You might have seen "reports" of dogs costing $2000, but if you take a look through previous threads on the cost of a well bred boxer, you'd find that a more normal, or average price is about $1000-1500.
It varies by area, of course, as does everything. In some places people can get very nicely bred puppies from properly health screened stock for a lot less than that. In some other places it is more.
The highest prices though, are usually in the pet stores
Where you're paying $1500 - $3000 for the untested and, frankly, crappy products of puppy mills.
So I don't think that cost is the whole story. Look more closely at the "I want it and I want it NOW" mentality of our society. We don't look too carefully (or just look the other way) at what we're buying and what our money is supporting when we buy from pet stores and BYBs because that might mean we wouldn't get our new toy right NOW. Sad, but true.
Health testing generations of dogs to screen out genetic disease costs money. So does raising litters in the home-based environment at a low production rate that enables each puppy to be given the individual attention needed to ensure it becomes a properly socialised and handled pup, ready to be handed on to it's new home in confidence.
You can buy the mass-produced products of mills and BYBs for sure. Your dog might not look or act much like a boxer should, but you'll save some money upfront in doing so. And a little while later you'll be posting on boxerworld about the hereditary mange your pup has, why it can't be housebroken since its become conditioned to eliminating in it's den (cage), can't understand soft biting since it left it's mother too soon and hasn't had the individual attention needed to understand how to interact with humans, or that your pup has just been diagnosed with cardiomyopathy (or any of the other serious genetic diseases that could probably have been prevented if you'd bought from a responsible breeder) and is about to cost you $5000 in vet fees for a 50/50 chance of survival for the next couple of years.
How many times does that sad story play itself out on this site?
$2000 is very much on the high side of what a puppy from a responsible breeder costs. But it's even a reasonable cost when you consider the russian roulette you're playing when you buy a mill puppy or the product of a BYB. Maybe you'll get a healthy pup, but the risks are very much higher that you'll end with the massive vet bills and ongoing heartbreak that comes with genetically inherited diseases.
You reap what you sow - and if you support the mass producing millers with your money, then expect to be paying for it a little further down the track in vet bills instead. Expect also that the costs of buying from a responsible breeder will remain high - the fewer people who're supported by the consumers for their responsible approach to breeding means there will be fewer taking the responsible route. And that, in turn, keeps the costs of doing so high. No point then in complaining that "it costs too much".
You don't have the money to buy responsibly, but do you have the money to support a sickly pup instead? If not, then you simply shouldn't be buying a dog at all. However much you want it "right now".
For anybody who doesn't want to look the other way and not see where their money goes when they buy from a pet store, take a look at this link to see where that bargain basement puppy came from and what your money goes to support when you decide that you can't afford to support responsible breeding practices instead: www.prisonersofgreed.org
It varies by area, of course, as does everything. In some places people can get very nicely bred puppies from properly health screened stock for a lot less than that. In some other places it is more.
The highest prices though, are usually in the pet stores
Where you're paying $1500 - $3000 for the untested and, frankly, crappy products of puppy mills. So I don't think that cost is the whole story. Look more closely at the "I want it and I want it NOW" mentality of our society. We don't look too carefully (or just look the other way) at what we're buying and what our money is supporting when we buy from pet stores and BYBs because that might mean we wouldn't get our new toy right NOW. Sad, but true.
Health testing generations of dogs to screen out genetic disease costs money. So does raising litters in the home-based environment at a low production rate that enables each puppy to be given the individual attention needed to ensure it becomes a properly socialised and handled pup, ready to be handed on to it's new home in confidence.
You can buy the mass-produced products of mills and BYBs for sure. Your dog might not look or act much like a boxer should, but you'll save some money upfront in doing so. And a little while later you'll be posting on boxerworld about the hereditary mange your pup has, why it can't be housebroken since its become conditioned to eliminating in it's den (cage), can't understand soft biting since it left it's mother too soon and hasn't had the individual attention needed to understand how to interact with humans, or that your pup has just been diagnosed with cardiomyopathy (or any of the other serious genetic diseases that could probably have been prevented if you'd bought from a responsible breeder) and is about to cost you $5000 in vet fees for a 50/50 chance of survival for the next couple of years.
How many times does that sad story play itself out on this site?
$2000 is very much on the high side of what a puppy from a responsible breeder costs. But it's even a reasonable cost when you consider the russian roulette you're playing when you buy a mill puppy or the product of a BYB. Maybe you'll get a healthy pup, but the risks are very much higher that you'll end with the massive vet bills and ongoing heartbreak that comes with genetically inherited diseases.
You reap what you sow - and if you support the mass producing millers with your money, then expect to be paying for it a little further down the track in vet bills instead. Expect also that the costs of buying from a responsible breeder will remain high - the fewer people who're supported by the consumers for their responsible approach to breeding means there will be fewer taking the responsible route. And that, in turn, keeps the costs of doing so high. No point then in complaining that "it costs too much".
You don't have the money to buy responsibly, but do you have the money to support a sickly pup instead? If not, then you simply shouldn't be buying a dog at all. However much you want it "right now".
For anybody who doesn't want to look the other way and not see where their money goes when they buy from a pet store, take a look at this link to see where that bargain basement puppy came from and what your money goes to support when you decide that you can't afford to support responsible breeding practices instead: www.prisonersofgreed.org
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