| Normal First Year Costs |
| Food | $200 - $1200 |
| Veterinary care: | |
| Checkups and vaccines | $150 - 250 |
| Fleas, heartworm preventives | $80 |
| Neuter | $80 - $250 |
| Oh no, he's limping! | $25 - $800 |
| Egad, he ate my panty hose! | $25 - $2500 |
| He's scratching! | $25 - $500 |
| License, AKC, local, microchip | $50 |
| Obedience class | $75 |
| Supplies: | |
Dog bowls, leash, collars,
unused dog bed, baby gate, etc | $150 - $500 |
| Toys | $50 - $500 (trust me) |
| Replacement for chewed rug/chair/etc | $? |
| New vacuum | $150 - ? |
| Better air conditioning/more servicing | $? |
| Fencing | $200-$5000 |
| New car for big dogs | $? |
| New house with bigger yard | $? |
| Costs of Genetic Diseases |
| (which reputable breeders work to minimize - ask us how!) |
| Hip Dysplasia (one hip) | $1000-$4000 for diagnosis and surgery |
| Elbow Dysplasia (one elbow) | $1000-$4000 for diagnosis and surgery |
| Entropion | $1000-$2000 for surgery to correct eyelid problem (can lead to blindness if left uncorrected, sometimes takes multiple surgeries) |
| Sub-aortic Stenosis | $800 for diagnosis
$3500 or more for heart surgery |
| von Willebrand's | $65 for blood test prior to surgery,
$100 for transfusion if vWD positive |
| Total: Purchase price + $1260 to $11,855 for a healthy wellbred pup for just the first year. As much as an additional $14,465 for all of the genetic based problems. (It would be very unusual to have all of these problems, one or two do occur in one dog with some frequency). |
| Costs to a Breeder: |
| Elbow & Hip xrays | $150 - $450 |
| CERF (eye test) | $35 |
| Heart test | $40 - $300 |
| Von Willebrand's test | $99 |
| DNA profiling | $40 |
| Championship | $500 - $3000 |
| Cost per litter | $1500 - $5000+ |
| Planning a breeding includes many other costs, in time and emotional efforts. Puppies kept for potential breeding that didn't measure up to that breeder's standards. For conscientious breeders, money is not made on puppies. They do it to try to produce better and healthier Berner puppies. |
Figures courtesy of Pat Long.
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