The American Beagler Forum

How much would you pay for a 2-3 yr old male with a pedigree of your liking - great confirmation ,
teeth , legs ect ... and the ability you desire ?

By the "Ability you desire" lets just say better all around than your best hound .

$450-$500. No higher, but has to have every characteristic that I like and want in a dog.

Honestly I know that I couldn't afford to purchase a top notch hound. They are well out of my league and worth it. Not complaining......just know I am too poor LOL.

Having raised many pups into hunting dogs and knowing the time involved I believe $800-$1,000 is reasonable. If your talking about a dog that has his Field Champion Title you can double or triple that price. I personally dont purchase finished dogs because the training aspect is so rewarding but if your someone that works all the time and doesnt have the time you should be able to afford paying for a good one. At this price the trainer is not making much if the necessary time was put into the pup.

When buying a hound for this price I would expect a 30 day trial and would run the dog 15+ times to make sure its what I wanted. Thats the advantage of buying is seeing the finished product. One or two times in the woods is usually not enough to see everything. I would want to see the dog run in tough snow especially if your a hunter. I have met guys that paid $1000 for a hound in the summer only to find out the dog couldnt run below 25 deg. Lastly, a basic vet check might be in order, depending on how well you know the owner and his preventive med.

Rite on the money, mybeagles.....DH

being as i have 2 i wouldnt sell for a 1,000 .. i would have to say somewhere around that if i had the money extra to spend which i sure dont right now .!

I have paid more than 1000 for a really nice hound , but still he did'nt have everything that it takes for me to call him perfect , If I for sure found what I thought was the perfect hound I would go to the bank and take out a loan .

Well its all depends what I do to make the money.I am a produce farmer and to go out and pick produce and money come hard.Not much maybe $400 .But money that comes easy and lots of it.I would not stop at 15,000.Go hunting and trialing every weekend.

500 - 10000 if it was the right one it would have to be a male to get the money back in studd fees just think reggie he has made a lot of studd money in the last few years

We don't think anything of paying 15,000 plus for a hunting truck, 1,000 for shocking collars, 1,500 for tracking outfit, 25 per 50 lbs of dog feed and high priced gas so we can hunt and/or field trial. If I could start over, I would spend most of my money on a hound the quality of "Plowboy's Bossman" and some top females and would gradually work myself up with the hunting equipment. I know several guys that have all the nice equipment and run 20 dollar hounds. Notice that I did not include a shotgun as my dad gave me one 52 yrs. ago. Bottom Line, a top hound is worth as much as I can borrow. When I was raising kids, I couldn't afford anything but 20 dollar dogs.

Well put Lowell.
I was on an Archery Elk Hunt out west. Sitting on a stump I started adding up all my equipment, clothes, bow, etc. and thought man hope no one steals me.
The really good dogs are seldon ever for sale. Hard to put a price tag on something thats hard to replace!!!

Most people who call me wanting a dog like that say they are willing to go a high as A HUNDRED DOLLARS!

I could never afford a top notch hound.
I see what some are selling for, and I don't consider them "top notch" because they don't suit me.
I know I wouldn't afford that, if the dog did suit me.

If I found the perfect dog, I would spend as much as I could afford.

That is as hard to put a price on as a member of the family. I can't afford one either, so I raise pups and train them and keep them but will never have that kind of hound unless I get one that is a pup. Think about what you have in training one to 3 years of age, not counting trialing expenses. I saw in an eastern Ky trade magazine that a guy had one for sale for 150. He must be the same guy that calls me and Larry G every October 30th wanting a top notch male for 100. I actually sold some mediocre hounds to some of those people until I found out that they had miserable lives because the losers that call on Oct. 30 are clueless and have no morals concerning living creatures. Buddy, I don't have a good answer to your question but considering what I read on this board, I think I will have to respectfully disagree with my beagling brothers that say anything less than 1000.

Its funny how many will say they cant afford $1000 for a dog, yet year after year they will buy $100-$200 pups. Spend $400-$500 a year on food for all these crap eaters. Have plenty of frustrations dealing with the low quality breedings they get pups from. Im not certain guys like myself that spend the bulk of our time training pups wouldnt be farther ahead buying finished dogs. I just love working with pups and after a dog is mostly finished I start to loose interest when they have nothing new to show. I think it has more to do with perspective than $$$.