would you spend $2000 on a puppy?

[2CheekyMonkeys]

i have never had an expensive dog. usually had freebies or cheapy ones. i really want to get a labradoodle! but the cost about 2 grand! i would definately have to save up for that. DH doesnt want to spend that much money on it in case it ends up running away or getting hit by car etc. the other option is to get a reduced price and have the pup as a breeding dog. so we would have to keep him a full male until about 4 years old when we can get him desexed and every now and then he would have to go a stay with a female to DTD.

what do yuo think?>

[Lisa]

I would! Especially if it means getting the breed of dog I know would fit perfectly with my family & our lifestyle.

[2CheekyMonkeys]

thats what i am thinking lisa, and i have researched heaps of breeds and it is a pretty good match. :-)

[Trillian]

Short answer - NO. LOL I'm with your DH on this one. I just cannot justify that amount of money on an animal sorry Both for the reasons that your DH said and also because I have an issue with dog breeding - many 'purebred' dogs are so overly inbred to produce pups with 'perfect' traits that the dogs have many, many health problems that are very costly to fix. I would rather source a free dog from a pound or someone giving them away before buying one. But if you were absolutely adamant that you wanted one, I would be looking into it very seriously and finding a breeder that does not use inbreeding/small gene pool for their breeding dogs to reduce the chance of getting a puppy that is destined to be sick.

[Astrid]

Having spent $750 on the first dog, then $820 on the next dog, I would say no. Our first one did get hit by a car, we were so careful with him, but he was so fast and the bloke who hit him was speeding.

We went with an Aussie Terrier due to the traits they have and we wanted to be so careful with personality due to the kids. The first one, for a pure breed, whilst physically was fine (just a bit big), but he was a complete nutter and did not contain any of the calm traits of the breed. The 2nd dog, is much better trait wise, but still a bit big, I think the breed standard needs updating as they are just not as little as they once were.

They really are two different dogs, pure breed is no guarantee of nature. After talking to a breeder of a different breed, he confirmed this. Many are bred for look in the judging ring, not for personalty, so you can get some nutter dogs amongst the pure breeds.

[PumpkinZulu]

Short answer - NO. LOL I'm with your DH on this one. I just cannot justify that amount of money on an animal sorry Both for the reasons that your DH said and also because I have an issue with dog breeding - many 'purebred' dogs are so overly inbred to produce pups with 'perfect' traits that the dogs have many, many health problems that are very costly to fix. I would rather source a free dog from a pound or someone giving them away before buying one. But if you were absolutely adamant that you wanted one, I would be looking into it very seriously and finding a breeder that does not use inbreeding/small gene pool for their breeding dogs to reduce the chance of getting a puppy that is destined to be sick.

I agree. I would not. It is just an animal, what are you *really* paying all that money for, you know? It will live just as long as a normal dog, eat just as much, poo just as much etc etc, only difference being that it is inbred (most likely, all to some degree but some a lot more severely). If you can afford it though, and can afford for it to die prematurely, then do it I personally dislike labradoodles as they are notoriously stupid dogs, so I guess the $2000 would be going towards their looks

[MissM]

We did we have an american staffy - she's a blue we could have bought a blue for around 900 - 1500 but that is without papers. plus air freight and health vet check as we got her from SA and we live in Syd.

Alot of people made comments like 'it's JUST a dog' well yes she is a dog (thanks for noticing) which were REALLY annoying! But we were considering showing her but just dont have the time for the extra training

She is pure and we were definately not going to buy an amstaff WITHOUT papers cos I wanted to make sure if anyone said she was a pitty I would be able to prove otherwise. When we picked her up from the airport one of the guys said 'oh she looks like a pit bull' I was like 'Um, she's an american staffy - thats why we got papers'

I have heard of other people selling their pups as a certain type of breed but they weren't. we did ALOT of research on the breeder and he was FANTASTIC! Our puppy is SO SO funny, and is FANTASTIC with kids, she has an awesome temperment as well.

At the end of the day - it depends on what you are willing to pay and what you can afford etc and the restrictions of the breeder (when we were looking some breeder's had alot of restrictions)

[Kazbah]

It's an interesting price, specially when you consider that our labrador, who actually is a full pedigree who's grandfather was bred by the Queen (yes, QEII) cost us $1000.

We paid that for our dog as we were after a working dog - she comes from a line of customs / guide dogs and I was after a dog to train for search & rescue.

I would really be interested to see the breeder you've found, as essentially labradoodles are a cross-breed. They are still only a purebreed, and not a registered breed. Those kind of prices make me think of puppy farms with "designer breeds".

But if you have your heart set on one, and are after a cheaper alternative, then there are rescue groups which are rehoming dogs, and the RSPCA etc. The RSPCA can often advise you of rescue groups, or your local council.
Either way, good luck with getting a gorgeous puppy.

[ss_storm]

Nope...as much as i love my dog (golden retriever) I can think of much better and more useful things to spend that sort of money on! We got our dog fr $300 from a breeder, normally around $500/$600 but he was a 'discount puppy' because he was about 4/5 months old and the breeders still hadn't sold him.

If you do end up getting a labradoodle, make sure you check out both parents very carefully...I've known a few of them and they were absolute nutters!
Maybe ask around at animal shelters/dog rescues close to you, they may get them in the shelter occasionally and you could adopt one from there. it is suprising how many purebreeds/designer dogs end up in dog pounds.

[~me~]

I probably would if I wanted it bad enough. I have a cat that I paid $600 for and she is now 12yrs old, my kids love her and she is great company. I would go with the one that you can get desexed straight away though.
If you spend that much on a dog it would be worth getting 'pet health insurance' in case she does get hit by a car.
Trillian also has a very good point about in breeding, so if you know anyone who shows dogs or a Vet perhaps take them along when you pick.

[Lulu]

Are they really that stupid??? I was thinking that those 2 breeds, being notoriously smart (although labs are hard to train) would be an alright mix. Not that I'm an expert on that stuff.

But no, I wouldn't spend that much - especially when there are so many wonderful pups being put down every year.

[~clover~]

I'm another no. We paid $200 for a staffy & would probably pay for another one one day, but no way would I pay that much.
We have 2 bull mastiff's we got for nothing & they are beautiful & perfect for us

[Floweryfields]

No I wouldn't. Be ware of 'designer crosses' as they often end up with problems that the full breeds don't have such as hip displasia, etc.

[nickle730]

Yep, I would! I specifically wanted a very small dog, kid friendly (to raise with my kids - I was not prepared to adopt an older dog with an unknown history), hopefully intelligent and a low-allergy dog which wouldn't lose hair. I paid over $2K for my toy poodle 6 years ago. He is everything I was hoping for and as he sits here next to me right now I reckon he was money well spent!! the kids adore him and I do, too. DH pretends not to like him but cuddles him on the couch every night!!

As some others have said, research your breeder carefully to be sure that you get what you are paying for and that they breed ethically. Good luck!

[Olive]

no i wouldnt either!! but then again if you can afford then go for it! just remember the associated costs...Food/vet bills etc... and for that price id be insuring it too!

[2CheekyMonkeys]

hmmmm... seems like we are all kinda half half here.

i got all the breeder details from the australian labradoodle association and they are registered breeders so this would suggest to me that they are reputable breeders. how do i further check the breeders out though? similarily how do i check out the pups parentage? i have been contacted by 3 of the 5 breeders and two say their pups are 2grand and the other one lists theirs from 1300 to 2200. so it seems the asking price.

the reason i want a labradoodle is because they are advertised as really intellegent so for the people who said they met a lot of nutters i dont know about that. were those dogs taken to obedience training i wonder?> this is something we plan on doing.. maybe that would affect their temperament.. i dunno though.

we were originally going to go with a rescue shelter type place but then i got thinking and i really want to know what kind of pet it will be. i want to know it wasnt abused or mistreated early on in life, which would affect its behaviours as an adult dog in our home. i want to know what general size it will grow to, what general tmperpent i can expect.. the shelter pups are a bit of guess work.

with the health problems.. that is something that worrys me a little. we wouldnt be able to afford a stack of vet bills.. (obviously just the normal ones and the every now and then things) but not ongoing health problem type ones. plus dont want the poor little bugger to have a cruddy sick life. so how do i make sure that doesnt happen?

thanks for your feedback everyone. oh and no it isnt something we can afford, i would have to save up for it! the price is the maing thing holding DH back plus he sees them as 'girly dogs'.

[Lulu]

Maybe in the meantime you can keep checking out the shelters? Those places are very committed to matching homes with appropriate dogs, and if a pooch has been mistreated badly enough to be a danger, they don't sell them on - or they make sure you can give the time to them.

I have a very (previously) badly mistreated dog sitting at my feet right this minute. She is an absolute joy...it's like she appreciates the love she gets even more. The only 'scars' she bears as a result of the mistreatment is that she runs under the table when voices are raised.

[Mrs Jak]

Hi,

We paid $1000 for our Cavalier x Mini Poodle (AKA Cavoodle) and even though DH was not happy at first about getting a dog, he loves her so much. I wouldn't have paid $2000, but only because it's over our price range for a dog.

I also did a lot of research and our Cavoodle is such a lovely, gentle family dog and was very easy to train. She very rarely barks either and doesn't shed everywhere, so all the more reason for my DH to love her (Not so good as a guard dog though!)

Good luck!