Just because the advertisement says:”puppies are REGISTERED with AKC.” It does not mean they are of good quality. It does not mean the breeder is a reputable conscientious breeder. It does not mean they have had any health checks. It does not mean they are being raised in a clean, disease free environment.
Some advertise champion blood lines. But the champions are three generations back and well diluted. AKC does not monitor the quality of the dogs they register. They try to monitor breeding practices but even this is not too successful. In order for a dog to be registered with AKC it has to have parents that are registered and that is all. As long as the people shop for puppies who cost less there will be puppy mills and inferior quality dogs and puppies sold.Trifecta Dogs Are Home Raised
What does this mean?
It costs a lot of money to home raise a puppy. The health checks, proper breeding practices and early training all take enormous time and money. My dogs are raised in a chemical free environment. Dogs absorb everything through their paws. They suck in lawn chemicals, garden fertilizers and diseases. The constant exposure to these things may be causing the lowering of the immune system. A lower immune system cannot fight disease or cancer. I believe dogs are being exposed to too many chemicals and that is why some boxers are succumbing to cancer at very young ages.
THE PRICE OF YOUR PUPPY
The following is based on the assumption that you have either had a boxer before or have researched, or know the breed well, and definitely want a boxer.
Since I live in the Pacific North West the costs I will refer to are those indicative of this area. South of Oregon prices seem to go up as you go further into the sun and other “fun” areas. East of the Mississippi costs are a little higher as well.
When I sell a puppy I am actually placing it as if it were an adoption. To those of us who do this as a labor of love, we do not do it for the money. Whelping puppies and placing them in appropriate homes is time consuming, costly and enormously stressful. Most of us do not sell a puppy and bid you goodbye. We remain in contact and available for questions for the life of the dog. Not to mention health guarantees as well as a trail period. The adage “you get what you pay for” often applies to buying a puppy. You are after all buying an animal that is going to be an integral part of your family for hopefully ten to twelve years. This animal will live in your home, it will help protect and love you and your family. It will make you laugh, cry and frustrate you to tears, just like a child. I hope everyone wants to put as much time into buying this puppy, at least, as you would into buying a new car. PET PUPPIES;...from a well bred litter usually sell for around $1200-$1500. Depending on the age, training, cropped etc. Sometimes a nice flashy female will be more.
An older puppy of 8 months to 18 months should sell for around $2000-$2500. These older puppies are truly PURE gold. They have a lot of training, shots and health checks. There are a lot of unknowns when you buy a 8 week old puppy. With an older puppy, what you see is what you get. And, you know exactly what you are paying for, if you are buying from a reputable breeder.
BREEDERS
Most breeders who are interested in improving the breed, breeding to the standard, breeding a healthy dog with a good temperament, are not in it for the money. They maintain club affiliations, and show their dogs and offer their help to people who are interested in their breed.
The only people that make money selling dogs are puppy mills. “Puppy mills” are cost efficient operations raising dogs as you would a farm animal.
They are generally NOT home raised, they are not bred for anything other than the sale. Temperament, health, structure, a good looking animal are not generally of importance to breeders who are just breeding to sell puppies. Often these puppies are purchased through a pet store for almost as much as you would pay from a breeder. With no guarantees or help with the puppy once it is sold.
Sometimes people have a nice female and elect to breed it to the male down the street. Generally these are not well thought out breedings. I.e. they have not taken into consideration the pedigree and characteristics of not only their own dogs but those in the previous generations. For example, if you have a dog with a heart problem and you breed it to another dog with a heart problem. (Maybe you don’t even know how to screen for heart problems.) Unfortunately, you have just bred a litter of highly potential heart problems. The buyer may pay a couple of hundred dollars less for this puppy. Then the buyer will put a lot of time and effort into the puppy. And, will love the puppy. And, when it gets sick the buyer will pay a lot of money to try to save it. There will NOT be a breeder to call and ask questions of. There will NOT be any guarantees and probably no sympathy from the people who bred the dog.When we talk about pedigrees we are not just looking at beauty. We are researching to find out the health of the ancestors of the litter we are proposing to breed. Life doesn’t offer us guarantees of course. Health problems happen even in the best pedigrees and the most carefully bred litters. But if the problems have been addressed and you have found a reputable breeder who is screening the dogs they are breeding, then you have a much better chance of getting a healthy puppy. But, these health checks, extra care, research into pedigrees (ancestors behind the sire and dam.) All of that takes time and money. Many satisfied buyers will tell you it was worth a few hundred dollars more to get the benefits. They will also tell you their association with a reputable, experienced breeder has actaully saved them more than a few dollars. Recently I have deveolped a technique that I use to start training the babies at about five weeks. By eight weeks they all have a great start on learning to come when called. (Notoriously a hard subject for boxers.)
**see cost breakdown below**Older Dogs:
Not all dogs get to be champions. Some that are kept and trained as show dogs by the breeder don’t make it. Sometimes they are not doing well as a show dog for reasons that would seem trivial to most. They are not rejects. I do not give up on a dog easily. Because I show my own dogs they have, in many ways, to be better than the average show dog. I offer the ones I feel I cannot finish to approved homes so they can have a family of their own. I am, if possible, more picky about placing these older dogs than I am about puppies. The older dogs have been with me for a time and I become very attached to them. Some of the reasons I have sold older dogs who cannot finish with me showing them are: a bite that is a half a tooth off, they may be too small, not enough flash (white.) The average pet buyer will not even see the reason. Some dogs simply don’t like showing. The boxer show ring is in the top five most competitive breeds to show. They have to perform & show well and they have to like it. These dogs are actually jewels. Mine start training for the show ring at about ten weeks of age. They know stand stay. They walk on leash without pulling. They travel and are quiet in their crates. They are not nuisance barkers. I usually teach them the down signal as puppies as well. They have been in crowds with lots of dogs and people and are quite well behaved. Much time and hours have been put into these dogs to help them to show themselves. We do not just take them out of their crates and run them around a ring.An adult dog or older puppy eliminates the need for intensive potty training. This alone can be of enormous value to people with busy lives, small children, or those just not interested in dealing with all the puppy problems. Including biting, chewing, jumping etc.
THE TRAINING IS OF COURSE OF CONSIDERABLE VALUE AS WELL
**COST BREAKDOWN**
When we discuss the cost of an older animal from my home this is a break down of the monetary value.
First these dogs are very very handsome boxers.
They have had at least four shots. Translates to four vet visits for the average dog owner. $300
They have their ears cropped value $400
Most times the ears are standing dollar value could be as much as $500.(not to mention the hassle of getting them wrapped every two weeks)
They are well on their way to being a better than average trained dog. Lessons could be from $100 to $200.(Actually time in training the dog is individual, but be assured there is a lot of time involved..value $500)
They have good house manners, do not bite, do not chew on other than appropriate dog toys. AND all are crate trained. They love their crates. They go into their crates willingly and know when in their crates it is nap or quiet time. They sleep through the night and can travel quietly and without stress, in their crates.
Priceless
**** **** **** ****SHOW POTENTIAL AND OLDER SHOW PUPPIES Show potential puppies often sell for $1500-3000. These prices fluctuate of course. A show potential flashy fawn female would be considerably more. But most breeders don't let go of those. Occasionally an older show puppy may be available. For a six to eighteen month old show puppy the cost could be from 1800 to 3000. You really don't see these gems very often. Many breeders will not consider selling a true show potential dog to someone who has not shown dogs before. Those that are serious breeders don't often let go of them or want a buyer who has a track record of showing. After six months the puppy has had a lot of time effort and money invested in him. He or she may all ready be started in the ring. The completed training alone, for a dog of this caliber, would be very costly for a first time show person. Getting a puppy from eight weeks to the show ring is incredibly work intensive. When you figure the cost of training for someone who has never done it before, the cost of the ear crop and the cost of getting the ears to stand by wrapping them for months, it adds up quickly. If you find a breeder willing to sell one of these, and it truly has a good potential to finish an AKC championship, you have a jewel. Also an older puppy is not such an unknown quantity as an eight week old. If you are truly interested in showing you should be more interested in an older show puppy than an eight week old. Beware of those selling puppies who are advertised as finishable in other venues other than AKC. Breeding
Stud fees range from 800 for an unfinished dog to 1200 for a champion and up for a dog who has produced and/or produced champions all ready. Many people interested in breeding their bitch want to give the breeder a puppy in lieu of a stud fee. I find that, for myself, this isn’t practical as I have my own bitches and a breeding program that involves planned breedings sometimes three years in advance. There is also cost for health testing of the bitch. This has been a short overview of some of the questions about costs that everyone asks. It is a general discussion not a price list. Colors: Boxers come in fawn (from tan to red) and brindle from golden with almost no stripes to almost black. They also come in white. Some times white puppies happen because of a recessive gene in the dogs with lots of white. White puppies sometimes have some health problems. There seems to be an argument about the statistics; but, the facts are, there are more known cases of white boxer deafness than colored boxer deafness. Because of the white pigmented skin they are sometimes more sensitive to sun. White puppies may be sold for a price that covers the cost of the eight week old puppy. Reputable breeders will require these puppies be spayed or neutered. If they do not require the white puppy be spayed or neutered I would question getting the puppy from that breeder. Recently the American Boxer Club membership changed their rules on white puppies. (BTW we also voted to eliminate the fault deduction for an uncropped boxer being shown in conformation.) Members can now charge an amount to cover the cost of raising a white puppy. However advertisements that white puppies are rare and should be of considerable value and cost as much or more than a colored puppy should be discredited. A breeder, selling puppies from a litter where a parent is white, is definitely motivated by other than “what’s good for the boxer breed.”
Boxers that are white or check (more than one third white color) have all the characteristics
of a boxer. They are not albino. They usually have some pigment. Generally if
the pigment is on an ear they are not deaf. This is a gene combination thing and
beyond my ability to explain.If they are from a reputable breeder they are probably part of a litter bred carefully with consideration to quality and health checks on the parents. This does go a long way to insure health of all the puppies whites as well as colored.
I test the hearing on any white puppies I have.
If a breeder says the whites will not have health problems, I would question the knowledge or integrity of that breeder. We do not have enough statistics on white puppies to declare whether they will have more health problems or not. I encourage everyone buying a puppy of any breed to find a reputable breeder and listen to the wealth of knowledge that breeder has to offer. Do not be drawn into impulse buying or fall to the attraction of the cute "Puppy in the Window." Most reputable breeders work very hard to breed for the health and temperment of their puppies and the continuation of the quality of the breed they love. Yes, they may be breeding in an effort to find that one great show puppy. You can benefit from their efforts by buying puppies from these litters. A good place for referances to reputable breeders are the local breed club or all breed club. You can find contacts for these clubs on the akc web site.
There is an organization associated through Oregon Pure Bred Dog Rescue that has boxer rescue. There is also a boxer rescue through our national breed club. My web page “new” & "Boxer Rescue" gives this information. Puppy costs after you have purchased the puppy: Crate Bedding Food Toys (if you want to keep puppy from destruction) Vet check Vaccinations Flea & Heartworm meds Training Repair of your furniture or replacing shoes, clothing and/or furniture the puppy has destroyed. Probably because you were not watching or you elected to “opt out” of the crate idea.
Link to contents page below.
A brief description about each page.
Below is a link to the Trifecta Training Center Page
It will take you away from Trifecta Boxers Page
Great Information On Training
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