Cost of a cocker puppy

[silly milly]

i would definately pay the £650 a good local breeder and show-er charges - top quality.     compare that to the £575.00 a very large well-known (unfortunatly) local pet superstore charges!  ps - we live in the manchester area so i bet you can guess who i mean!

i paid £75.00 for my first cocker 30 years ago!

[Jeanette]

i would definately pay the £650 a good local breeder and show-er charges - top quality.     compare that to the £575.00 a very large well-known (unfortunatly) local pet superstore charges!  ps - we live in the manchester area so i bet you can guess who i mean!

i paid £75.00 for my first cocker 30 years ago!

So would I - no doubt about that - just wondered whether the price had increased a lot in the last couple of years

[theshrew]

I paid £550 for Missy 18 months ago. I was looking to get her a Sister a few weeks ago prices were probably a average of £600 but swmbo said NOOOOOOOOOO 

Do you think if i ask her to marry me she might say yes to getting another cocker ?

[Nicola]

I have the 'cheap type' For a working Cocker pup it's usually around £450-550 although prices can skyrocket for champion-winner or champion-champion matings depending on the dogs.

I'm always shocked at the prices some breeds command these days, I've seen Chihuahuas and Pugs advertised at £1000+ and people who live on our old street paid £1500 for a French Bulldog last year

When I was looking (and bought) last year I paid £650 for my working cocker girl which was about average, in some cases the boys were adverstised at £600.  I definitely didn't see any at the £450-£550 mark.  Although I guess it could be geographically affected - I am in the south.

It does tend to be a bit cheaper up here in Scotland although I look on the main UK-wide gundog finding sites a couple of times a week just to see what's being sold, I was on yesterday and most 8 week old pups/litters were between £450-550, bitches usually being £50 more expensive. There are currently pups going for £375 Caoimhe was bred in NW England and bought by her first owner last March for £500, she's by a Championship winning sire out of a very well bred working bitch. It also depends who you're buying from though, the big kennels tend to charge more than working breeders/gamekeepers. 

[SkyeSue]

I have the "cheap" type too  When I got Chloe in June 08, most of the litters I enquired about were £350 for a dog, and £400 for a bitch. Chloe was £450. Even at that time, I noticed the prices were considerably higher south of the border for some reason 

[superscot]

Brea came in at £500 and a bargain at that 

[Karasmummy]

We paid £450 for Kara, he was selling KC reg. bitches for £450 / dogs £400

He was selling another litter non KC reg. at the same time for £300  (I think)

[hanandhen]

Henry was a bargain - £95 to the Dogs Trust. Can't say fairer than that

[xlynnx]

we paid £600 for Zoe in September 09 she is from good show lines (we are north of te border)

and she is worth every penny we saved up for  

[Claire7]

We paid for £450 for Breagha, she was born in August 2007.

[Jane S]

The show type puppies are between £650 - £800 now.    A well respected lady i know who shows/breeds recently sold her puppies for £800, although i must admit i was quite shocked at such a high price. 

Me too Price is always a tricky subject as I think some breeders just charge what they think they can get away with & others seem to have put their prices up to take into account the cost of the various health tests on the parents. Others don't do the health tests but still charge over £700 - it's a minefield to be sure so I can sympathise with anyone looking to buy a puppy and not sure what they should budget for. All I would say is don't pay a high price without evidence that the breeder really is a good one, doing all the right tests and breeding for the right reasons

[smartietopdog]

I paid £550 for Missy 18 months ago. I was looking to get her a Sister a few weeks ago prices were probably a average of £600 but swmbo said NOOOOOOOOOO 

Do you think if i ask her to marry me she might say yes to getting another cocker ?

For sure she'd let you have another then!!
 My first cocker was £120, about 11 years ago, as he was "mis marked" and was going to be killed. My beloved Chewitt, wouldn't have changed him for the world regardless of his backround.
Chops was £200 over 10 years ago, and we had to travel to Wlaes for that.
Smartie was £450 3 years ago, and again, I had to travel north (I'm south devon) for about 2 or so hours for her. Generally speaking, they are about £600 ish around here.

[Jeanette]

The show type puppies are between £650 - £800 now.    A well respected lady i know who shows/breeds recently sold her puppies for £800, although i must admit i was quite shocked at such a high price. 

Me too Price is always a tricky subject as I think some breeders just charge what they think they can get away with & others seem to have put their prices up to take into account the cost of the various health tests on the parents. Others don't do the health tests but still charge over £700 - it's a minefield to be sure so I can sympathise with anyone looking to buy a puppy and not sure what they should budget for. All I would say is don't pay a high price without evidence that the breeder really is a good one, doing all the right tests and breeding for the right reasons

What would be the difference between someone charging £800 and another charging £650-£700 for example if they both had the same health tests.   

[Nelly]

Hello. My little nell cost me 400 just before christmas. She should have been 500, but we had just had an awful experience with a seller in berkshire and i think nells breeder felt a little sorry for us and wouldnt accept the 500 price (which was amazingly kind of her). A lovely breeder in the next village to us sells her cockers for 350 and they are truly beautiful dogs (we see a few from her around here). When i was looking for nell i was amazed and confused by the price difference. I noticed that dogs down soiuth where far more expensive than in the north west??
xxx

[Ninasmum]

The show type puppies are between £650 - £800 now.    A well respected lady i know who shows/breeds recently sold her puppies for £800, although i must admit i was quite shocked at such a high price. 

Me too Price is always a tricky subject as I think some breeders just charge what they think they can get away with & others seem to have put their prices up to take into account the cost of the various health tests on the parents. Others don't do the health tests but still charge over £700 - it's a minefield to be sure so I can sympathise with anyone looking to buy a puppy and not sure what they should budget for. All I would say is don't pay a high price without evidence that the breeder really is a good one, doing all the right tests and breeding for the right reasons

What would be the difference between someone charging £800 and another charging £650-£700 for example if they both had the same health tests.   

Thats a tricky one Jeanette, because in some cases there is absolutely no difference.  If i was looking to buy a puppy with every possible health test carried out, with an extremely good pedigree, that i wanted to hopefully show, and was extremely happy with the puppies/mum living environment then, yes i would be quite happy to pay over £800.  If the puppy was purely for a family pet though, then i think this would be too much.  Although, of course it is still extremely important that you are happy generally with the breeder, mum/pups upbringing, health tests etc...i do think, as Jane said, it seems some breeders charge what they think they can get away with though.  And also play on the fact that most people looking for a puppy wouldn't dream of negotiating a price, and just accept the cost.  It really is a bloomin' minefield.