# Buying a puppy



## Miigaa (Oct 24, 2021)

Hi members
My name’s Miigaa. We are family of 3 members. My son almost 2 years old. We love German shepherd so much. We are looking for puppy for my son. We have only 500$. If anyone have puppy. Please contact me. Puppy for my son’s birthday gift. Thank you


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## Fodder (Oct 21, 2007)

Welcome to the forum Miigaa…
You aren't likely to get any recommendations here for breeders offering dogs in your price range, and i’d caution you against pursuing any GSD at that price as it would not be well bred - potentially costing you thousands due to health and behavioral issues.
With your son only being 2, not only would i recommend waiting until he’s older… but also using these next few years to really research the breed and save quite a bit more money. Not only to cover the purchase price, but everything else you need to properly care for and train your new family member.


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## mnm (Jan 9, 2006)

Unfortunately, you are not going to find a puppy from a reputable breeder for that price.


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## tim_s_adams (Aug 9, 2017)

If you have a house with a fenced backyard, you could easily find an older puppy or dog for that price at a recue. Have you considered that?


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## Miigaa (Oct 24, 2021)

Fodder said:


> Welcome to the forum Miigaa…
> You aren't likely to get any recommendations here for breeders offering dogs in your price range, and i’d caution you against pursuing any GSD at that price as it would not be well bred - potentially costing you thousands due to health and behavioral issues.
> With your son only being 2, not only would i recommend waiting until he’s older… but also using these next few years to really research the breed and save quite a bit more money. Not only to cover the purchase price, but everything else you need to properly care for and train your new family member.


Hi dear, thank you for helping me. Do you know good breeders?


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

tim_s_adams said:


> If you have a house with a fenced backyard, you could easily find an older puppy or dog for that price at a recue. Have you considered that?


Actually, a lot of rescues will not place a German Shepherd with her because of her son's age. She is better off going with a breeder. She just needs to realign what she expects to pay with reality. 

You will have trouble finding a decent breeder who will sell a puppy for less than 1000-1500 dollars. Different areas have different price ranges. 

It's funny what people consider is reasonable to pay for a puppy. A puppy is a major purchase. Every major decision from purchase day up until the dog dies, maybe 12-14 years later has to be made with consideration of the dog, but you are only willing to put $500 down for this major purchase. 

Getting married? You'll pay $3000 for a hall, maybe $9000 for booze for one night's partying, but you have $500 for a dog. What does $500 get you in these days. Not a single mortgage payment, not rent on an apartment, not a fill-up for your propane tank. Shoo, I spend $165 at the grocery store night before last, yeah I bought some meat, and it should last me two weeks, but a purebred dog that I want to be a companion for 10+ years should cost more than a few months groceries. Some folks here would pay more on a purse. And as a breeder, I know that some of the folks that would spend 10-15k on booze for a wedding, or $800 for a purse will claim they have $500 for a dog. They will whip out an $800 phone and show you pictures of their previous dog, but not want to pay over $500 for a dog. It's unbelievable. 

Do you people realize that if we have to have a c-section, that will cost us $1500 minimum, with no guaranty of live puppies? Do you know what goes into building a line of dogs? Do you know what it costs to keep a kennel of dogs, which if you are going to be a breeder, you have to be willing to take them back if they do not work out, to let some grow up some before you make the decision whether or not you want them in your program, you need to maybe keep one or two that has a problem and you may want to keep your breeding animals including the retired ones because that shows your lines background and you have that information about what you are producing. Vet and food and basic supplies can easily cost 15k. Not counting, training, grooming, show fees. Not counting the cost of bringing in another stud dog or brood bitch to add into your lines. Breeders will pay and exorbitant amount of money for potential breeding stock, depending on pedigree, etc. And sometimes you breed 2 or 3 females in a season and get no puppies, sometimes you get one litter, sometimes 10 pups, sometimes 5 pups. And folks say breeders are all about the money, but in reality, it's the buyers that are all about the money. Breeders lose money every year, and are treated like the Fagins. 

You only have $500 for a puppy, put the money in the bank and get a puppy from your local shelter.


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## James1111 (Oct 25, 2021)

Miigaa said:


> Hi members
> My name’s Miigaa. We are family of 3 members. My son almost 2 years old. We love German shepherd so much. We are looking for puppy for my son. We have only 500$. If anyone have puppy. Please contact me. Puppy for my son’s birthday gift. Thank you


Text me


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## tim_s_adams (Aug 9, 2017)

@James1111 nice offer perhaps. 

BUT OP please understand the perils of texting or PM ING any random person on the internet. 

That's not likely to be your best way forward!


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## Pawsed (May 24, 2014)

Please reconsider buying a German Shepherd puppy for your 2 year old child. That is just a recipe for disaster.

These puppies have razor sharp teeth and the only way they learn about the world is to bite, everything and everyone, including your 2 year old. They are not sweet and cuddly pups like some other breeds.

Take a look on this forum at what seems like 1,000's of puppy biting threads. That in itself should give you just a small idea of what you would be getting into.

These dogs are not for small children. Save your money and buy a pup when you child is older, when he can have some responsibility in raising and training the dog.


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## Bearshandler (Aug 29, 2019)

I would tell you for one l, it’s not going to be your sons dog. You are going to be doing all of the work. That’s just how it’s going to go. The second, is I would recommend you look at mature dogs being retired from breeding programs or shelters. Your much better off with a dog that requires minimal to no training from you or is mature enough to pick up on training quickly. When I say training, I’m referring to manners and skills that will help you and the dog love together.


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## GSD07 (Feb 23, 2007)

I agree with the above advice. What I disagree with is when breeders start judging buyers based on their financial state and start telling that $500 is nothing so just get lost. They also come up with sob stories about what really is the cost of doing business. If you don’t like the buyer do not sell to him but do not judge their buying pier, just continue to cater to a more well of population. 

A puppy is not a purse or a phone, or a grocery for a week. That’s correct. A puppy is a recurring expense, especially at the beginning. 4 visits to the vet for vax - $400, treatment of giardia that came from a breeder - $300, food - addl $100 a month, pet insurance - addl $45 a month, puppy class - $300 for six weeks, boarding - $80 - 100 per day, emergency fund - $100 a month, and so on. Having a puppy is a major responsibility and it has to be budgeted. Maybe it’s better to educate buyers on their potential costs of owning a puppy and not on what the breeder is spending since it’s pretty irrelevant to a client. 

Here, I said it, now I will be banned


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## Bearshandler (Aug 29, 2019)

Actually come to think of it? I know of some dogs you might like in Southern California if you’re local to the area.


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## gtaroger (Aug 4, 2015)

My 2 1/2 year old daughter was raised with a GSD and they bonded very quickly. He was gentle with her . Maybe we were lucky.He slept on the floor at the foot of her bed for 12 years.Good luck.


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## Sabis mom (Mar 20, 2014)

Pawsed said:


> Please reconsider buying a German Shepherd puppy for your 2 year old child. That is just a recipe for disaster.
> 
> These puppies have razor sharp teeth and the only way they learn about the world is to bite, everything and everyone, including your 2 year old. They are not sweet and cuddly pups like some other breeds.
> 
> ...


I sort of disagree with this. I was raised with dogs. My kids were raised with dogs.
My basic idea was that if it didn't require a trip to the ER then work it out amongst yourselves. I think parents are way too panicky and kids are wimps today. A scrape, a scratch, a bruise are just life. Kids and puppies survive and are the better for it.


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

GSD07 said:


> I agree with the above advice. What I disagree with is when breeders start judging buyers based on their financial state and start telling that $500 is nothing so just get lost. They also come up with sob stories about what really is the cost of doing business. If you don’t like the buyer do not sell to him but do not judge their buying pier, just continue to cater to a more well of population.
> 
> A puppy is not a purse or a phone, or a grocery for a week. That’s correct. A puppy is a recurring expense, especially at the beginning. 4 visits to the vet for vax - $400, treatment of giardia that came from a breeder - $300, food - addl $100 a month, pet insurance - addl $45 a month, puppy class - $300 for six weeks, boarding - $80 - 100 per day, emergency fund - $100 a month, and so on. Having a puppy is a major responsibility and it has to be budgeted. Maybe it’s better to educate buyers on their potential costs of owning a puppy and not on what the breeder is spending since it’s pretty irrelevant to a client.
> 
> Here, I said it, now I will be banned


Yeah, I said it. I said that $500 isn't anything. And I said some of what goes into raising puppies. In the past 15 years, I have haven't had one year where my loss wasn't at least 15k. And I am sick and tired of people complaining about how breeders are all about the money. When in fact, we swallow the losses so much that to have the audacity to mention them, we get scathing remarks about how it is irrelevant to buyers. It shouldn't be irrelevant. If you are expecting health certifications, and titles, championship points, some form of work with the dog -- well all of that means you should be willing to pay a LOT more for your puppy. 

Judging people for what they claim to have for the purchase of a dog? What if she said $25? Would it be ok, then to say, you're not being realistic?


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## dogma13 (Mar 8, 2014)

Nobody is complaining about price on this thread. We can educate without being demeaning and give alternate suggestions.


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

I wasn't being demeaning, I was saying that if you have $500 for a puppy, put it in the bank and go to a shelter. Because as GSD07 points out, the purchase price is only the beginning of the cost of a puppy, whether you get it from a breeder or a shelter. What can you get for $500? You can pretty much support your local BYB, which just encourages them to breed again and again, cutting every corner there is. Or, you can put the money in the bank and pay $25 to $50 to buy a puppy from a shelter, and then you have some money in the bank for the vet visits, or unexpected expenses, like when the puppy swallows a sock and you rush it to the ER.


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## dogma13 (Mar 8, 2014)

GSD07 and Selzer if you would take a look at the posts from Fodder,mnm, and Pawsed please. Education along with empathy for a newbie. We were all naive regarding GSD ownership at the beginning.
My particular impatience tries to scream to the surface in the biting threads.Geez not _another_ one:-( But new folks won't stick around to acquire knowledge and skills if we're overly harsh.


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## GSD07 (Feb 23, 2007)

Thank you, I did and I said that I agreed with the above advice to the OP but disagreed with the breeders counting their buyers money and telling them how to spend it. Please feel free to remove my posts if they offend anyone. Thanks.


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## dogma13 (Mar 8, 2014)

Diplomacy with newbies in the future would be great


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## Bearshandler (Aug 29, 2019)

selzer said:


> Yeah, I said it. I said that $500 isn't anything. And I said some of what goes into raising puppies. In the past 15 years, I have haven't had one year where my loss wasn't at least 15k. And I am sick and tired of people complaining about how breeders are all about the money. When in fact, we swallow the losses so much that to have the audacity to mention them, we get scathing remarks about how it is irrelevant to buyers. It shouldn't be irrelevant. If you are expecting health certifications, and titles, championship points, some form of work with the dog -- well all of that means you should be willing to pay a LOT more for your puppy.
> 
> Judging people for what they claim to have for the purchase of a dog? What if she said $25? Would it be ok, then to say, you're not being realistic?


This is a question that gets asked here a lot. What is the cost of a breeding to you, from the tie to 8 weeks?


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

Really, the cost of breeding pales in the heartache that we experience.Anyway, this person's thread is no place for it.


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## dojoson41 (Oct 14, 2018)

Dogs ARE expensive after you bought it(hundreds of dollars for food($30-$70 for a 25/50 pound bag) and vet per year and your son may be to young for that type of dog plus time consuming( will YOU have time and Patience with both)? Maybe get a cat instead for now to start. This is like when your kids want a pony and bugs you forever UNTILL you ask the local stable to put the kid to work cleaning stalls/food/water in the winter-thats when the kid losses interest in pony because its work to own a pet.


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## Galathiel (Nov 30, 2012)

I personally think a dog is a better bet for a child than a cat. It would be better if the dog was older as a puppy does have sharp little needles in its mouth hehe. Cats/kittens also have claws and cannot and oftentimes will not tolerate the heavy handedness that sometimes comes with young children.


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## anarcee (Oct 21, 2020)

Maybe adopt from shelter or rescue if $500 is your budget. Puppies from reputable breeders are expensive because it takes a lot of money to raise a litter of puppies.


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