Prices and Information

The cost of Chihuahua puppies

Chihuahua prices start from £950 to £1,500 if this is too much please don't ask for a discount as refusal often offends.

I am often asked "Why are puppy prices so high?", well truth be told the price of QUALITY purebred dogs is a bit high these days. This is not exclusively chihuahua's.

For the reputable breeders who care about the breed they are breeding and are working hard to provide quality dogs, both physically and mentally, that will be an asset to the breed, there is a LOT that the breeder puts into their program before a puppy is even born!! The puppy breeding costs themselves are minimal, unless a c-section was needed (add £600 + for that). However, to reach the point of breeding a bitch takes time, money and a lot of heartache. Lots of trial and error and hopefully you have a litter of puppies.

Showing to Strive for Quality

We believe showing dogs is important for the very reason the shows were invented in the first place: to find the best possible specimens for breeding. I have shown and will show my dogs to make sure I know what the top dogs are, what their qualities are, and to strive to meet or exceed those standards. There are fads that come and go in the show ring and I am not talking about that, and I am very against breeding dogs that win ONLY because they win.

A good breeding program still must have the knowledge of correct canine structure and movement, what the correct "type" is for that breed, a thorough understanding of the breed standard for that breed, etc. However, I feel it is very hard to breed outstanding dogs of a certain breed without measuring your dogs against others - it is simply too easy to become isolated and out of touch with what is important for that breed.

But I Only Want Pet Quality

Pet quality puppies from "show lines" are a better cut above ones who aren't simply because they are bred with the goal in mind of creating the highest quality possible. People who only breed "for pets" have their goals set much lower and there only intrest is to make money so just buy any two dogs and put them together without thinking about what will be produced.

However, there are people that only want a little dog that they can love and spoil. To this end I always aim to breed dogs that appeal to these people too, so some of my girls are not KC registered and are not from showing lines. This does not mean that they are sub-standard but only that they can not be shown.

Costs of a Good Breeding Program

Here are some of the things that go into creating and maintaining a breeding program of lovely dogs that are great representatives of their breed, are healthy and have good temperaments:

	Go to shows, meet breeders, show commitment to breed (join clubs, attend meetings, read books and articles) COST: £200 to £500 per year plus many days and hours depending on how many shows you attend.
	Purchase show quality dog to show (NOTE: the above step must be done first or it is very hard to acquire a show dog of any worth!!) COST: £1000 to £2500
	Maintain dog (food, vet bills, de-worming, etc.). COST: about £500 per year per dog
	Show dog at Championship shows to prove its worthiness and value to the breed. COST: on the conservative side, about £1800 (this is ridiculously conservative as only petrol money, entry fees and grooming products were included and not lodging!)
	Assuming success thus far, purchase another show dog of opposite sex whose pedigree and physical characteristics (genotype and phenotype) will compliment your first one. If not successful, start over anyway! COST: add up totals above once if first one worked out, twice if not. Or the other way is to go out to a stud which to use a top show chi at stud costs from £300 to use just a show dog from £200 and if they have there CH £400 upwards.
	When above has been repeated (and paid out) enough to have acquired and shown two lovely dogs, one male and one female, who compliment each other, you can now prepare to breed them by doing the necessary genetic screening tests for that breed. Or your seach for an outside stud.
	IF ANY DOG DOESN'T PASS ALL THE TESTS, STOP, and START ALL OVER!!!

	If no one has scary diseases, you may breed them. Now we have Ultrasound and for the hopefully pregnant female. COST: £50
	IF YOU CANNOT GET FEMALE PREGNANT, STOP, and START ALL OVER with new female, male, or BOTH!!
	If you are Blessed with a litter of 1 to 3 puppies (average for chis) , you will now need to feed them when they start eating mama's food, give them there shots and de-worm them. You also may need dewclaws removed. COST: £10 or so as a low estimate PER puppy.

	IF A C-SECTION WAS NEEDED, add £500 to £1000 to litter cost. Totals

WITHOUT a C-section, a conservative estimate assuming only 2 show dogs were purchased and turned out (HIGHLY UNLIKELY), a litter of 3 puppies costs the breeder: £6,380.00 if you take an averave of all the fees.

THIS IS £2,126 PER PUPPY!!

To be quite honest, most breeders have actually paid a LOT more (most of us would much rather NOT look at the actual figures!). The cost of the hotels or car/van to accomodate dogs, trolley/table cages were not added to the show costs.

And so now you know, Why the Prices Are So High ;-)