Dollars and Sense of 'Pet Store' Puppies

[Renee750il]

http://www.adoptananimal.ca/whyadopt/cost-breeding.php

[skyhigh]

Thanks for sharing Renee. It costs alot to breed a litter. Some people just can't get that into their heads. BYB's do cut corners. If people want to breed they should do it responsibly.

Sky

[colliekid]

Thanks for sharing, quite an interesting read.

[ChocLabLover]

I went and bought my chocolate lab from a breeder he cost me 500$ less than at the pet store! And the funny thing is... she was the supplier of the petstores in our town.

We got a great deal

[reagent6]

You mean you bought a puppy from a breeder that SUPPLIES a pet shop? Responsible breeders would never sell to a reseller. They don't want their dogs going to people they do not know. Sounds fishy to me.

[LhasaLover]

Well, I did a no-no and bought my Lhasa at a pet store. She's the first purebred I ever bought - first dog I ever bought - and I just couldn't resist her.

She *was* from a local BYB but I have to say they did a wonderful job with her and I could tell she'd been raised in a home where she was handled & loved. Although she's not a show dog, she's shown no sign of any of the common health issues that can come with Lhasas and she's structurally sound.

I wouldn't do it again, tho. I hate the thought of supporting puppy mills, but I got caught by her.

[bubbatd]

Remember too folks .... most BYB and definately Puppy Mills do not socialize their puppys !!!! To me after complete health checks that is #1 in my books !

[dogaddict]

This is great, thanks for sharing!

[Suzzie]

I have issue with this statement:
"The Big Monkey Wrench In This Whole Calculation Is That Pet Stores Usually Sell Products At A Mark-Up Of Roughly 4 to 5 Times!"

That's completely not true. While animals themselves usually have a markup of 2-3 times, actual products can range from a markup of pennies to roughly 50%. I know it doesn't have much to do with the thread, but I really hate inaccurate information. Crap dog foods, stores usually make $.50 per bag. Good foods, like Wellness, it's more like $8-10 a bag. But most are on the lower end, of a buck or two a bag. A bag of bird food might cost you $9 - the store pays $6 for it.

It mentions several times competing with the shelf space to profit ratio which is obscene... a bag of dog food which you may sell 20 of in a month is still not going to produce as much profit a puppy, which takes up the same amount of shelf space. I'm pretty sure that's not how pet stores come up with their prices for puppies (I never worked in a puppy pet store). It probably has a lot more to do with "what will idiots pay for this puppy mill dog" and less to do with rhyme or reason.

Anyhoo, just semantics I guess. It annoyed me as it was obviously not written by someone who has worked at or owned a pet store.

[Boxer100]

From what I've seen, pet stores overprice their puppies. They buy them cheap from puppy mills or breeders who could not sell all of their puppies for some reason, usually because they are lower quality puppies and not good for show. All reputable breeders lose a lot of money when breeding their dogs, that tells you how many true reputable breeders there are, not very many. Most breeders breed to make some money, and I think it is OK as long as they breed responsibly and only do it when it is the right time.