Cost of breeding

Long time breeder. Love my dogs. I have never claimed to be making money or breaking even. I have always invested in quality dogs and invested in quality health testing. I have always focused on breeding what I love and having a good loose network of people who will take an occasional puppy. I’d say I produce 3-5 litters a year. <br><br>I’ve been struggling to keep up with the cost of things lately. I’ve been trying to figure out just what I’m spending and I’m wondering what others are spending and if I’m over paying for things or what.<br><br>The average litter I have is 5-6 babies <br><br>To have a litter I’m paying:<br>10-15k for a stud<br>2-3k for prog and ultrasound<br>1.5-3k for c-section<br><br>lets call that an average of 16k<br><br>Then for the puppies:<br><br>10-13k for 5-6 full panel genetic tests<br>1-2k for full puppy vetting and shots<br>2-3k for progesterone ultrasounds and c-sections are totally out of my control. That’s just the path that I’m on. <br><br>The genetic testing is absolutely modular and I’d love to hear your thoughts. <br><br>That’s an average of 19k per litter. <br><br>That’s a full 35k per litter. Thats 5-6 babies at 6-7k a puppy. I know people make more selling dogs than that but this is a crazy amount to me. I don’t even have to pay for food or shelter for these dogs because I have a great home and a great network.<br><br>I know some people test for just the modular diseases for their breed but I don’t want to loose anything. I want to be sure I’m not passing anything down. I’d love to hear about your budgeting and spending and and where you think I could cut back.