The prices for dogs have gotten out of hand - Page 1

Ok so I have been bored and have been looking all over the net reading up on dogs and I come across various breeders sites and see protection dogs ranging in price from $30,000 to $100,000 and up. 

Someone please tell me what makes these dogs so great??  I mean these expensive dogs have to be doing something that I must not be able to comprehend.  I know we have a lot of breeders and trainers on this forum, so Jenni, Hans and others, are these dogs just THAT much better than what you guys offer??

I just caught a clip of steven segals lawman where he was training german shepherds.  He had a trainer come in from some company called CPI.  Man the dogs on this guys website cost as much as a brand new Mercedes fully loaded.  What stuck out to me was the training involved.  Call me crazy but I had no idea that you could train a dog in "advanced fighting skills".  What do they know other than biting??  Ninjitsu??  I am serious they advertise that they teach a dog "advnced combatitive strategies".  Are these dogs the Navy SEALS of dogs?  One thing that stands out is that you can't see the dogs pedigree.  Where are they getting their dogs from that no one else in the world can get them from and produce such trained assassins on 4 legs?

www.protectiondogs.com

Months ago when I started looking at dogs I thought this wwas what people paid for PP dogs.  I see now after research and months later there is absolutely no need to pay that kind of money for a dog.

Here is the Steven Segal clip.  I know I am being kind of funny but I seriously want to know.  WHat makes these places so much better than say breeders and trainers on this site in some peoples eyes??

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBIiZLIrH-E&feature=player_embedded

One word Ace.

MARKETING!

2 words really....Marketing/uneducated (buyers)

Lasso Vom Neuen Berg

He went for what he did because he was VA1 and the guy wanted the best.


More power to him, but that was real money for a dog. 

If i had the money to waste i would buy just too see if they have anything worthy....

Personally i think it is a con!

They are that price because people are willing to pay it.

Me, I'd rather get a really nice working line dog and spend money on training and trialing.  I wouldn't say the prices have gotten out of hand, because the prices in the niche you are quoting are not really effecting the prices and practices of "normal" breed and sport enthusiasts.  Maybe I'm wrong but I don't see those "executive protection" dog prices driving up prices for quality working line puppies.

 Ace, I would put my dogs up against 99% of the mediocre, midnight-trialed showline SchH dogs that these companies sell as "executive level protection" dogs. I left that 1% in there just for good measure, lol. I have watched most of  their videos, and they are excellent! For entertainment, that is. LOL  

More power to them, really. I mean, let's face it; the people who have the money to spend on a $80,000 dog for their family typically don't have any idea how to handle them, and wouldn't want to break a nail doing so anyway. So, the easiest route is to take a big, pretty SL dog that people who don't know any better would be afraid of, and put a few SchH titles on it, whether the dog deserves them or not. And I'm not saying that all of them are undeserving, but to sell them as manstoppers is at best, misleading. The people whose lifestyles allow a dog of that price don't want to be bothered with what you have to do to keep a true PPD. So, the companies that rhyme with words like "Barrison" provide what they can handle and charge them an arm and a leg for their false peace of mind.

I agree that a true PPD is worth his/her weight in gold. And if I were to have one to sell (I only have an adults occasionally), I would definitely charge more for it, based upon training hours and expenses incurred. I do not train PPDs professionally; I have no help. I can start a dog for finishing in that direction, and I would charge more for this, as it means raising a pup for several additional months to be sure it has what it takes and is raised in a manner that facilitates future use as a PPD, but I cannot fathom being able to sleep at night charging someone more than what some people earn in a year for a dog. 

I was considering holding back a few pups from each litter and starting them in various things for the people who want a pup but would prefer less of a gamble temperamentally. I'd housebreak them, get them started in basic OB, have more time to test them in various enviroments, etc, maybe have hip/elbow prelims done, and I wondered what would be fair to charge for these older pups. By my estimations and comparisons, I'd think they'd have to be worth $50,000, right? LMAO

Good ol marketing and nothing seperates these dogs from one that was way cheaper.
I just wanted to be sure b/c people sometimes ask me and I like to be accurate in relaying information.

I guess that mareting work the same way on a lot of things.  Get 2 pair of shoes that are exactly the same and mark one at $100 and another at $500 and put in 2 seperate stores and many will perceive the higher price one to be of better quality.

Jenni...You have to be tempeted at some point to want to charge that much for a dog...lol  How long does a person continually see people purchase dogs at these prices before they say, "hell if you can't beat them join them?"  Not saying you try to beat them or anything but you see there is a market of people willing to pay that kind of money.  I see that the puppies are $3500!!
I certainly understand training, upkeep/care of the dog certainly increasing the price but these are certainly up there.

Liesgers...you are right and I wonder why they don't drive up the prices of working dogs in general.  But you can say you do start seeing puppies now at $2500 a pop where I am sure that wasn't common say even 5 years ago.

Wrestleman - It is said that a fool & his money are soon parted.....

 It's not really tempting, Ace. The dogs I breed couldn't go into those same homes and stay there, so it's not tempting at all, really. If I bred dogs that would fit in with the mentality of the people who pay that much, then maybe, but I can't say; I'd have to be a totally different person to do that. 

I have been told a few times that my puppies are sold too cheaply, when you compare them to the "average" working line quality pup. Mine have all been out of V rated parents w/KKL1s.I'm picky about structure and temperament and refuse to breed for the trend of super high prey and to hell with the rest of it; who cares if they look like washed out coyotes and couldn't discern a real threat if it bit them on the butt. 

My import litter cost me a fortune. I was told I should've raised the price on them to help cover my costs. I didn't, because the RIGHT home for the dog isn't always the home with the most money. True, I needed the money badly- I had pregnancy complications and was on modified bedrest unable to work- but I actually ended up letting SEVEN people make payments on pups. They were the right homes for those pups and that's the most important thing. Not one of them screwed me, BTW. 

I don't think $3500 is so astronomical for an older pup well started in a discipline, esp. if hips and elbows have been prelim'd clear, but $3500 for an 8wk old is a bit ridiculous.