BigGameHoundsmen.com

The best thing you can do is hunt a $50 pup right along side of a $500 pup and get rid of the one you don't like.

I've paid decent money for pups and got some for free. Generally I'll give the higher priced ones (or ones out or execptional stuff) more time, but they either make it or they don't. If it's from a family of dogs I've been around a lot, you can usually tell if they've got the right stuff early on because you've seen how others in that line have progressed.

I don't breed pups to make a buck, but to get more dogs when I need them. If we ever have any leftover pups, we'll sell them for a couple hundred dollars to people we don't know. I don't like giving away cheap pups to someone I don't know will give the pup a fair shake. If a hunting buddy wants one, we figure out the cost of the litter and split it up. Then when they have a litter, we'll get one from them.

I'd rather get pups in the hands of good hunters, than just somebody with a couple hundred dollars. Except for a select few, hounds are a losing financial proposition from the get go.

I think the better question is, how much does a good well breed pup go for? i mean after you do you homework on the dogs you want, drive thousands of miles to get it, hunt it ass off to make sure you got your moneys worth and to see if its even worth breeding, search for a good male, drive the thousands of miles again to breed her, pay the stud fee and raise them pups and see if was worth your time and effort and after all that, (hopefully it does) how much do you charge for that pup? you know you could always look on Craigslist they seem to have some CHEAP hounds on there sometimes.

I dont sell many pups, as 500 is a cheap price for proven lines, for what you are hunting, style, and area . I would rather sell them as finished dogs, and if you have the right genetics they make natural finished dogs easily. my point exactly. You can make a collie run most things if you stick enough time and effort in it. I'm not sure I have ever had a cheap or free pup fit me, and if it did, your chances of breeding for your future line, with a high percent of turn out of pups is very slim. I've seen a lot of time and money wasted, trying the cheap route, including myself. My last thought of this, I have a lot of years, hunting, dogs, gas, breedings, and I'm going to get paid for passing my knowledge of my line on. LOL.

ive personally seen 6 dogs from 2 different hi dollar breeders that were bought as pups raised and trained the right way only to get there asses beat by grade or 100 dollar pups consistently . i bought into the hype when i was young so did 2 of my friends.. not anymore !you just got to know what your looking for . just because a guy doesnt charge big bucks for a pup doesnt mean he isnt producing some top notch stock.if guys can get big bucks for their pups more power to them ,but it wont be from me or my friends as we have already gone that route . dogs arent machinery so the more you pay doesnt mean the more you get. im into hounding because i love it not because it profits me .id have alot more money if i didnt have hounds !

I think that the red flag should be "breeders". Puppy factories have never set out to produce anything but money. Just because a dog isn't a papered dog doesn't mean that dog is any less able to produce game, and therefore, be worth the money. Outside of some CRAZY coon dog prices for papered dogs, grade dirt lion dogs tend to fetch the most money. Years ago after Dale Lee quit hunting, he turned down $7500.00 for Joe, his lead dog. That dog came from Terrell Shelley as a pup - out of grade dogs. A man in Payson, Az sold a grade lion dog for $15,000.00 quite a few years ago to a guy in TX. I know these are grown dogs, but if they are out of proven lines, and therefore that valuable as adult dogs, why wouldn't they be worth $500.00 - $1000.00 as pups? If someone has put the time and effort into a certain goal, and reached that goal, why not as the buyer, be willing to pay for a short cut to reach your goals?

i guess what im trying to say in short form is if two guys are raising the same caliber of dogs but one is charging a 1000 for a pup and the other is charging 200 . which one you gonna go with? i think its a no brainer .

Everyone has a valied point. We all no that hunting hounds in a sport were there is no money to made. You have to pay for collars, kennels, vets, food, transportation, and a lot of others. So if you are producing a good line of dogs why don't we help each other out. You shouldn't have to pay for all your hunting supplies with the pups. If there are 8 pups at 500 each that $4000. You can't say you got that in the litter it's self.

This topic has been hashed and rehashed on here over and over. Guys should charge what other guys will pay...Simple enough I think. Business and commerce 101

I think that is the point of the original post, Business and Commerce. Like I stated I have paid alot for pups, but I understand why some people are amazed at the price tag on some pups. I gave pups away, and these were pups out of the best dogs I have to offer. I would rather see them go to good hunters that want to try one of the pups out of my main dogs. I have also had very good hunters give me pups out of outstanding dogs.

I do not believe that papered dogs are better than grade dogs. I will also give a free pup just as much effort as an expensive one. I think if you are looking for an exceptional dog, you shouldn't be concerned with how much the puppy cost. There are guys out there catching alot of game that have never paid more than a couple hundred bucks for a dog. I take free ones, cheap ones, and expensive ones. Just has to be one I want to try. I am selective on what I want to try, but if I really want to try a certain line of dog, I will pay big money for it.

Sorry Brady, some of us haven't been on here since the dawn of time. I haven't seen this topic hashed and rehashed.

I've often wondered when seeing these high priced puppies and people willing to pay $5-600 a pup, what are most of the breeders going to do with the entire litter if WE as consumers decide not to pay that price? They will either
A) keep all the pups break them and sell them or hunt them if they have the time space and feed
B) be forced to sell at a cheaper price because they need the money, dont need 10 pups, and cant afford to keep all
C) Refuse to sell for a more reasonable price, cull the pups, loose even more money, and not breed agian until THEY want a pup
D) not sure on option D so insert your Idea here

That the great thing about economics, we as buyers can help control prices on certian things. No we cannot make gas cheaper bc we have to buy it for daily life, but we could make pups cheaper by a boycott of high prices, and breeding/raising your own.
I realize some guys sell pups to cover the price of raising them, but how much money is in a 6 week old pup? ive raised plenty so be serious, dont say $500. You cant include the price you paid for the parents or anything like that, becuase you bought/raised them to hunt, puppys are a fringe benifit.
I figure when I ween one at 6 weeks old, I have invested in that litter:

Worm medicine (pyrantol pomoate) $22
1 puppy shot per pup $4 depending on where you buy it, I pay 4
2-3 bags of puppy chow $20 a bag or so
1 bag Powdered milk $20 a bag or so
and time of handling, playing with, caring for ...thats free bc I do it with all my dogs daily

Any older than that and the money adds up to more but not $1000. I cannot fathom selling a 6week old freshly weaned puppy for $500 when I have about $25-30, and feeling good about myself, even if it is a world burner, even if he has loads of potentail bred in. hell he might stick his head/nose in the first creek he sees and drown himself, I had a buddy buy a beagle that did that once. At the end of the day all you can gauruntee a man is that he will eat and poop and live til you get him out the driveway.

When I raise pups what I dont keep I give away to the guys I hunt with or guy who I know who have expressed interest. Im in it to get me some more decent dogs, not to make money. If a man cant come get the dog until he is 3 months old, or i dont give him away until then, guess what he will eat everyday at my house, get wormed, and have all his shots, his price is still free. I drove several hundred miles bought 2 pups off proven bloodline for $250 a peice, and got a free grade puppy from another guy a week later. Anyone care to guess which still lives and hunts with my pack, the free one, he turned out, the others didnt.
I will never pay more than $50 dollar for a puppy agian, I can raise my own that suit, or get one from my buddies who hunt the same way that suit, that feel the same way about puppy prices.
I personally think yall are crazy for paying those prices, but as my grandpa always said Everyone to their own said the woman when she kissed the cow!
Happy hunting

I agree with PERK.

Well said Benny G
Perks ??'s
.A) keep all the pups break them and sell them or hunt them if they have the time space and feed -- answer-yes most guys do it for themselves first
B) be forced to sell at a cheaper price because they need the money, dont need 10 pups, and cant afford to keep all - answer-- NO
C) Refuse to sell for a more reasonable price, cull the pups, loose even more money, and not breed agian until THEY want a pup ---not breed again till they need more or have alot of guys who do[word gets around quick on the proven crosses].
Tim 541-912-6464

Perk you make some good points although I don't agree with all of them. The beautiful thing about these hounds of ours is we can all do it our way and what suits us. Some of the best dogs I've seen were free crossbreds and I've seen some barn burnin expensive dogs too...to each his own.

Good puppy buying to all

Not trying to redirect the thread but have question.
Do you guys think that if someone is paying a high dollar amount for a pup, the warranty should be better? After all it is proven crosses that bring in the better money. Of course I am aware of all the ways people can screw up a hound but if they were to give it a honest try and it still does not turn out, or a genetic flaw?
And I would think that a high dollar investment would carry a better warranty than say your run of the mill crosses. But just in my short dealings with hound purchasing, it seams that the guys that offer there pups for the premier price are a bit hesitant on a refund or replace.
Just a thought.

I've never heard of a warranty on pups. That doesn't mean that there haven't been some issued. As for me, I have made the same cross with a pair of my dogs three times. Some of those pups I have given away, some I have sold. To my knowlege, only one of those pups didn't do what it was intended to do. I told the young man to do away with that dog, and to come get one a year younger that I was keeping myself. I understand the different ideas and concerns voiced on here. All I can be responsible for are mine. If someone has a pup that came from me, I want to know how it does, I want to know the chances it was given, the way that it was handled, the overall setting that the pup was raised in to know if it was given the chance to excell, and then, how did it respond. If I don't give a pup a chance, how can I complain about anything,whether I paid more for that pup than anyone else has ever paid, or it was given to me for free. Just some of my thoughts.