When I was growing up, I had no idea what went into well bred puppies. I knew of mutts (we called them Heinz 57 bc they were a little bit of everything) from our local shelter, but my parents never discussed how much the purebred dogs we had cost or why.

Now before anyone emails me defending mixed breed/mutts/Heinz 57/shelter dogs, please don’t ever think I dislike these dogs. Some of these dogs were the best dogs ever. Yogi, a lab/Great Dane mix my parents had, was the final verifier that I needed a Great Dane in my life. Our last dog before finally getting our Danes was a rescued 9 year old yellow lab whom the shelter found with cancer and heartworms. They fixed him, we foster-failed him, and they told us not to expect him to live past 6 months. Sweet Oscar made it 2.5 years and was happily the best influence on our Dane babies. When we don’t have puppies in our house, we try to rescue as we can afford it. Once we can move to a farm, we should be able to take in even more rescue dogs to help. Our policy has always been to ADOPT OR SHOP RESPONSIBLY. Don’t buy a puppy from someone because it’s cheap. Chances are they are backyard breeding, not taking the best care of their dogs, and not health testing them. I also don’t want you getting scammed.

So what I wanted to do here is break down what reputable breeders are paying to breed and raise puppies the right way. Maybe this will help you understand why well bred puppies cost so much. Okay? Okay. So here we go.

For this analysis, I am not taking into account the fact that your breeder had to buy or raise the mother and/or father of the litter as well. We pay the same $2000-$4000 a puppy that you’re finding everywhere, usually more so we can have the rights to breed the animal in a few years if – and only if – they pass the health test required to make sure we are breeding healthy dogs. That means we make a $2000 plus investment per puppy that we don’t see any return on financially for a minimum of two years. We, just like you, are beyond thankful to have these wonderful animals in our lives and they are our pets and our family first and foremost.

I’m also not taking into account that we don’t just work for the 8-10 weeks we have puppies in the house. Running a good-breeding business is a full time job. You’re constantly on call, 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. 1-2 dogs isn’t a lot to take care of, but a house full of dogs changes things. 1-2 dogs you can put in a boarding facility so you can take a vacation. 5-9 dogs or more, this becomes impossible simply because of costs. 1-2 dogs you can keep a somewhat clean house. Try having 5-9 dogs running around – cleaning completely is like shoveling snow in a blizzard. And then there’s the paperwork, meetings, vet appointments, testing times, and all the other day to day requirements that go into a good breeding business. No, good breeders work so much more than 8-10 weeks for a happy, healthy, amazing litter of puppies.

Okay, all that being said (sorry for the long read to get here) – here’s the breakdown of what it takes to produce one litter of puppies and why your well bred puppy cost so much. This is based on an example of a Great Dane litter of 8 or more puppies. If there are less puppies, costs aren’t divided across as many puppies, so cost of litter is higher. If the breeding has to happen through any special means (anything besides basic natural breeding), costs can skyrocket up by hundreds to thousands of dollars. Costs also skyrocket if a c-section is needed for Mom.

How Much?	For What?
$3000	Health testing of female to include Heart (echo cardiogram), Hips (PennHip), Thyroid, and Eyes – has to be repeated every year or two depending on test; color testing to make sure safely breeding colors
$2500	Stud fee (if own the male, we also do all the above testing on him)
$500	Breeding travel if to a stud
$500	Testing during breeding such as brucellosis, ultrasound, and x-ray
$240	Microchips at about $30 each
$720	Vaccines and vet check at 6 weeks of age x 8
$400	Go home basket and blankets for all puppies
$400	Dog and goat milk to supplement & use for puppy mush
$1200	Puppy food from when Mom starts weaning until puppies go home (if after 8-10 week go home, starts increasing even more)
$350	General supplies such as cleaners, toys, paper towels, etc.
$250	Dewormer medication to give every 2 weeks until 8 weeks old
$200	Pine litter for puppy training
Total for litter	Total is based on the litter being 8 puppies, all healthy (cost increases with fewer puppies to divide cost amongst or if any puppies aren’t healthy)
$10260
Divide by 8
$1282.50	How much each puppy cost your breeder to raise your puppy to 8 weeks.
$2000	How much we charge for puppies as Jordan Giants and Floofs
$717.50	How much we make per puppy (if no cost rising issues occur), which DOES NOT include any food or care for parents or other dogs within our program

Let’s look at it a different way. Each puppy brings in $717.50, right? I know, as a breeder, that for the 8 weeks that your puppy is in our home, we are working 24 hours a day for 7 days a week as a family (we have to divide the load so we can rest and sleep). So let’s round down for a few hours of sleep (puppies never really give us much sleep) –

7 days a week x 20 hours a day = 140 hours a week

140 hours a week x 8 weeks (at least) = 560 hours

$717.50 / 560 hours = $1.28 per hour that your breeder makes per puppy

Even if you count all 8 puppies, they only make $10.24 an hour – and that’s only for the 8 weeks between birth and going home. This doesn’t include the rest of the work all year. I know you can make more at our local fast food restaurants.

I repeat, if you are buying a puppy from a reputable, good breeder, this is what you are looking at. This is what they are looking at. They don’t make much money, if at all, per puppy. This job is one of passion. Not one for making money. And as prices continue to rise for dog food, groceries, and vet care, please understand if reputable dog breeders have to raise their prices a bit. They’re not trying to scam you. They’re trying to feed their family and dogs, as well.