PRICING OF OUR PUPPIES

Because we like to be transparent and open, we also state the price of our puppies on the website. There is nothing secret about that. I do want to take the opportunity to explain how this pricing comes together. A lot of people do not have a clue how many costs are involved in breeding a litter. The price of our puppies is not negotiable.
Of course money talk is never pleaseant, but still I would like to give an insight to you about the costs.

• The health tests we carry out on our dogs are here to be found. All together these tests have a price tag of about 3000 Euro. Odds are of course that results of the tests show that the dog is not suitable for breeding.
• When the bitch turns out to be suited for breeding, we go out on the hunt for a male for her. The stud owner also did all kinds of health tests and that also costs money. De price of a stud is between 500 and 1500 Euro, or even up. Because we like to have the best partner for our bitch we don’t care about his location.
• We also plan a trip ahead to see the male in real life. In total we drive thousands of kilometers. A quick calculation tells us that in gas alone we already pay almost 500 Euro. The time and hotelrooms we do not calculate.
• When you have to travel a big distance to the male, timing is of the essence. We test for progesterone. Usually that takes 2 to 5 tests. One test costs about 60 Euro. That means that for the progesterone testing in total we pay between 120 and 300 Euro.
• When the bitch is bred we go to the vet for an ultrasound. That can be done when the bitch is 28 days pregnant. Very nifty, because then we and the new puppy owners know if she really is carrying puppies. An ultrasound costs about 75 Euro’s
• A French Bulldog is a breed that, unfortunately, needs a C-section more often. Costs of a C-section at night time or in weekends costs about 1250 Euro. We hope to skip this one of course!

• When the puppies are born, the mother wants to eat a lot. Up to three times as many! A bitch can eat more than 1500 gram of raw food every day! This costs about 8 Euro extra every day, for a period of 6 weeks. That is about 300 Euro in total on top of her regular food.
• Of course the puppies also must be fed. In the four weeks that pass by that they eat solid foods they eat about 50 kilo’s together. Food costs about 6 Euro’s per kilo. Feeding the puppies costs at minimum 300 Euro.
• Our puppies are microchipped by a veterinarian. Also, a DNA test is taken for origin research. Together with the costs of the actual pedigree, this costs a little over 100 euro for every puppy.
• When the puppies are eight weeks old they get a health check and their first vaccination. This costs about 55 Euro for every puppy. Deworming costs we do not calculate now.

• When the puppies are one year old, we organise a Homecoming Day. For the puppy owners this day is free of charge. Every puppy will get x rays on airways, spine and hips. Despite my work in an Animal Clinic, I still have to pay for all that. This costs at minimum 100 Euro for every puppy.
  If it is not possible for a foreign owner to come to our Homecoming day, we will make another arrangement.
• If a puppy goes abroad it must be usually older than 15 weeks of age. We want to give our puppies the best start in life so we will socialize them like it would be our own puppy. This means for us all the extra vaccinations and training. We will go to puppy class and have to take extra time off from work. Raising a puppy well takes a lot of time and effort.

At this moment the costs are already exceeding well over € 10.000,-. In this calculation I have taken into account a very  average litter of 4 puppies.

The supplies needed for delivery, a whelping box, heat lamp, lining for the whelping box, instruments, scale etc. are not even calculated. Often these things are reusable, but still they must be bought first.

They puppies then do not even have a toy to play with or a bed to sleep in.

Also the cost to keep our house extra warm, heating plate and heating lamp, cost of the washing machine that is running constantly are not in this calculation.

Also any neccesary vet visits are not taken into calculation.

And of course the time we invest we do not calculate. We do not have to be paid for that, then a puppy will be priceless. Unfortunately, also this website is not free.
We also put an amount of money on a separate account, is case something is wrong with any of our puppies. Despite our best efforts to breed healthy dogs is Mother Nature also a factor. In case a puppy has abnormalities of any kind we want to take our financial responsibility.

I hope that this calculation gives a bit of insight in the origin of our puppy price. I also hope that I have shown people who say that puppies are too expensive see what is included.

The price of a Hawbucks puppy is € 3.250,-, excluding potential additional costs that vary by country.