OK here goes. I had one litter of Hamiltonstovare ten years ago. They sold for £500 each. I already had a whelping box, dishes for weaning puppies, heat lamp, in fact everything I needed from mating to selling bar vet beds and food. The Hamiltonstovare Club of Great Britain do not advocate any health tests so, at that time, I had no costs of those either. My bitch had 5 puppies. Two went as a stud fee, I kept two, sold one, equaling an income of £500. Unfortunately my bitch had to have a cesarean. My total vets bill was £520. That's before I paid out for the food to rear the pups (and if it's GOOD QUALITY food you'd be surprised how much that comes to over 5 weeks!).

So yeah - breeders making money from litters eh - I think not!

Debs

All of our dogs and pups are fed Hills & Nature Diet

Again an example of costs when things go wrong, I'm talking about your average litter

If you hadn't kept two of your pups you would have made £1500. which would easily cover vets fees and food etc leaving a healthy sum

Then why aren't you listening to me ??

I've never mentioned any out of the ordinary vets fees, yet you keep pickng up on that.

All I've referred to is 'your average litter' !!

But only one of my 5 litters needed a lot of vets fees yet I still haven't made any money!
Becky

Yes but you added showing fees etc which imo doesn't count. People show and don't breed. Showing imo is a hobby.

And what, exactly, would be the point of breeding a litter in the first place if I didn't intend to keep at least one puppy? We are talking ETHICAL breeding here - i.e. breeding for a PURPOSE and doing the best by my chosen breed. If I had sold two I would still have had to cover the cost of the vets bill, worming dam and pups, feeding, electricity costs for the heat lamp, registrations, vet checks - the list is endless! There's not much change from £1000.

Debs

Again you're including other costs, like the price of buying your dogs and taking care of them. All owners have these same fees to covers.

I personaly think breeding is a hobby for me, hence I don't care that I don't make money, which I don't no matter what you might think. I'm certainly not going to make any money on the dogs I import unless they do very well in the show ring and are in demand at stud, not that I'd let them go to anyone as I expect the bitches that go to my boys to have the same health tests.
Becky

£800 for a Pot Noodle??