would you spend $2000 on a puppy?

Hollo - all the nutters I've met are at obedience training!!!!! Some from puppy preschool onwards!!!!

There are a lot of very intelligent dogs out there - have a look at what are used for assistance dogs and custom / police dogs. They tend to be the most stable intelligence breeds. Also what do you want the dog to *do* ?

Our big boy we think was mistreated too. He's a big, big dog. My waist height, with a head like a horse, but he has the most placid nature. He doesn't bark, at all. Only thing is I never, ever let my kids near him when he's eating. He snaps at our other dog, so I won't trust him, but thats the only issue I have. He's about 7 or 8, but when he's about to get attention, he's like a puppy. He's just full of love (smelly dog love!) & drool, lol.
Being a bull mastiff & pure bred, with his age & size I doubt any shelter that ended up with him would've passed him on TBH. He has bad hips & had bits of hair missing everywhere, but I sent him to live out on mum & dad's 7 acre block & since he's had so much room to roam he's walking more & better than ever. He's 10 times healthier!
I had him here for a few months & took both dogs to mum's for a weekend. I saw straight away how much he needed to be there, so I left him. The poor old bugger sat & watched me drive away & looked so sad :( Now if I'm out there, he won't leave the house area unless I go. He's been out there for about 3 months, but I think he remembers that I was the first one to treat him well. He doesn't listen to mum yet, lol, but me & dad he does every time. He loves the kids. Jesse gives him big hugs all the time :) He's one of the most loyal dogs I've had. Just lazy & easy going. I think from the marks on him he was chained up alot before. He was sposed to be a pigging dog, but didn't have the heart for it, so he was offered to DH as a kids dog. I don't regret that decision for a second! I just wish he could be here...

i forgot to mention also that the price also includes desexing. would that make a difference in your opinion?

lulu, i know what you mean but its a risk i dont want to take with my kids. i am just a bit untrusting of dogs and kids and i want to feel good about the kind of dog we get and its temprement around the girls.

well labradoodles were originally bred and used as assistance, and therapy dogs, so some of them must be smart? in answer to your question about what i want it to do.. well reading to the kids would be great! hehe just basically want it to be smart enough to learn quickly and follow commands etc. come when called etc.

A friends mother breeds labradoodles and they are stunning, caring, friendly, clever dogs. I think hers sell for $1600 up to $2200 depending on sex and colour.

I personally wouldnt spend that much but I would say if you can afford it go for it and you wont be disapointed.

We have a cavalier cross ****er spaniel and a cavoodle and they are both great breads and great with kids, the cavoodle especially puts up with a lot from DS1. The cavoodle is a bit nutty and jumpy but not to bad. We paid $550 and $450, they were not desexed and not micro chipped.

As for the health issues all breeds have some issues they are more prone too.

Good luck

Hun, they go through all kinds of tests, quite rigorous actually. We adopted this dog from the side of the road, so we did take chance......but we could tell in a way. She is/was so shy and gentle.

Poodles are (I think) considered the smartest of the lot of them. I was under the impression that the lab/poodle X came into being to stop the stupid amount of hair being dropped. Poodles don't drop hair, Labs are horrendous for it.

Alot of the 'smarter' dogs (border collies, kelpies etc) are working dogs and I think it's awfully unfair to keep a working dog in a backyard.

Have you had a dog before? I have great dogs....but I would never get a puppy with small kids around. For me, I just can't devote the masses of time you need to get the great dog with little ones there. Both awesome dogs (just lost my staffy though :( ) had huge amounts of time spent on them in the first 2-3 years and thats what I feel produced the results.
Not to mention the patience with toilet training (oh the joys of stepping in dog poo in the middle of the night), the repetition that's needed in the early years (not months).

Anyhoo, that's my big fat opinion ;)........I didn't consider myself a dog person until recently and listen to me blabbing on!

ETA- Cavalier King Charles Spaniels are AWESOME, gentle and great for families....in my fat opinion.

If you do get this dog I'd advise against going the non-desexing option - he'll be a much more difficult puppy/dog to live with if he's not desexed (aggression, constant spraying/marking his territory) and he might escape if local lady dogs are on heat. I don't agree with people having undesexed dogs as pets. I'd hate for your furbaby to get out and cause an unwanted pregnancy - too many puppies in pounds because of this.

I also think it sounds odd that this breed costs $2000. My Mum has purebreed dogs (boston terriers) and they have all cost under $1000.

Also I think it's great you're going through a breed association and not a petshop. Petshops are awful and get their dogs from puppy farms with horrible conditions for the dogs.

I always wanted a Cavalier when I was younger! They are gorgeous dogs.

Unfortunately "intelligence" doesn't equal "well behaved"...if they aren't given the training and the stimulation (mental and physical) to keep their active minds busy then they will become destructive and naughty. I second Lulu, shelter dogs are put through various behaviour tests, and a lot of them are sent to foster carers until their forever home can be found so the carers would be well aware of any issues the dog may have...just my 2c.

But if this breed is something that you really want and you can justify paying that much money for one then go for it. Desexing is only about $150-$200 depending on the vet/dog so for $2000 I wouldn't really take that into account. If it was a $500 dog then I would...

A lot of the problems aren't immediately apparent and will appear as the dog gets older. Some will be apparent like heart conditions etc though. As for the reputation of the breeder - being in the association doesn't mean anything really - they can still inbreed their dogs of only breed from a small pool of dogs to get specific traits in their dogs such as temperament. Personally, I would be asking this breeder what the parentage is and the family tree of the pups basically. You want to know if there has ever been any cross breeding - fathers over daughters, mothers over sons, brothers and sisters - the works.

As an example, in Britain, pug dogs have been inbred to such an extent that out of the 10,000 pugs in Britain, GENETICALLY there are only 30! That is the extent of the problem in that country. But like I said, if after you do all your research and you still want one, then by all means get one, but you have to expect that any dog you get could potentially have a lot of health problems.

Personally, no I wouldn't. Firstly because I would prefer to re-home a doggie from an animal shelter who would otherwise potentially be put to sleep. Secondly because close family have been stung TWICE buying a 'designer' breed (labradoodle) in fact - the first one had to go because of hip issues and the second had to go because of serious behavioural issues. I'm not saying that their issues were necessarily all related to breed, but they did spend A LOT of money buying these puppies only to lose two of them. And they did their research, went through breeders etc and still had trouble.

thanks everyone.. i just wish it was a little cheaper and i would go for it without all this procrastination. a friend has a labradoodle they got it for 600 at a pet shop. i just dont want to do that (even though it is cheaper) i wanted to go with a breeder.. but yeah the money is a lot. i will have to keep thinking on it.,

lulu, we have had a dog before. got her for 30 bucks from a pet store. she was a pretty 'dopey' dog. ended up quite big, and had some fear agression. would growl at us when we went near her food bowl. i just didnt trust her at all. when DD1 got old enough to want to go outside all the time we decided to give her up to the rspca. very hard decision cause we (and especially DH) loved her to bits. we called them up to see how she waas going with her socialisation and if anyone had taken her home yet and they said they had to put her down because she was so scared and agressive at everyone that no one could get close enough to her. so i just dont want something similar to that to happen again.

i felt bad for giving her up in the first place cause she was our responsibility but i weighed it up and the kids safety came first.

oh don't feel too bad hun. Some things can't be helped. Dangerous dogs are a no no and if something could have been done, the experts would have. It seems that pup was even out of their range of expertise.

It doesn't matter what type of dog you get, you can never ever trust them with children 100%. Granted yes that some breeds of dogs are more likely to attack a child than other breeds, but ANY dog has the potential to bite a child. My kids have been snapped at by our Kelpie just because they accidentally trod on her tail and frightened/hurt her and it was instinct to spin round and snap at what hurt her, so just because a dog is 'bred' to have a particular temperament or are considered family friendly dogs, doesn't mean that they will be kwim?

yeah i know what you mean trillian... but i have nver heard of a kid being mauled by a labradoodle or labrador etc. but i do know that no dogs are 100% safe.

Hollo - our city council lists the number and breed of dog attacks in their reports, and you see pretty much every breed of dog in there.

To answer your original question - the price is a bit steep for us. We were originally looking at a labradoodle, $2,500 for a chocolate, plus quite a waiting list. We decided to go with labrador instead. For us, we wanted the labradoodle as DH is allergic to dogs. Mind you, she sleeps with her head on his pillow each night!!!! We've spent close on $1,500 on various obedience / agility / scent training so all up, the cost would be around $2,500 but that's as opposed to total cost of $4,000. If you want it, and it seems to me you do want this dog, you've thought it through, then go for it.

I would strongly suggest you ensure you view the hip / eye scores of the parents / grandparents / known siblings and get your pet insurance *and* hip / eye scores on your new arrival - that will give you a good idea of what you'll be in for cost-wise in future years.

Well my Maltese x shihtzu cost me $220 4 years ago - to me she is worth $2000, but I wouldn't have paid that for her! Getting a dog that will suit your lifestyle and family is very important, so if you feel that is the right dog for you, then go for it!

Re the vet bills - I would budget for roughly $300/year for vaccinations which includes heartworm, around $30/month for flea treatments and worming. If you do both of those things you are well on your way to having a healthy dog - oh and a safe well fenced in yard.

Hope this doesn't sound judegmental - but don't buy from a pet shop if you are ethically minded - pet shop puppies are usually 'puppy factory' dogs - not nice at all.

I asked DP would he have allowed me to pay $2K for our girl and his response was the same as mine - she is priceless.

I could talk all night about the joy she has brought to our lives (including the holes and initial destroying of plants and clothes on the line).

I would pay $2K for a doggie and I would also rehome a rescue doggie. It depends what you're looking for.

In finding a breeder, we went to dog shows and spoke to various breeders and viewed their dogs. It was the best experience in understanding the breed and the breeders. From this there is one breeder I wouldn't buy from given her attitude (so rude and of the opinion she is the best).

Our breeder took the time to understand our lifestyle and picked our girl from the litter, based on the personality of our old girl (very dominant). We also viewed the parents and was explained the family history (titles and breeding lines).

We have invested many hours in training her from puppy school to obidence school.

The only thing I would ensure (as mentioned by LuLu) is having vet checks and certificates for any known problems for larger breeds (hips etc).

All the best in finding a new addition to your family.

Nope, no and no.
I am with some of the other girls, if you are willing to spend that much why not go to a shelter? :)