Mark Wilcox wrote:
| If breeders don't get good money for there pups why would you breed and if that happens where does that leave the industry.
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There aren't that many people who are only professional or commercial breeders, most breed to race a couple and sell a few to cover costs and if they are fortunate make a bit of profit on their activity Its not a venture that you rush into But if there are less dogs being bred then the industry contracts Its a bit like the chicken and the egg argument Asa breeder to sell, the only variable that you have to play with is the price If you breed a litter of 7 and costs you $14k (including maintaining the brood for 12 months) to get them to 3-4 months of age that's a raw cost of $2k per pup If you were able to sell them for $5k 2 years ago and kept 2 for yourself and 5 to sell you would pocket $25k and make a profit of approx $11k which would be churned back to rear your own 2 kept If today you sell those same 5 for $4k, because thats what the market currently dictates, then you pocket $20k, profit only $6k and maybe you have to put in a $3k out of your own pocket over the next 15 months to get your 2 to the track to see what you have In that last scenario, the win/win is 1. its till cheaper than buying 2 pups and rearing and educating them to 18 months which could cost you around $10k EACH, total of $20k....its only then cost you approx $9k to get 2 to dogs to 18 months old 2. You have supplied the industry with more dogs to race 3. You breed the litter with the bloodlines you want to breed (whatever your breeding beliefs are) 4. You get a chance to prove your broodbitch 5. Cheaper pups, thus cheaper entry costs may encourage wider ownership 6. If you are stuck with them, you get all the good ones as well as the slow ones The negatives are: 1. In this environment you may need to sell them even cheaper to risk not being stuck with them if you don't have the facilities or resources to keep them 2. You can't sell them at all and you have to pay for the lot 3. They are all slow and you have to keep them till their 7 years old because GAP can't rehome them The way I see it, selling cheaper at the moment to meet the market is still better off than not breeding at all and risk the industry not having enough dogs to race My opinion, when you breed a litter these days, have a price at the lower end which you are committed to taking if the market is against you. That way you won't get disappointed as then its purely a business decision. Breeders could be helped in other ways by perhaps studmasters reducing prices for frozen semen, stud fees and authorities could help breeders by providing subsidies for Veterinary fees for frozen semen procedures, AI procedures, vaccinations, cesarians etc
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