[drj02]

Hello all...my wife and I are considering adopting a golden puppy for a companion to our 2 year old Golden retriever named Honey. A local breeder has a 6 month old blond boy trained for $2500. Is this a good price? Any advise would be greatly appreciated as we adopted Honey from a shelter and are not familiar with current breeder costs
Thanks everyone!

 

[Tahnee GR]

Wow, that seems like a lot, but I live in a part of the country where prices are much less. How does the breeder define trained? Basic manners and housebroken? Started for field?

How about the parents-full clearances on them-OFA or PennHip for hips, OFA for elbows, eyes checked annually by a veterinary opthamologist, heart checked by a cardiologist?

Why is she placing the puppy? Is he a show or competition puppy that isn't working out?

Lots of questions before an answer can be given on whether or not $2500 is too much.

 

[Muddypaws]

Is he a show dog? What kind of training? At 6 months old it has to be basic with maybe a little conformation (if he was being trained to show). More important, do the parents have all of their certifications? What is the health history? Contract? Training would the the least of my concerns, puppies are easy to begin to train but it is a constant and ongoing process. You have to keep it up.

 

[LibertyME]

What is the breeder/trainers definition of "trained"?
Housebroken, leash trained, crate trained has value...but only if the training methods used are not going to conflict with the training Im going to do...I have no interest in trying to undo overly harsh training methods or paying for training on a dog that comes from parents without clearances.

 

[CarolinaCasey]

If all clearances on the parents are in place and the dog is up to date on preventatives, vaccines, housetrained, and knows some commands- I would have no problem paying about $1500-2000. A well bred puppy from cleared parents from conformation lines are usually about $1200-$1500. The breeder has probably at least $500 into training, veterinary care, etc. I guess what I'm saying is that I would ask what their puppies typically sell for and then add about $500. That is what I would find reasonable.

 

[fostermom]

I guess it depends on what you are willing to pay for a trained puppy. I prefer to train my own because I feel like there is a bond that is built while training them, but not everyone is up to training a puppy.

 

[Bogart]

Hi,
I have a 5 Month old Male Golden Pup. He is House trained, he still learns his sits, downs, wait/stay (still very iffy on that) and come.
He still likes to jump on familiar People (dog people) we meet on our walks all the time. He doesn't do it to strangers.
I think 2500$ is a steep price and a 6 month old only has basic obedience and doubtful that it would be solid like my older guy at 6 years old is.
Our bonding time is also training the little Dude so I wouldn't want to miss that. Also soon he should come into the fun Teenie months and that opens up a whole other can of worms with the obedience.

 

[Golden999]

Please don't pay $2500 for a dog. It just makes the price go up for everyone else when people start successfully selling dogs at that kind of price.

If that's your only option price wise for a pure bred, pick up a mutt at the pound or on craiglist instead for under $100 and write a $2400 check to some sort of charity organization that provides food to hungry people or shelter to homeless people with the money you save.

I think you can get a golden for a lot less than the figure you quoted, though. You might have to do your own training (Which is a lot of work, but creates a special bond) or get an older dog without the same type of pedigree or expert training (but adequate training), but I think you can come away with a golden who will make you happy for less than 15% of that.

 

[hvgoldens4]

Lots of questions.....
Why is the dog being placed(not going to work out for conformation, failed a preliminary clearance, bad bite, etc) or was the dog returned to the breeder?
Do the parents have all their clearances?
Will the breeder still give support, etc? Also ask to see the contract on the dog.

I am in PA and $2500 does seem rather steep. Typically in our area, 6 months old to one year old puppies are placed for $1500 to a max of about $1800 and that is when they are up to date on all shots, microchipped, crate trained, housebroken, etc.


Jennifer
Harborview

 

[TiffanyPartyOf8]

I got our AKC registered golden for $30 on craigslist (gas for the guy to bring him to us since he wanted to see where we lived before leaving his puppy). Buddy was 7 months old when we got him. I doubt he's from a great breeder and I doubt his parents have clearances but we were willing to take a chance on him. He was going to animal care & control if he wasn't given away. He's seriously an amazing dog and we love him to death. He was housebroken when he arrived and had a loose concept of "sit" haha. He's come a long way.

 

[opera330]

Priceless!!!!!

I would pay the $2500.

 

[lgnutah]

I would pay the $2500.

With the limited information the OP has provided, what makes you say this?

 

[goldprof]

Delmarva Goldens has a 4-month old puppy available now for $1500, her usual price for pups. He's (mostly) house trained, leash trained, and crate trained, and sounds adorable!

 

[Sally's Mom]

Sounds like a lot for a 6 month old pup. How reliably trained can a 6 month old pup be?

 

[drj02]

Thanks everyone! Having a really hard time finding a recommended breeder from this site with availability. Still doing lots of homework and optimistic!

 

[Ljilly28]

I agree that you need so much info still about the parents, their clearances, and this situation. My gut says no. I once considered spending this amount on a show puppy with a glorious pedigree, but common sense made me ask lots of questions- like why would they give a dog like that to me for any price,lol, as his father is a legend. Turned out he was missing 6 teeth, and they ended up neutering him and putting him in a pet home. I guess they were trying to see if a fool(me) and her money could be parted before doing the right thing. I say this just to emphasize due diligence. Check offa.org for the parents' four clearances and get a clear picture of why the puppy is being placed and why they consider him/her a 2,500 puppy.

 

[drj02]

Wow! Great info, thank you. I am so sorry to hear that story though. That is why this is such a stressful task. The scamming that goes on is just terrible! I will definately take your advise. We would spend everything we had for our Honey as she is truly our life every day. She is at the groomers as we speak and I am lost in my own house without her. Another reason why I struggle not to spend the $2500 if he is so awesome during our meet and greet with Honey. This process is soooo difficult emotionally. Thanks again. I will crunch any research I can in the hopes of being sure one way or another.

 

[WLR]

A couple years ago we had a similar thread going here and upon a little investigation it was discovered the "breeder" in So Cal had some run ins with the local ASPCA and former employees who stated the training method was done with cattle prods.
Nice training program.
Do your homework.

 

[opera330]

2500 dollar pup

I said priceless because if you are looking for trained, housebroken, 6month old with winter coming you won't be outside too often in the middle of the night. I just came home last New Years Day with our puppy Cody. Athough he is my third golden I had completely forgotten how cold and dark it is outside at two in the morning. We love our puppy and thankfully my husband can survive the winter snow and night time potties pretty well, but if it were me and everything else was in order I would pay it. To me it would be worth it.

Can you say who the breeder is? I noticed Cody's breeder is advertising a 6mo old housebroken and trained puppy. You can send me a private message if you wish.

 

[drj02]

I don't want to unintentionally create any undo negative feeds for this breeder by mentioning name but the breeder is Goldngrove in Vineland, NJ. Do you know her? I see you are from NJ as well?
My goal is just to be as educated as possible with this potential opportunity.
Thanks in advance for your time...