How Much Should You Spend To Buy A Dog?

Some people may question why anyone would want to buy a purebred dog when there are some great dogs available inexpensively at animal shelters

. Is there such a thing as spending too much money on a dog? The answer to that question will depend on who you ask, why you want a dog, what you intend to do with your dog, and, to some extent, how much you spend.

If you want a dog for a special purpose, such as for hunting, herding, showing, police work, or some other specialized field, then that dog is the result of the work of dedicated breeders. They have likely tested their dogs for genetic health problems, spent a great deal of time studying pedigrees, and tried to choose the best dogs to produce the kind of dog you want. Dogs like this are expensive for a reason. They cost a lot of money to produce.

If you want a healthy purebred dog from a good breeder, then that person has likely done many of the things that the person in the first category has done. They have also tested their dogs for health problems. They have studied pedigrees and tried to choose good dogs to produce healthy puppies. These dogs can also be expensive because, again, breeders have invested a lot of money in producing these dogs.

If you are simply looking for a good pet and you don't care about his background or whether he has instincts for herding or digging foxes out of holes, then you can find a good dog at your local animal shelter. However, it has to be said that you will probably not know anything about the health history of the dog that you buy there. You won't know if his father was dysplastic or if his mother had progressive retinal dysplasia. When you get a dog at the animal shelter you are buying an unknown quantity.

There are also times when you are buying an unknown quantity from a purebred dog breeder. If you buy a dog from a breeder who advertises in the newspaper or a dog from a pet store then, most of the time, those dogs come from parents who have not had any health testing before breeding. If you buy from these sources you should ask what kind of genetic health testing has been done. These dogs may cost less than purebred dogs from the best breeders (though not always), but they do not come with the kind of health guarantees that good breeders can provide. These dogs can be prone to having the health problems that are common in their breeds.

So, yes, you can spend too much money on a dog, whether you buy from a breeder or get your dog at an animal shelter, if you buy a dog who ultimately gets sick and causes you to spend a fortune at the vet. Wherever you get your dog you should try to find out as much as you can about potential health problems. It's great to try to help a dog at a shelter but it's even better to bring home a healthy puppy, and that can mean buying a well-bred puppy from a good breeder.

by: Tristan Andrews

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