What should I pay, German Shepherd pup?

[Dogs4Life]

Hi all! 

I have a slightly uncomfortable question. Buying a puppy is a life changing decision and there are SO many elements involved in making the choice of which dog is right. I will being doing competitive obedience and I would like to start from scratch with a pup as my last dog (Kelpie) I took on as a two year old, and I think certain behaviors are easier to build drive for if you start from a young age. I need a dog with sound confirmation and temperament. Finding a breeder that fulfills all my scrutiny is hard enough, but I fear when I do find a good breeder, they will not want to hear the question- how much? I understand their point of view, and I have come to fear the question simply because I don't want to be wiped from the potential purchaser list because I asked the forbidden question- but I need to know roughly what I should expect to pay? What is too little and what is too much? 

 

Opinions? 

[ish]

Expect to pay $1800-$2800 for a pedigree GSD puppy from health tested stock. Good luck with your search 

[Dogs4Life]

Thanks Ish! I appreciate your advice! 

[Dogsfevr]

Not sure where this current trend of thinking the breeder will be offended by asking the price is coming from .

Breeders don’t care but obviously asking the price can be done in a respectful manner .

Simply ask ,what is your price,which registry would that be on and what health testing has been done 

[Kajirin]

I don't think asking for a price is a forbidden question.  Once you explain what you are looking for and what you intend to do with the said pup...no harm in asking for current pricing.  It is a factor that needs to be taken into consideration, sometimes saving up for beforehand.

[Dogs4Life]

I have had breeders in the past tell me that they consider this question a red flag. Also, no one advertises their price. Why is that do you suppose? I know in the horse world POA, (price on application) usually means, expensive. It usually means the seller will ask you to jump through hoops before telling you a price. 

[Rebanne]

Unfortunately a lot of breeders do get quite shirty if price is asked early on. Why, I have no idea. Not in the breed but I would have said around $2500. At least ish has no trouble helping someone out. Good luck!

Edited April 12, 2018 by Rebanne

[juice]

I wish they would put the price on too , money is tight  for me and I’d    rather know wether I can afford to buy the dog or not before I call . Older dogs can range from just the cost of desexing to almost puppy price , so confusing . 

If you want a GSD health would be my main concern and Ish would be the place to start with helping point you in the right direction . 

[Dogsfevr]

4 hours ago, Dogs4Life said:

I have had breeders in the past tell me that they consider this question a red flag. Also, no one advertises their price. Why is that do you suppose? I know in the horse world POA, (price on application) usually means, expensive. It usually means the seller will ask you to jump through hoops before telling you a price. 

Rubbish ,it comes down to the manner asked & jumping through hoops is no different than you saying must fit your scrutiny .Dog world is not the horse world & yes i have knowledge of both & often POA is to sort the time wasters out & horses are often under valued considering the training many have gone through prior to sale,soundness & vet test to confirm soundness etc etc
We don't advertise price because people should be able to communicate in this day & age  & ask questions .
Price is one small factor in anything ,you want a pup for a purpose so selecting a breeder who can assist you in picking the right pup is very important ,prices will vary if you want working lines,showlines ,its not that cut and dry hence why talking with breeders is important .
I have never known a breeder to get weird over price except when the potential owner implies there after something cheap & don't really want to pay much ,we have had some who ask to barter the price and other strange requests those people not once asked any questions about health,raising of pups,successes etc etc .
Certainly those that send one liner emails are often the issues breeders have with price & they cant sent alot ,like i say comes down to the manner which asked .
We often get
Hey how much for pup.
Price for pup
Got pups how much
Looking for cheap pup have any .
These come with no header,no hello & no names ,Just those lines .Basic manners when asking a question goes along way
 

[twodoggies2001]

10 minutes ago, juice said:

I wish they would put the price on too , money is tight  for me and I’d    rather know wether I can afford to buy the dog or not before I call . Older dogs can range from just the cost of desexing to almost puppy price , so confusing . 

If you want a GSD health would be my main concern and Ish would be the place to start with helping point you in the right direction . 

Most mini schnauzers do advertise the price.

[Dogs4Life]

Thanks everyone for your thoughts. I just wanted to get an idea for prices. The initial price is nothing in comparison to the costs of owning a dog. It's been two years since I've owned a dog, so I'm excited to finally be in a position to have a dog in my life again. I think I'm just nervous/excited.

Thanks again!  

 

[bianca.a]

Good luck with your search and I can't wait for puppy photos on day!

[ish]

10 hours ago, Dogsfevr said:

Certainly those that send one liner emails are often the issues breeders have with price & they cant sent alot ,like i say comes down to the manner which asked .
We often get
Hey how much for pup.
Price for pup
Got pups how much
Looking for cheap pup have any .
These come with no header,no hello & no names ,Just those lines .Basic manners when asking a question goes along way
 

This is the only time I have an issue with people asking about price in the first email, these nuisance one line emails. An email outlining who you are and what you are looking for, that also asks for price will usually be well received by breeders 

 

A breeder who keeps one or 2 bitches and owns their own stud dog, or uses the closest local stud, doesn’t show their dogs etc is sometimes cheaper. I’ve seen pups from such a breeder for $1800 in the last 12 months. Breeders who use imported dogs/frozen semen etc have dogs that are proven in show/work often charge more as they have additional expenses/the bloodlines are more sought after. There’s plenty in between too, small breeders who breed well and big breeders who do a bad job. I can understand price being a factor but there are lots of other important things to look into also. Definitely look for good low hip and elbow scores, breed surveyed stock (or if not, why not - sometimes there’s a good reason), testing for DM is available but not mandatory and of course temperament. Puppies that have been socialised and exposed to lots of different experiences.  In working lines it’s a bit different but health testing still applies, as does temperament - though you might be looking for different attributes 

[karen15]

I do wonder why price isn't in ads. It certainly was a consideration when I was looking for a pup. I didn't want something cheap, but I also didn't want to pay heaps. I was tossing up between several breeds and price ruled some out.  In hind sight, that was a good thing due to problems in the breed. I no doubt would have found out about those if I'd looked further into the breed, but cost saw them removed from the list in the earlier stages, before I went through detailed assessments of hereditary issues.

 

I love the dog I ended up with - a westie. He is everything I was wanting and I could not ask for a more ideal dog.

[Boronia]

When an acquaintance of mine had a word to her breeder-friend about my wanting another older dog I contacted the breeder with an email telling her about us also sending photos of our place. She emailed me photos and info of her dog, I then emailed back with some nice stuff and in that email put the words similar to "now the part I find embarrassing to ask:  if you can let me know price you are asking for your dog I will talk it over with my o/h and get back to you with our answer as soon as possible"

The above is a little clunky but you get the gist..don't ask straight away as it's ill-mannered, build up a rapport with the breeder, they want to know about you as well. If the cost of the dog is out of your price-range just tell them that you will need to save some more and will keep them in mind when they next have a litter.

You can also let them know that you have put aside $xxxx amount of dollars and would that be in the price-range of buying a pup from them.

 

[Dogs4Life]

19 hours ago, ish said:

This is the only time I have an issue with people asking about price in the first email, these nuisance one line emails. An email outlining who you are and what you are looking for, that also asks for price will usually be well received by breeders 

 

A breeder who keeps one or 2 bitches and owns their own stud dog, or uses the closest local stud, doesn’t show their dogs etc is sometimes cheaper. I’ve seen pups from such a breeder for $1800 in the last 12 months. Breeders who use imported dogs/frozen semen etc have dogs that are proven in show/work often charge more as they have additional expenses/the bloodlines are more sought after. There’s plenty in between too, small breeders who breed well and big breeders who do a bad job. I can understand price being a factor but there are lots of other important things to look into also. Definitely look for good low hip and elbow scores, breed surveyed stock (or if not, why not - sometimes there’s a good reason), testing for DM is available but not mandatory and of course temperament. Puppies that have been socialised and exposed to lots of different experiences.  In working lines it’s a bit different but health testing still applies, as does temperament - though you might be looking for different attributes 

Yeah that would be rude, and an insight into the individuals attitude about buying a pup. I'm going to have to spend a bit more time saving because I want to have at least $1000 start up money. 

 

Ugh the health issue side is terrifying. I have definitely decided on the GSD, but I think I've read too much! Every breeder's page I look at I'm checking angles, and to be honest I haven't found a breeder who's dogs really jump out at me. I met a breeder at the Sydney Dog Lovers Show who's dogs I LOVED, but they weren't allowed to discuss their kennel because they were there for the GSDL, not themselves and I didn't insist because at the time I didn't fully realise how hard this process would be. I wonder if I called the GSDL and asked if they would tell me? I suppose it can't hurt to try...

 

[Kajirin]

Have you thought about working line GSDs?

[Dogs4Life]

30 minutes ago, Kajirin said:

Have you thought about working line GSDs?

I have thought about it, but I haven't had a lot to do with working line German shepherds. I only really know what I've read about their energy levels and the ones I see around, I can see the drive in their eyes. That level of intensity worries me because I work full-time. I need a dog that I can walk in the morning, do some obedience and it be content until I get home that afternoon to go out again. 8-9 hours of nothing is a long time for any dog, let alone a dog that is bred to work 12 hours shifts. 

I got around it with my kelpie with bike riding of a morning, but I don't want to physically push a GSD in the same way I could with a kelpie.

 

If people think I'm way off, please say so?   

[Dogs4Life]

Oh the other way was the treadmill. Brodie loved the treadmill  

Edited April 13, 2018 by Dogs4Life

[Tassie]

Just a random thought ... have you thought of a White Swiss Shepherd.   I think there are some lines whose temperaments are not what they could be, but there are some with beautiful structure and temperament.

And I could be wrong, but from what I've seen, working line Shepherds are an awful lot of dog ... not for the faint hearted or time poor.