Gosh, Cheryl -- Not sure if you really meant what you wrote, but you sure
have offended some people -- including me. The statement about who you sell
your dogs to came across as outright snobbery....really got my hackles up.
If I were breeding Cavaliers today, I would use the same principles I
used when I bred cockers and goldens: the puppies were sold for what I felt
was a fair asking price (based on the going rate of the breed, the costs I
incurred to test and produce healthy puppies, and the quality of the
individual puppies) and sold to people who would make the best owners of my
puppies that I could find. Selling puppies -- any breed puppy -- to
high-paid professionals does not guarantee a good home for the puppy. I'd
personally rather sell a puppy to someone who had saved and sacrificed to
purchase the breed of dog they wanted: I'd bet they'd have a better chance
of really appreciating the dog once it becomes theirs and less likely to
"throw it away" when it became a nuisance.
You wrote: <...If they can't afford to buy a Cavalier then they
can always drop down and get another breed....>
That statement, IMHO, smacks of the old snobby "If you have to ask
what the gas consumption is for this Rolls Royce you obviously can't afford
it...and should consider a lessor model vehicle." If someone WANTS a
Cavalier and would be a good Cavalier owner, even if they can't afford a
top-dollar show prospect puppy, they should still be treated with respect and
courtesy...you NEVER know.
When my husband and I were affluent fine art dealers, selling to some
of the top American art collectors (and a few museums) in the country, we had
a rule: we'd be polite and courteous to EVERYONE who came into our gallery.
This philosophy sure paid off. We were nice to a major collector/museum
benefactor when he came in on his way back from the garden center (saw a
painting in our window and loved it): he bought thousands of dollars of art.
We were nice to the local garbage hauler: he bought thousands of dollars of
art - and paid cash. We were nice to a local teacher: he bought one painting
a year, took all year to pay it off, then promptly bought another (and
usually slightly more expensive painting), again taking a year to pay it off.
He bought paintings this way for over 12 years. Who loved their paintings
more: the teacher! And I'm not talking inexpensive paintings: we had a
few in the gallery that had stickers of $5,000 - $8,000 on them. Most were
$15,000 and up...way up to mid-six figures.
You wrote: <....I personally have no problem asking top dollar for my
puppies as I know how much work I put into raising a litter, not to mention
covering all the expenses of advertising, vet, food and phone bills. ...>
And I personally have no problem with breeders who ask top dollar
(even if I am unable or unwilling to pay that for a pet puppy). I know that
breeders have lots of expenses and that Cavaliers usually have small litters
so that it becomes difficult to recoup the costs associated with a litter.
I also think you have every right to price your puppies at whatever level you
want (just as we priced our painting inventory based on not just what we may
have paid for them at auction but what we thought they were worth to us).
I'm just grateful that there are some breeders out there who have --
or hopefully will -- sell me a pet puppy bitch for less than top-dollar
because they know she will go to a great loving home and they're not out to
make a fortune selling puppies. Of, if that doesn't happen, that I'm
fortunate enough to be able to save money to purchase another puppy when the
time is right for us.
So, Cheryl, I know your dogs are beautiful, and I'm sure you do love
and care about them and where your puppies go....I just think you perhaps
unintentionally offended a LOT of people on this list and on the Hoflin List
with your statements about who you sell your puppies to and why you price
them the way you do.
Lynn Beman
Amherst NY
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