What would you pay?

[Circle C]

What kind of a price would you pay for a 6-8 month old pup that is already house broken, crate trained and has a good start on obedience training (sit, stay, recall, down & has been introduced to stock)?

 

They also have good bloodlines, the parents are great stock dogs (with titles) & they have good conformation, temperaments and personalities. They come with up-to-date healthcare and CEA/Hip Displasia contracts. They are also garunteed to show interest in livestock.

[Dixie_Girl]

$600

[Susan M. & Skipper, Annie and Ben]

What kind of titles are you talking about? Have you seen the parents work a farm and run open in a USBCHA trial or two? Do these parents have other puppies from former litters and how do they work? What are their temperments like? Is the breeder keeping one or two of the pups for themselves to trial and work?

Even if you never plan to take your dog to sheep, these are still important things to know before getting a pup.

[RaisingRiver]

Why have they kept it for 6-8 months?

And do you plan to work stock w/ the pup?

[Dixie_Girl]

$100

[Pipedream Farm]

I wouldn't pay anything for it until I saw how the parents worked stock, it's papers, and what it may be doing around stock (if anything at this age).

 

They are also garunteed to show interest in livestock.

Our greyhound "shows interest" in livestock and so do stray dogs that run a sheep down and kill it. This doesn't really mean much.

 

Mark

[juliepoudrier]

Ditto to Mark's comments.

 

J.

[Jordi44]

Around here, registered, 8-week-old pups are around $200. That said, so what - anything is worth only what someone else will pay for it. As important as the price is why it's for sale and what you can afford.

 

First, I would want to know why they're selling a 6-8 month old pup that they've obviously taken time to start housetraining. I've seen some people that breed/work/trial/demo/etc. sell started pups - not sure of the ages - but they usually aren't housetraining them and have them started working to some degree.

 

Second, are they regular breeders or just a now and then or one time thing? Is this a pup they couldn't sell? Why? Is this a pup they were going to keep and changed their minds? Why?

 

How does this pup react to you? It may be super obedient for them - and thumb it's nose at you when you try to tell it to do something. I've heard many stories about people buying fully trained dogs - and the dog never did work for them.

 

Do you want a dog to work stock and if so, what kind? Dogs that are great on sheep for instance, may not even go near cattle, or vice versa. I had a dog that was great with poultry (no resistance), but she never could move anything else (and she had an outstanding pedigree - worst BC, and one of the worst dogs, period, I ever had). If you don't want to work stock, a dog that has been bred to do so will probably drive you nuts in the end. Look at the dogs turned into rescue - most common reason why is that they were Border Collies behaving like Border Collies. If you don't want to herd, look for lines, failed pups, etc. that aren't as likely to display a strong drive to herd. They do exist - we even had one when I was a kid.

 

Last of all - how do you feel about this particular pup? Do you just melt when you see it? Is it your idea of the most beautiful, loving, wonderful dog in the world? If so, if the price and all other factors are agreeable for you, go for it.

 

Good luck!