# The costs of breeding



## Nataliee (Jul 25, 2011)

I did this on another forum a while ago, feel free to put your own list on here the more the better
I thought i would make a thread on this as we occasionally get new people on the forum wanting to breed without doing their research so maybe reading how much i've spent so far will make those of you that want to breed for profit think twice, and for those of you that are interested :
Ultrascan - 32.95
Whelping box, rails, whelping kit and heat pad - 120.00 (and 7.00 postage)
2 vet beds (one gets washed while the other is being used) - 30.00
Extra tub of welpi & extra feeding kit (already one in set) - 18.00
Wormer for Heidi throughout the pregnancy - 12.00
Feeding Heidi (not only did she need to eat more she also went off her normal food and prefered the more expensive one) - almost 4.00 a day
Towels for cleaning newborns - 8.00 (didn't have to use new towels but i chose to)
1st vet bill - 108.00, although totally unrelated to the pregnancy it was still an extra cost
2nd vet bill - 85.00 thought she had pre eclampsia
Pups first vet check - 32.00, which then lead to....
Frontline spray for fleas - 23.00 (found one flea on a pup so better to be safe than sorry)
Worming pups - 15.00 (hopefully i wont have to buy another bottle)
Then i have the pups first injections which is 35 each- 140.00
Bag of food each - 30.00
Extra things to go in puppy pack - around 35.00 per dog

Extras- Stud fee
C-section
Registering of pups


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## Sleeping_Lion (Mar 19, 2009)

Copied from another thread, here's a comprehensive list Swarthy has posted:



swarthy said:


> OK - finally found one I did earlier and updated to reflect recent charge increases - it really would be a great help if the Mods could make one of these threads a 'sticky' as the question arises time and again, and there is one particular thread which contains a wealth of information across a whole host of breeds.
> 
> ----------------------------------------------------
> 
> ...


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## Nataliee (Jul 25, 2011)

Sleeping_Lion said:


> Copied from another thread, here's a comprehensive list Swarthy has posted:


Ah is there already another thread on here? I didn't think to check


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## Blondie (Feb 27, 2011)

The cost of having a litter on an emotional basis is immeasureable, and cannot be put into financial terms. This is far more important to me than any financial gain that may or may not be made. I still consider all the dogs I have bred to be my beloved babies and will do until their dying day. When we lost not one but two of them as young pups, even though they lived with their owner, the pain was immense and is still with me now, I cannot talk about these two pups without feeling all that emotion again, for real. This to me is the reality of breeding dogs. Also, many of the buyers are now our friends, and some real deep friendships have been made. This is also something t hat cannot be bought, or put into financial terms.

At the end of the day, if I was breeding for money, I'd be a puppy farmer, simples.

People sometimes get too hung-up on the money side of things - the way of the world.


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## Skybreeze (Jul 19, 2011)

Very helpfull

Our costs so far pups are 10 days old. 

Whelping box £70 (made by my brother so only materials) 
Bedding (vet bed, blankets, towels) £80
Whelping kit (made up myself) £50
Heat pad £25
Puppy pen £65 (for when they are older) 

Vet fees for Willow while pregnant including perscription food £170
Pregnancy Check £30
Pregnancy scan £30

Puppy food £55 so far
Tail docking and microchipping £245 (£35 per pup + £70 vet travel to us) 
Vet check at the same time £20
Probitotic for one puppy £12
Plus my washing machine going what feels like 24/7. 

And they are still growing. Lots more money to spend yet ie wormers ect! 
However, we have not done this to make money. We are keeping one of the pups as well. 
N x

Forgot to add stud fee £300 (Unproven and a friends dog) plus health checks! I am not going to even add that up, far to scary! 
+++++ £83 for registration and pedigree.


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## rocco33 (Dec 27, 2009)

I'm surprised that only Swarthy has mentioned the cost of health tests - don't you health test your dogs before breeding?

It costs me around £500 per dog for the breed specific health tests I do.


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## Lexiedhb (Jun 9, 2011)

rocco33 said:


> I'm surprised that only Swarthy has mentioned the cost of health tests - don't you health test your dogs before breeding?
> 
> It costs me around £500 per dog for the breed specific health tests I do.


I was just wondering this- also no stud fees mentioned.


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## Nataliee (Jul 25, 2011)

There are no required health tests for the chi, and i used my own stud. I only had the 1 litter a year ago, both my dogs are neutered now


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## ClaireandDaisy (Jul 4, 2010)

Research. 
Vet fees. Insurance doesn`t cover breeding. 
Taking pups back and treating / rehabilitating / rehoming them. 
Home checks. 
Time off work before during and after. 
Home and garden repair work. 
Counselling
Admission to the Priory
Divorce lawyer....


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## rocco33 (Dec 27, 2009)

Chi x Yorkies - which would explain why no registration, but they do suffer from luxating patella and I understand there is a test for this now. Yorkies are also under investigation for PRA and hereditary cataracts so would still have benefited from having eye tests.


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## Nataliee (Jul 25, 2011)

rocco33 said:


> Chi x Yorkies - which would explain why no registration, but they do suffer from luxating patella and I understand there is a test for this now. Yorkies are also under investigation for PRA and hereditary cataracts so would still have benefited from having eye tests.


Yes they were chi x yorkies, at the time i thought it was acceptable but now i understand a lot more about responsable breeding hence them being neutered but if you'd like to interrogate me on it anymore please feel free to PM me


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## rocco33 (Dec 27, 2009)

Not trying to interrogate you at all, and am glad you've seen the light.

But, as you started a thread and wrote a post listing breeding costs I only think it right to point out that there were short cuts made and things costs not included because things that should have been done weren't - for the benefit of those reading.


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## Nataliee (Jul 25, 2011)

rocco33 said:


> Not trying to interrogate you at all, and am glad you've seen the light.
> 
> But, as you started a thread and wrote a post listing breeding costs I only think it right to point out that there were short cuts made and things costs not included because things that should have been done weren't - for the benefit of those reading.


Sorry, i get quite touchy about the subject because its not something i'm proud of but i should have thought about that before i started the thread


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## Guest (Sep 5, 2011)

Here's mine;



> £45 - eye exam (yearly). (its just gone up to £48 per dog)
> £132 - Hip score.
> £110 - DNA CEA (However thats if done through a 20/20 clinic which not everyone can get to or use without the 20/20 clinic its about £180 as its sent to America).
> 
> ...


I have left a few things off.


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## Lesleyann (Apr 22, 2009)

On my phone so Im sure I'll miss bits lol

Hipscore £350
Stud fee £400
Petrol to get to stud £100
Whelping box £50 (made it ourselfs)
Heat pad £20
Whelping kit £50
Worming for mum during pregnancy £18
Vet confirming pregnancy £35
Worming of pups so far £18
Extra food for mum and weaning pups so far £50

So off the top of my head so far £1,091

Cost of registering to be done £117 (£13 each litter of9)
Micro chipping £120 (I'm becoming a trained microchipper)
First vet check and jabs £450 (£50 each)
More worming £18
More puppy food £50?
Making up puppy packs £50 (extra bits we are giving)

So aprox total
£1,896 and that's a guess really it could still go up will proberly need more food etc


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## Oenoke (Oct 17, 2009)

Health tests for bitch including travel (hip score, DNA test TNS, CEA, CL, eye test PRA, glaucoma) - £500
stud fee inc travel to and from stud dog a few times - £470
kennel name (affix) - £70
relaxin blood test - £20
scan - free (I work at a vet)
wormer for mum (from day 40 - 2 days post whelp) and pups (2, 5 & 8 weeks) - £80
puppy pen - £25
Welping box - free (made by the factory manager where my mum works)
Bits and bobs (thermometer, bottle, scissors, stethoscope, disinfectant, gloves, welpi, dopram-v) - £85
Extra food for bitch and puppy food - £100
TNS test puppies (because my bitch is a carrier, used clear stud dog) - £250
BAER hearing test for puppies inc travel - £150
eye test for puppies - £60
KC reg - £50
Puppies vacc - £120
Microchips - £40
Vetbed - £80
Toys - £20

Total £2120

Sold 2 puppies for £450 each, kept 1 myself and gave 1 away = £900

I've now hip scored the pup I kept, £50 for BVA, not paid for x-rays yet, but should be about £100, she is genetically clear by parentage for CEA and tested as a puppy a carrier for TNS, still need PRA eye test and gonioscopy test, then may think about breeding her in a couple of years time to keep a pup back for myself. And I've paid £20 to maintain my kennel name this year (and that will need to be paid every year).


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## swarthy (Apr 24, 2010)

Nataliee said:


> There are no required health tests for the chi, and i used my own stud. I only had the 1 litter a year ago, both my dogs are neutered now


I have my own stud dog and potential stud dog - he's not wildly sh*gging away because most people fail at the first hurdle of the enquiry. I bought him in because his breeding complemented my own breeding, and I had been after a pup from these lines for a long time

I wasn't certain whether physically he would complement my bitches until he reached around 2 years, luckily for me I believe he does, but even then, whether he will pass on the qualities I need for my next generation remain to be seen - and won't be seen until after we have a litter (if we ever get that far!!!!) - it always fascinates me the number of accidental litters that happen as quite often - resident girls and boys don't want anything to do with each other sexually other than a good old sniff 

On that basis, I sat down and worked out what it would cost me to use my own dog


£650 to buy him 
£100 for all the extras, KC transfer, adding of kennel name etc 
He is PRA clear by parentage - so didn't have that test to do - but still had to CNM test him, hip and elbow scores, and three eye tests to date

Total cost of me using my own stud dog - around £1,300 - if I do allow him to be used on any bitches, then obviously those costs would be diluted and dependent on how he produces both physically, temperament and health wise - then over time, he could potentially generate a small income

but as things stand at present:

Own stud dog - £1300 - outside stud dog - unlikely to be more than £500 - maybe slightly more dependent on what and where I use - but unlikely to be that much more.

So not only is it cheaper to use an external dog, but it's also often cheaper in our breed to buy in than have your own litter - but obviously - many do understandably want to develop and improve their own breeding lines.

As Ceearott points out - the money isn't the key element of it - the heartbreak of losing pups, the agony at seeing your own bitch in pain and the fear of losing her simply could never be matched in monetary terms however much money you made from a litter. 



Oenoke said:


> And I've paid £20 to maintain my kennel name this year (and that will need to be paid every year).


I forgot about that - I also pay annual fees to maintain my ABS membership. Not massive costs - but have to be paid whether you take a litter or not.


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## Devil-Dogz (Oct 4, 2009)

Your all brave to add up the costs - but then each litter is different to me there is no avarge cost  - just the costs you 'expect' to pay. - but with each litter theres the unexpected.


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