[Ted Shih]

Re: hh

FC-AFC Rammin Hot Chili.. 3X Nat. Finalist..Double Header Winner...$600

And what did you ask for Chili's puppies, Big Boy?

 

[Ted Shih]

I find the bitch I want a pup out of.

Yes - I only look at bitches to start with. Usely one that I have seen run or trained with. Ask if they are going to breed and to whom. Great bitches normally don't breed to a stud that will nix the deal.

....

Once I find the bitch with an acceptable stud - I suck it up and pay.

So I find the breeding first. I don't settle on a price range then find a breeding.

I don't see any problem with a $300-$500 dollar puppy as long as you really like the dam and the sire or pups from previous litters.

This is the way I do it.

I am not opposed to paying as little as possible.

My National Finalist (AFC Zowie) and my FC/AFC (Ace) were $500 puppies. I bought Zowie because my trainer - Cherylon Loveland - had trained the dam (Jet) and thought she was fabulous. I bought Ace later, after we knew what we had in Zowie.

But, if I need to pay more, I will.

A month before I bought Zowie, I bought Sparky (FC/AFC Chena River Chavez x CNFC/CAFC Kerensa of Carronade) for $2500. I washed Sparky out, brought him home for several years then gave him to a hunting buddy. Again, I bought the pup because of the bitch.

Sparky didn't work out - his marking wasn't what I thought it should be - but, he had other nice qualities that we liked, and I pursued getting another puppy from Kerensa, but the timing never worked out.

I have since bought puppies from

- FC/AFC Trumarc's Lean Cuisine (Mootsie, Mozzie)
- FC/AFC Call Me Yankee Doodle Dandy (Buffy)
- FC Mad River's Maggie McBunn (Va Va)

Again, all based on the bitch. I am pleased with Mootsie, Mozzie, and Buffy. I think they will all be competitive AA dogs. Va Va looks very promising.

I think it is important to underscore something Gerard said. It is not because litters are driven solely by the bitch. Rather it is because good bitches attract good studs.

Keep an eye on the bitch line.
And never go to training or to a Field Trial without scouting the bitches.

Ted

 

[stonybrook]

So to recap -

Most of the folks that voted would pay more than $1000.00 for their next pup.

Of those folks, nearly all would agree a very nice pup can be bought for less and that they would buy a pup as cheaply as possible if it met their criteria and that meeting the criteria is more important than the purchase price. But if a pup met their criteria, they would pay much more than the $1500.00.

Good deals can be found on pups/dogs, as with anything else. One man's junk....Possibly we expect less from a less expensive pup than a higher priced one.

Dogs are a product of their environment. I know for 100% certainty if Patton had come to live at my house at 49 days old, he would not be the dog he is today. He would've been given plenty of trips to N. Dakota to retrieve ducks and pheasants though. (If he's listening, the offer still stands).

Most of those that responded have remarked at how cheap they bought past or present dogs and how well they've turned out. How about we hear from those that have bought a cheap pup and it didn't meet their expectations or from someone that paid a huge amount and had it either really do well or really not make it.

This has turned into a very interesting thread, in my opinion anyway.

Oh yeah, and we learned what Chris B. thinks of less expensive pups.

Travis

 

[Angie B]

Well,,,, I raised a $7000 12 week old puppy and she didn't turn out worth a darn. She could have, but her owners kept taking her home and wouldn't bring her back until several weeks later. She was a monster when she got back to the kennel and her resentment would build after every trip home...

Angie