Rant on Yorkie Pricing

[TammyJM]

Originally Posted by chris_e

I don't know who moderates this, but this thread needs to be locked as it is going nowhere. I am no closer to an answer and I am not an economics major so I can't extoll the virtues of a free market society and dog prices. The only thing this topic is going to bring about it anger and resentment which was not my goal at all.

I read each and every post on this thread and I am confused at how you can say that your question was not answered. Actually,it was addressed several times with pretty much the same answer. Here's what I gathered from the responses....it takes money,time, lots of love and work to raise a litter of puppies! It isn't cheap to breed and it is trying on the emotions as well....I cried when each of my 4 puppies left us.

I am sorry that you didn't feel like you got your answer, but I really think that everyone did try to explain their reasons.

Tammy

[crystalsmom]

Chris e, seems to me it was explained very well.

Here is the list of help for people with sick dogs that cannot afford vet care.
I promised last night I would post this.



United Animal Nations
http://www.uan.org/index.cfm?navid=28
Grants and other Life Line programs for care
The Magic Bullet Fund
http://www.themagicbulletfund.org/
Help with Cancer care for canines
Pets Are Wonderful Support
http://www.pawssf.org/
Help for owners with low income/disabled/HIV/Aids
Pets are Loving Support
http://www.sonic.net/~pals/
Help for owners with AIDS
Help a Pet
http://www.help-a-pet.org/
nonprofit organization with a single purpose: to provide financial assistance nationwide for the medical care of pets whose owners are unable to afford the expense.
Westie Med, Inc
http://www.westiemed.com/
distribute financial aid to injured or ill rescue Westies.
LabMed
http://www.labmed.org/
distribute financial aid to injured or ill rescues around the country
Lab Lifeline
http://www.labsr4u.com/
providing financial aid to rescued and privately owned labs in need of a helping hand
Doberman 911
http://www.doberman911.org/
helping senior and special needs Dobermans in Rescue, Shelters or owned
Ashley's Angel Fund
http://www.ashleyfund.org/
providing monetary assistance for veterinary care for dogs with a life-threatening condition NORTH CAROLINA AREA
New York Save
http://www.nysave.org/index_2.html
NEW YORK ONLY dedicated to the aid and assistance of low-income pet owners residing in one of the five boroughs of New York City
Harrison Memorial Animal Hospital
http://www.hmah.org/
DENVER CO Non Profit/low cost
Animal Cancer Therapy Subsidization Society
http://www.actssalberta.org/
CANADA ALBERTA Financial Aide for canine cancer care
Cody's Club
http://www.dogdoggiedog.com/pwcAcodysclub.htm
Help off set radiation costs
For Pet's Sake
http://www.for-pets-sake.org/about.php
ARKANSAS NW aide for the elderly with pet care costs
PetPALS of Southern New Jersey
http://www.geocities.com/snjpetpals/
NEW JERSEY aide for elderly & ill
Angels4Animals
http://www.angels4animals.org/
financial assistance nation wide for pet care

Helping Hands in Denver, CO. http://www.chhf.org/

[crystalsmom]

Originally Posted by Sharon O

I have also not read every post on this thread. I have been showing and raising yorkies since 1992. I have also struggled with the price issue. While I love being able to receive a price in excess of $1,000 on all the companion pets I place, there have been many times a retired couple or someone on a fixed income has come to me and the knowledge that this little creature would go to an awesome forever home has caused the price to magically drop to their ceiling figure. I can also attest to the cost of raising a litter. I've just whelped out a litter of six (see my avatar photo). C-section at 2:30 a.m. at the emergency clinic ($1,000), docking tails and dewclaws, shots, worming, driving home every day at noon to feed (have you SEEN the price of Goats Milk?), laundry (LOTS), makeup to cover the bags under my eyes , etc, etc. I like to think I'm a responsible breeder...to that end I offer a 2 year health guarantee from date-of-birth, send my new parents home with 3-4 weeks of food, blankets, pee pad, ALL my phone numbers and email addys. I also babysit for my local pets and offer free shots (which we are allowed to do here in Oregon)

The monies I receive from my puppies allows me to get up at 4 a.m., bathe my show dogs, fill up my gas tank and drive 4 hours to the dog show site (hoping all the way that nobody throws up), pay $7 to park my car, take my 2 dogs to the show ring (which costs me $25/day/dog to enter). After the show I need to get my scissors sharpened, pick up that special organic dog food that costs $43 per 20 lb bag and schlep it all back to the van. Before I start the drive back, I need to set up the pen so everyone can go potty, drink a good amount of water and enough food to tide them over til we get home...but not so much they'll throw up on the way back...otherwise I have to bathe everyone again when I get home. BTW, most dogs shows are Saturday AND Sunday. Sunday 4 a.m....start over.

Long about Sunday afternoon 3 hours into the drive home....I'm thinking it's OK to charge over $1,000 for a puppy....

.....I'm just sayin'

Well said and welcome. Joan

[tammy8833]

catching up since last night
my opinion is this...if a person is advertising 800 and another is advertising the 1500-2000 who do you think gets the first phone call, who got the first sale. now if you are looking for show quality is understandable that you will be paying the big bucks, but if you are selling pet quality (limited registration) my feeling is the prices should be drasitically different.and just because you consider some one a byb doesnt neccessarily mean you are right, thats your opinion. they might be great hobby breeders, who enjoy having puppies a time or two a year. and then of course knows they cant keep them all and knows they will sell and lets them go to good homes. most rept breeders also badmouth other breeders and call them byb because they have more than one breed. Most people like more than one breed and if you have the capablity to handle them, then you shouldnt be labled a poor breeder because you enjoy more than one breed.

the average person can not spare 2000.00 on a puppy it would take a lot of savings, and then if you are married try justifiying to your spouse why to spend 2000.00 on a DOG. but you can probably squeak by with a 650-800 yorkie to them. and you might get a wonderful , perfect yorkie and you might not. plenty of people have come here and said how much they spent and how many problems they have had since. In the same token if emergencies arrise and person can usually handle it if neccessary so the "pocket book" shouldnt make the decision on wether or not you will speak to this person or that person about selling your puppy to them, if someone spoke to me in that manner and belittle me for the money my family works hard for then you dont deserve my money for your puppy and that makes you a bad breeder in my eyes and everyone i would meet i would explain the problems i had with you. So it goes both ways. i have had someone treat me like i was beneathe them because of the money and i will never go back to them and i always tell people to steer clear of that breeder. she also told me my other dog was disgusting because it was a mix, so there is another area where you might miss a sell. degrading others lifes and lifestyles doesnt win you anything.

[Brooklynn]

I think the question was answered several times over and over with each response having different reasons as to why each breeder may charge differently. I don't think the price I charge is to make a profit as one poster said because what I get for my puppies goes to what I paid out and still what I get isn't enough to carry the expenses I pay out for breeding, whelping, vet costs, food, bedding, toys, laundry, show fees, hotels, gas, and the list goes on. Yes, I choose to show dogs because it's my passion and the love of the breed is also my passion so to say that my prices are to eventually make a profit is absurd! No I'm not angry at all just trying to educate why I love what I'm doing. NO I'm not rich I'm just a middle income family with a HUGE debt doing my passion. Again, it's MY choice to do what I do. I haven't mentioned my prices because it's not up for discussion because this is a public forum and I choose not to disclose my prices online. And if you think your question hasn't been answered then you aren't opening up your eyes or opening up your mind. Sorry it's just how I see it
Donna Bird
Brooklynn's Yorkshire Terriers

[littlewhip]

Originally Posted by Brooklynn

I think the question was answered several times over and over with each response having different reasons as to why each breeder may charge differently. I don't think the price I charge is to make a profit as one poster said because what I get for my puppies goes to what I paid out and still what I get isn't enough to carry the expenses I pay out for breeding, whelping, vet costs, food, bedding, toys, laundry, show fees, hotels, gas, and the list goes on. Yes, I choose to show dogs because it's my passion and the love of the breed is also my passion so to say that my prices are to eventually make a profit is absurd! No I'm not angry at all just trying to educate why I love what I'm doing. NO I'm not rich I'm just a middle income family with a HUGE debt doing my passion. Again, it's MY choice to do what I do. I haven't mentioned my prices because it's not up for discussion because this is a public forum and I choose not to disclose my prices online. And if you think your question hasn't been answered then you aren't opening up your eyes or opening up your mind. Sorry it's just how I see it
Donna Bird
Brooklynn's Yorkshire Terriers

Well said, I am not a breeder but have learned quite abit from this thread, Im always looking to futher my education and help me to help others

[crystalsmom]

Originally Posted by littlewhip

Well said, I am not a breeder but have learned quite abit from this thread, Im always looking to futher my education and help me to help others

You know littlewhip they call most show breeders (correct me if I'm wrong) Hobby Breeders. A hobby is something you love to spend money on and do not look to gain profit. Of course some of them do but for the most part it is for the love of the breed. Some people might by a boat as a hobby and you know the ol saying " A Boat Is a Hole in the Water that you throw Money into"and thats what this is too. You just keep wanting to do better and better in the world of dogs and thats a good thing for all of us with lesser means and ability to do it.

[scoobiedooiscoo]

Originally Posted by Brooklynn

I think the question was answered several times over and over with each response having different reasons as to why each breeder may charge differently. I don't think the price I charge is to make a profit as one poster said because what I get for my puppies goes to what I paid out and still what I get isn't enough to carry the expenses I pay out for breeding, whelping, vet costs, food, bedding, toys, laundry, show fees, hotels, gas, and the list goes on. Yes, I choose to show dogs because it's my passion and the love of the breed is also my passion so to say that my prices are to eventually make a profit is absurd! No I'm not angry at all just trying to educate why I love what I'm doing. NO I'm not rich I'm just a middle income family with a HUGE debt doing my passion. Again, it's MY choice to do what I do. I haven't mentioned my prices because it's not up for discussion because this is a public forum and I choose not to disclose my prices online. And if you think your question hasn't been answered then you aren't opening up your eyes or opening up your mind. Sorry it's just how I see it
Donna Bird
Brooklynn's Yorkshire Terriers

Show fees gas ect? people who buy a dog shouldnt have to pay for a hobby.

[Mardelin]

Originally Posted by scoobiedooiscoo

Show fees gas ect? people who buy a dog shouldnt have to pay for a hobby.

As said before and we can go on and on....each breeder's fees are different. And more often than not you'll find that dogs advertised on the internet, etc., are priced higher that a show breeder. And again, if someone doesn't like the price of any breeders pups....then don't buy from them.

[PennysMum]

My dog came out of a rescue and I still paid $500 to help support the expenses of her and the other dogs involved. I know that there were about $10,000 in costs even AFTER the $100-$500 adoption fees that the rescuers incurred saving her and about 30 other dogs from the very bad situation they came out of and the medical problems that came with it. I make a very, very modest amount of money (I love my job, but it doesn't pay well!), and that $500 was a lot for me, but my dog was worth every single penny of it and more.

To be really honest, $1500 for a dog doesn't seem outlandish to me. It is a good chunk of money, but I really think it SHOULD be a good chunk of money because it prevents most people from making an impulse purchase. I cringe whenever I see people letting animals go for free or for very small amounts of money, because that is just asking for people to view them as something disposable. If somebody spends less on a yorkie than she spends on a pair of shoes, what's to say that in three years when the breed isn't the Latest Thing being carted around by Paris Hilton and Britney Spears, she won't just toss the dog like she tosses her out-of-style shoes? At the hospital where I work, we even charge a considerable adoption fee for the rescue kittens people dump in boxes on our doorstep regularly, because we want to know that the people adopting them are serious rather than just drawn in by the appearance of a warm, fuzzy cute thing that won't be nearly as cute a year down the road.

I'm sorry if it sounds elitist to say that charging those sorts of prices is all right, but I really think it does the dogs a favor in the end, and I'm one of those people who feels like the needs and well-being of the animal should come before the presumed right of everybody to have whatever pet they want and treat them however they like.

Most of the really excellent dog breeders I know do not make a profit on their dogs at all in the long run. We had a loving, serious dog breeder in the other day whose little terrier needed a c-section in order to deliver her litter of two pups. One of the pups has a deformed leg, which may require surgical correction or amputation down the road, and won't be able to be shown despite the fact that he has champion parentage. The other pup is beautiful and perfect. Even if she sells that beautiful pup for a high price, she won't even come close to recovering the cost of the c-section and the care for his brother. You see that sort of thing a LOT when you work at a vet's office, and to be honest I always highly respect those wonderful breeders who are really just in it because they love their dogs and their breed so much.

From what I've seen, most pet shops and sketchy puppy-by-internet breeders charge even MORE than what good breeders charge for their puppies, when you know that those dogs are probably coming from puppy mills where their parents are living in hellish conditions. That's what I find sickening.

[Brooklynn]

Originally Posted by scoobiedooiscoo

Show fees gas ect? people who buy a dog shouldnt have to pay for a hobby.

You aren't paying for my hobby....I breed for myself that show dog but reality is that not every puppy in the litter will be show quality so therefore we have to place that pet quality in a forever loving pet home. Show breeders breed to better the breed because we DO SHOW and that means we breed for healthy dogs and when that pet quality is in the litter then the buyer is getting a healthy dog that just didn't quite make it for the ring. So to say you shouldn't pay for my hobby I'm not asking you to buy my dogs. Go ahead and buy from that byb and puppymill and not have the kind of health garnatees that us "hobby" "show" breeders have and take the chance of having more health issues down the road.
Donna Bird
Brooklynn's Yorkshire Terriers

[ketters12]

I like reading all these opinions- it's not a pointless discussion if everyone is being respectful- if anything it is educational and a way to learn more about other people's perspectives which is always a good thing in my mind.

I wanted to clarify that I have no problem with the amount of money yorkies can cost IN THEORY. What i mean is, if I wasn't a social worker, but instead chose a more lucrative profession and made lots of money, then I would gladly pay thousands and thousands because to me, my Tobey is priceless. Its like that mastercard commercial But I think in a perfect world, everyone who would love a yorkie and give it a fabulous life should be able to afford one. anyway, I am also in cosmetology school full time so hopefully I might have the potential in that career to afford another yorkie someday

[Tammyh]

Originally Posted by Brooklynn

Yes you would be correct I am choosing to keep both girls "for the time being" but if I end up keeping both for show it will cost me double the money ie. vet bills, shots, testing, care, show fees, handler fees (cuz I can't show two at one time) and when and if they were to finish a stud fee because I can't breed to their father because he's the only male I have. What's the point of breeding if you don't breed to keep that show dog you've bred so carefully? I'm sure there is another word for it but right now I can't think of it LOL. So actually it would be cheaper to sell both and purchase one but that's not my goal. So in reality no money is made at all it's all expenses going out.
Donna Bird
Brooklynn Yorkshire Terriers

Do all breeders keep show quality dogs? I always figured those who wanted a show quality dog could purchase one but obviousely at a much higher price. It sounds like it's pretty expensive to have one and to show them I spent about $1200.00 for our Bella and had you asked me even a month before we bought her if I would spend that much I would have said "NO WAY". But looking at what they're going for here in Washington for females (and I wanted a female, no dogs marking in my house!) that price was a decent price. A lot of breeders wanted $1500.00 on up for females and then they had restrictions on breeding. I don't have any restrictions (although I'm probably not going to breed her). Hearing about how expensive it is to breed Yorkies is quite an eye opener! Granted, I'd much rather have spent less for her but I was obviousely willing to pay the price to get a Yorkie. Besides, I'm so in love with her she's worth every penny

[dani23d]

I am content with spending $1200-1500 for a yorkie (I graduated college two years ago, so I'm not rich or anything. That's just what I'm willing to pay for my yorkie). If the breeder was asking $1500-2000, I'd try to make it work - especially if I fell in love with the puppy. I would just take my time and save accordingly. Even if it takes years.

[Brooklynn]

Originally Posted by Tammyh

Do all breeders keep show quality dogs? I always figured those who wanted a show quality dog could purchase one but obviousely at a much higher price. It sounds like it's pretty expensive to have one and to show them I spent about $1200.00 for our Bella and had you asked me even a month before we bought her if I would spend that much I would have said "NO WAY". But looking at what they're going for here in Washington for females (and I wanted a female, no dogs marking in my house!) that price was a decent price. A lot of breeders wanted $1500.00 on up for females and then they had restrictions on breeding. I don't have any restrictions (although I'm probably not going to breed her). Hearing about how expensive it is to breed Yorkies is quite an eye opener! Granted, I'd much rather have spent less for her but I was obviousely willing to pay the price to get a Yorkie. Besides, I'm so in love with her she's worth every penny

That is what a show breeder strives for is that show dog. You plan very carefully on the breeding. Matching the right male with your female and vs. versa. Knowing the pedigrees, health issues in every line. If I didn't show I wouldn't be breeding at all. I don't like the breeding aspect of dog showing but it's part of it. I'm not rich by far, in fact, I'm broke most of the time LOL but breeding as close to the standard and getting that close to standard show dog and putting them and winning from the bred by class is the ulitmate compliment to your breeding program and accomplishments! Not every puppy in a litter will be shown in the ring because of faults or whatever shoudn't be in the ring so that's the reason a pet quality will be placed in a forever loving pet home. I can't keep everything either or I'd be run out of house and home by yorkies LOL. 9 right now is about all I can handle. All but 2 and the 2 puppies are now my pets. I hope this answers your question LOL.
Donna Bird
Brooklynn's Yorkshire Terriers