What do you typically pay for a purebred puppy?

[puggymom]

The rescue I got Rocky from won't adopt to families with children under 8 and for pugs I have to agree with that. Last weekend I took the boys "down the shore" and spent the entire time protecting them from my 13 yo and 5 yo nieces. They love them, but the 13 yo doesn't think, and the 5 yo doesn't know any better. I was so exhausted of watching over the pugs that I packed up and drove home with them on Sunday morning. Even when they come to my house for a short visit I have to constantly moniter them.

 

[PlutoPony]

Have you considered a mixed breed? They can be a lot of fun as you get a combination of the best (or worst ) traits of the parents and often don't have the health problems of purebreds . There are some very good "general" rescue organizations out there - as opposed to breed rescues - that foster dogs and can give you a good idea of temperment, etc. We used one with great results... gave them a "shopping list" of what we were looking for (big dog, female, not dominant to get along w/ our old lab, ok with kids since we had an 18 mo old at the time - stuff like that) and they gave us info on a couple that met our needs. Valentine our rescue, has been a wonderful pet for the past 10 years (other than amazing shedding, must be the husky in her) , got over her abuse issues pretty quickly, and bonded wonderfully with our old lab and later a new lab puppy... And she's had NO health problems, unlike our lab who gets regular allergy shots (ca-ching $).

 

[Pea-n-Me]

The thing about it is for me, I've been fanatical about teaching my children to be respectful of the dogs - as much for the kid's safety as for the well being of the dogs. They come to dog training with us and participate in the exercises; they come to the vet's and help hold and comfort the dog; they really do help care for and feed the dog (and do yard pickup right along with us ); and they're very concerned about her well being and safety - in fact they were upset with me recently because I didn't put her leash on and she ran into the street after a squirrel, LOL (they were right ). Soon to be 8, they love animals and have learned how to respect them. So I think that while some kids, sure, are not a good fit with certain dogs, some kids are - but some rescue group's inflexible exclusions don't leave any room for individual circumstances. The dog we wanted would have been a great fit in our household with our elderly male dog who was missing his sister (a better fit than the puppy was, actually). And the sad part is that it took them a very long time to find her a home for her because of her medical condition.


With all that said I do know what you mean about kids and dogs. We had Liesl down at the school bus stop recently and one of the local kids (whose family does not have a dog) ran up to her and put her in a vise-like head lock while screaming like a banshee - DH was completely taken aback! The dog didn't know what to do but luckily she didn't react in a bad way.

BTW, I love the pictures of all the pets on the DIS but I wanted to say to remyandhollandsmommy that Xander is beautiful even if he is (saw him on the anti-pet thread, LOL) and wdwmom2 your dog was beautiful (and multitalented) as well. (My Cody [in red bandana] did agility too).

I just those Shepherds!!

 

[Patty3]

My family loves Golden Retrievers! I have a wonderful breeder, but she is expensive. Her Goldens are now selling for $1200. Our current Golden is 8 years old and we paid around $800. He is adorable and has a wonderful temperant. He is worth every penny.

 

[SamRoc]

We paid $500 four years ago for our Yorkshire Terrier.That came out to $250.00 a pound! He has now grown to 5 1/2 lbs.

 

[disneyaggie]

I have never purchased from a breeder and never will.

I got two rescue dogs (purebred) from an animal group that rescues from puppy mills. Both dogs had health issues. One had heart worms, coccydia (stomach parasite) -- each had issues.

No medical records to speak of . . . by the way, anyone can "create" them for a buck. Each of my dogs, once rescued were fully vetted with x-rays and blood tests to see where we really were healthwise. Good thing I did.

The pet website petfinder.com is great at getting you linked up with just the right pet. They all need good homes and come in a variety of ages.

My favorite story is of Doris Day, a HUGE animal lover like many of us. The story goes that she was at a party and a lady was talking about how she was getting a dog from a breeder with papers and all. Doris turned to her and asked, "Oh, do you have papers, too"? Go Doris!

 

[Otto's Doll]

Both my dogs are rescues, both are purebreeds. Benji, our German Shepherd, is 4 now, we got him when he was about 8 months old, he cost us $125. Libbie (Liberty) is a black lab we rescued 2 weeks ago. She is 4 months old, and a sweetheart. Her fee was a $225 donation. We are very happy with both of them, they are great with our kids (10 and 12) and great with each other.

 

[luvmy2sams]

We paid $650 for our fox red labrador retriever in January. Our cocker spaniels, purchased 9 and 10 years ago, were $250 and $350.

 

[dcgrumpy]

I paid $400 for my Golden 18 years ago.

 

[JoyG]

In 1997 we paid $350 for our mini schnauzer from a backyard breeder...

I didn't know any dog rescue places that had purebred dogs back then...and there are only a few breeds we can have with our family allergies.

Our next purebred scnauzer or poodle will come from petfinder.com


Joy

 

[Rhonda]

It does depend on the breed. My dogs parents both are from Ireland. AKC papers show his breed line . This is sometimes important to be able to trace certain breeds which have problems, heart etc....I have a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. He was $1500 and worth every cent!

Mickey2000 - your Cavalier looks exactly like my Barclay!!! I showed your pictures to my DH, and he couldn't believe it! They could be twins!