)
You continue to be very funny! And you know that I am fond of Chessies especially because they don't show the divergence that Goldens show in the breed.:cool:Quote:
Originally Posted by Ken Bora
Wow Sue,Quote:
Originally Posted by Sue Kiefer
I almost bought a Zeke pup from you back in 1994. I remember seeing your add in Retriever Field Trial News, I was looking for a Zeke pup and you were one of three I was considering. I ended up with one of Jackie Mertens' Zeke bred to Hillviews Ready to Smoke pups. That's Cody the dog in my avatar.
This is Alex, my wavy coated Golden that most think is a Chessie when they see him. I think I could of run him in the Chessie Specialty without anyone questioning.
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...pse359d6ef.jpg
Great Photo,
Yep, that could be a sedge chessie!
Call Chris.
http://www.retrievertraining.net/for...-born-10-11-12
I'd guess this litter was gone fast. Been a few weeks since we talked. I didn't ask if she still had any available.
That is one beautiful photo!! :)
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Originally Posted by John Robinson