While $3500 is on the high side, I do know puppies who have sold for that much who were worth every penny..I'd have to see the puppy and the pedigree before I decided if it was totally out there or not. Conversely, I know of puppies that sold for a whole lot less who were worth a whole lot more.eace: So lately I have been looking at some breeders in the US for a potential show prospect. I have contacted a few of the bigger names to see what they had planned, if they would be willing to have a show prospect go to Canada, what terms they had for puppy owners, and a multitude of other questions.
I got back some very standard answers which typically fit into what we so often discuss here on DT, which is good. However, there were a couple that truly surprised me in the area of pricing and the failure to mention anything about a contract. The price of the puppies was $3500.00USD, which to me seems to be way out there :confused2 . Along with the failure to mention anything about a contract or conditions of buying a puppy kind of leads me to wonder if they are: *just selling a puppy for a big price tag with little to no consideration of it truly being a show propect; *they have no interest in the puppies future in regard to breeding or resale etc.. *there may be a capitalization of people's naivety and potential tunnel vision to have a puppy from a 'big name' breeder.
Either way, it makes me wonder what is going on there? Do these folks truly care about providing potential owners and puppies with the best fit and therefore the best chance of have a happy and successful future? Or are some individuals perhaps a little too tired and maybe even jaded about the whole breeding - puppy person thing to really care?
I think you're making the mistake of thinking just because someone shows their dogs and might have a well known name means they're a reputable breeder, and that's not always the case. It *should* be the case, but it isn't.
But you also could be jumping to conclusions that there is no contract-could be they don't get into that until later in the process, once you pass their screening and are approved for a puppy.
I can tell you in *some* cases there are major instances of breeders trying to capitalize on the naivete of the novice, coming up with terms that no one with any experience would ever consider. When I've heard about this, it usually seems to be trying to sell puppy bitches on breeder terms, wanting entire litters (plural) back in addition to a high purchase price. While giving one or maybe even sometimes two pick puppies back isn't unusual, it's outrageous to expect someone to give back entire litters. That kind of agreement is heavily weighted on the side of the seller, and should be avoided.
