Price of a Golden Puppy From Legend Golden Retrievers
Golden Retriever Puppy Price
Determining Price
As a reputable breeder, I get asked quite often:
How is the cost of a puppy determined?
Why does the puppy cost what it does?
please note this page doesn't tell you our current price of a pet puppy just helps you understand cost into breeding a healthy litter of puppies. This article was written in 2015
While we realize that a Golden Retriever puppy is a significant investment, it may help to know some of the factors that go into the cost of a well-bred Golden Retriever.
Covid Changes to Costs
during covid many changes were made to veterinary care and this greatly affected how much services will cost. So the article being written in 2015 doesn't reflect these cost increases. Like a typical office visit to the vet doubled in 2020. Most other services doubled or tripled due to government requirements. For instance, a vet tech use to be able to clean teeth... now it is required for a vet to do this with two vet techs, this is a government change that required this change. This is what caused the triple in cost just for a simple teeth cleaning. So a simple Teething cleaning use to be $50-$80 now its currently as of fall 2022 around $400. Vet work has changed the cost of puppies directly.
What Goes into Breeding a Litter
Contrary to popular belief, breeding.... if done correctly, is not a profitable venture. We don't set our price on what we have monetarily put into each individual puppy, or the cost of the breeding stock themselves.
However, it does cost considerably to run our breeding program as a whole, show dogs, and keep them happy and healthy. While we would love to have enough puppies for every request, a great deal goes into the selection of our breeding stock.
Our primary focus is to breed show quality puppies that we can campaign in the breed ring. We do not breed litters so other people can have pets.
We breed first of all for ourselves, to improve the breed, and have dogs to show and prospective upcoming breeding stock. Knowing that, helps you to know that even a pet quality puppy has been carefully bred and screened.
Price that Goes into Breeding a Healthy Golden Retriever Litter
We have to consider many different things like:
The dogs we purchase, the average show or breeding Golden Retriever which we have bred or have been purchased by exclusive breeders are costly and we still have to hope it passes all the genetic health clearances as well as be a good example of the breed.
If it doesn’t pass we have a great deal of money tied up in one dog that we now have to spay. If we place that dog in a pet home, we take a significant loss. Any time we buy a dog or keep a puppy from a litter we are hoping that it will potentially replace one of our breeding dogs, however, genetics do not care about our intentions.
Cost Vs Rescue
It is not that we pass this cost on to our clients, it is only to help you understand why a well-bred puppy can be expensive.
If you are looking for a genetically healthy puppy, that is an excellent representation of the breed, with an excellent temperament, then you have come to the right place.
But, if you don't care what it looks like, or whether or not you incur thousands of dollars in veterinary bills, then please, consider rescuing a Golden Retriever from a reputable rescue organization. There are far too many Golden Retrievers who are ill bred and poor representations, lacking breed type and soundness that still need a forever home.
Genetic Health concerns
Genetic testing is an integral part of our breeding program. The more informed we are about the genetic code on our dogs and their ancestors, the more responsibly we can breed.
We have our dogs hearts checked by a board certified canine cardiologist, have their Hips and Elbows certified by the Orthepedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) and all dogs have their eyes checked for genetic defects and cataracts by a ophthalmologist, then certified by OFA, These are the health tests required by the Golden Retriever Club of America. The national Golden Retriever club, breeders, and veterinarians are continually working to map genetic codes in the breed for other defects that may be heritable and genetically tested. We applaud their efforts and continue to look forward to breeding the very best, and healthiest dogs we can.
We Go above and Beyond
We Don't Stop at what Golden Retriever Club requires we Do More Because we Care about the Breed!
We also have all of our dogs Thyroid levels run and Certified as normal by OFA Dentition evaluated by a Vet and Certified as normal, Patella's evaluated by a Vet and Certified as Normal
Echocardiogram on all parents before breeding and certified with OFA
while the golden retriever club doesn't require an ECHO We at Legend listen to the Cardiologists when they said "we can't hear everything and we are missing heart defects during a normal test and Need to be doing more ECHOs"... with an ECHO's we can See that the heart is normal with no defects.
Embark DNA health panel testing over 200 known health concerns and we only are breeding dogs who are clear and non-Carriers of all 200+ conditions
We are also continuing to test for more as new tests become available!
Having said all that, genetic testing is expensive, but critical to providing you with a puppy whose parents have been screened for known problems within the breed to the very best we can do.
Costs of Rising a Healthy Litter
How We Determine A Puppy Price (Please Read All)
Dog breeding is becoming more and more difficult in today’s times. Food & Medical expenses top the list for breeders trying to keep puppies affordable on creating the perfect "healthy, long lived" family pet besides trying to be competitive in the dog show world.
Finally, we have to consider all the medical costs in our breeding program
C-sections for a mom that has complications during delivery, vitamins and minerals to insure healthy dog and puppies, genetic testing for health, vaccinations, deworming, puppy vet checks, whelping boxes and supplies, emergency supplies and many more things that could come up. We cover these charges overall rather than apply them to the sale of one puppy.
We make it our responsibility to know what lines carry certain genetic tendencies and strive to do the very best we can to avoid problems. We also have to reflect on the day to day cost of grooming supplies, toys, high quality food, crates, crate pads, heating and air conditioning.
As you can see, breeding quality dogs is not a profitable venture. We do it for the love of the breed and strive for integrity in health, genetics, temperament and breed type. A responsibly bred dog by a reputable breeder can offer you years and years of healthy, happy companionship.
With all of this said here are the typical costs involved in raising a litter
Today, we map out and plan our breeding's for months.
Today, we map plan and plan our breeding's for months. We are forced to breed mostly by technology using Progesterone testing to target the perfect conception date, FedEx to ship the semen from point A to B and Ultrasound to determine pregnancy. This all costs money to do it right! Then once she is pregnant we wait the 63 days to see if she will be able to have them naturally or a caesarian section. Once the puppies are here are "dog mom" jobs begin…imprinting, laundry, sleeping by the whelping box so no one gets laid on, potty training starting at 4 weeks, more laundry, no rest for the weary and then socializing and more laundry. We finally get to have a full night sleep around the 4th week. It is a monumental task to do it right and keep everyone healthy and happy. Then back to the vets to make sure everyone’s heart is beating correctly and review their overall health.
Please Read the Section above with the tabs first
We believe in:
* Raising puppies in our home to obtain the best social skills as adults.
* Minimal Vaccinations- Jean Dodds and Ronald Schultz's Minimal Vaccination Protocol over vaccinations has been linked to causing allergies as well as many other issues. We highly recommend titer testing instead to determine what each dog needs more immunity to.
* Biljac dog food, Pro Plan Performance, or Royal Canin
* Litter Potty Training starting as early as 4 weeks
* Nursing as long as possible to maximize immunity.
* Socializing with other adult mothers and some sires at 7 weeks to obtain good social skills. Our seasoned adults are used to raising puppies and this makes it easier for the puppy to go to their new home where he/she might be the 2nd dog coming into a house hold. They learn quickly how to interact with another adult besides there mother.
The chart below is so you can see the costs involved in raising a well socialized litter of puppies in today’s times. This is our hobby and our passion. We do our best to stay current on medical issues and environmental issues which affect our life.
I wrote this page so buyers could grasp how we arrive at our asking price of our puppies and how difficult our jobs of trying to keep a quality puppy affordable to the average family. There is a difference between good breeders and not so good breeders just like everything else in life.
DAM REQUIREMENTS: Passing the Big Hereditary Conditions listed by the breed parent club "NOT INCLUDING SHOW EXPENSES" Plus the Other Health Tests we Require of all our Breeding Dogs.
Heart ECHO - $600 x 3 average
Yearly Eye exam by Specialist - $100 x 7 = $700
Hip and Elbow X-rays and OFA certification - $800
EmBark DNA panel - $200
Extra DNA tests - $200 (not covered in Embark yet)
Thyroid OFA Certification and Test - $100
Patella OFA test - $75
Dentition OFA test - $75
Total of Health tests $3950
Cost of Raising and Training female for 2 years $$$$
the average Cost of buying a show quality female you can breed $6000.00-12,000.00
BREEDING COSTS of the Litter:
• Vet Check on Dam CBC Blood Work-Smear for Infections $400.00
• Timing/Progesterone Tests $200.00 per test/3-6 Tests per Breeding $600. to 1000.00
STUD DOG FEE: Service Fee (Deposit) $300.00
• Remainder of Stud Fee(live puppies)$4000.00
SHIPPING SEMEN EXPENSES:
• A. Fresh Chilled Semen (X2)Canine Shipping Box; Semen Extender; Ice ( these charges are if your stud dog owner packages it. More $ if a vet prepares it for shipping)$500.00
• B. Frozen Semen - Tank Rental; Preparation Fee;Tank Return$700.00 to $1000.00
Plus Shipping Fees:FedEx; UPS; Airplane-Counter to Counter; Bus$200.to 600.00
• SEMEN INSEMINATIONS:(Pick one: A. B. C. or D. Expenses)
A. Natural breeding - Driving to Stud Dogs Location. xxx.xx
B. Artificial Insemination (A-I)If performed by a Vet$350.to 600.00
C. Transervical"Vet Procedure" (usually inseminated twice)$600.to 1000.00
D. Surgical"Vet Procedure"$1,000. to 1,500.00
UltrasoundTo Confirm Pregnancy$200.00 to 450.00
• BREEDING TOTAL:(NO PUPPIES YET)$6550.00- $9250.00
CARING FOR DAM & PUPPIES:(Not including cost of whelping box)
• Dam (gestation through whelping)Extra Food for Dam; Supplements$500.00
• Whelping Natural-Cesarean$0 to 7,000.00
• Post Whelping Vet Check$150. to 250.00
• Whelping Supplies
- Bedding(at least 3 sets of bedding)-
- Oxytocin/Vet on call-
- Extra towels-
- Pedialyte-
- Puppy Collars-
- Heating Source-
- Disinfectants-
- New Linoleum (to put around the whelping box)$800. to 1,200.
• Washing and More Washing! Bedding is washed Daily$200.00
• Raising Puppies Food-Bedding " Litter"-Toys-Replacement Toys-Possible New Pens-Toy Pools-Possible Pet Sitter-Worming Supplies $1500.00 and up
• Vet (when there is no problems)Vaccinations-Microchip-Health Checks$80. x 8 = 640.00
SUB TOTAL:LOW TO HIGH$3,790.- 12,040.00
stud service balance due 4,000 - 8,500
• Sleeping in The Box NO SLEEP WANT SOME SLEEP!
GRAND TOTAL: $12,270.00 to 24,755.00
Plus Cost of Parents Health Testing of $8000
DIVIDED BY PUPPIES AVERAGE "COST" OF 1 PUPPY $4000
we have updated costs to current 2023 costs
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Replacement Costs of worn out items??.??
Cost of raising a potential mom of puppies from birth to adulthood???
Cost of showing breeding dogs to make sure they conform to breed standard
Time into studying the breed standard, pedigrees, current health issues, genetic concerns, temperament, training, availability to clients for questions, etc.....
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THIS IS JUST THE "COST" OF RAISING 1 AVERAGE LITTER OF PUPPIES.
THIS IS SIMPLY A "HOBBY" AND A LOVE FOR THE BREED.
I HOPE THIS PUTS THE COST VS PRICE WE CHARGE FOR A PUPPY IN PERSPECTIVE.