Can you imagine how the bitch felt! LOL
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That one was a show quality Cane Corso with both parents grand championed and multiple obedience and sports titles on mom, dad, and grandparents. I’ve seen $3500-$5500 depending on the breeder (with show lines and working titles), and you really have to research because there are quite a few crappy breeders. Pet quality is less.
That makes sense. I don’t think they are very common, and I’ll bet they don’t have large litters. That makes a really big difference in price. In my breed, a litter of 5-7 is average. 8-10 is not uncommon at all. 10+ is less likely but we all know people who have had litters that large. Litters under 5 are a disappointment.
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My girl was near the top end of the $ (most are around $3000+ for pets) but they are rare. I was really looking for some better breeding as when they are rare, they can be quite inbred. Most of the Swissys I saw on their data base had 20-30 Coefficient of Inbreeding. My girls father was imported from Russia to get some new blood in the US and Canada (he’s shared between 2 breeders. One in Ontario and one in MA). She has one of the lowest COI’s at 3.4 then I’ve seen for Swissys. I’m hoping for less health problems then, but of course, no guarantees.
I don’t mind paying a little extra for a well bred dog. I was hoping to show her as well as she is papered (CKC) and show quality (even had a pro handler all set up) but just really didn’t have the time. She’s just a pet for me (but my bestie lol!) and I have 0 regrets paying that for her, and I would do it again in a heartbeat. I know all won’t agree.
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I have no issue with paying more for a well bred puppy. Within the next couple years I’ll be looking for a GSP pup. It’s a common breed, but that also mean there are lots of poorly bred dogs out there. I’ll be looking for a pup from parents who are ideally titled in the show ring and are proven hunters, either on wild birds or have done some testing (NAVHDA or AKC/CKC hunt tests). And obviously with appropriate temperaments and health clearances.
It costs money and it’s time consuming for breeders to acquire and train dogs for their breeding programs. And for every dog that made it into that program an honest breeder will have had some washouts, not every dog is worth breeding even if we love them.
I’ve got a handful of breeders on my radar within a ten hour drive. Lots, maybe most average dog owners would think that’s crazy. Drive ten hours and pay a few thousand for a pup when there’s probably a litter of GSPs within 30 minutes of my house at any given time for $500-800? Umm ya, I don’t need to end up with an off the wall mentally unhinged dog that might also break down physically in a few years.
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I hear ya! I was super lucky on where I live as there are 4 breeders in all of Ontario, and my girl was only a couple of hours away. But they ship their pups all over Canada and the US, but luckily all I had to do was drive a short distance 
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My breeder drove her entire litter from St. Louis to NJ. Four of us met her at another breeder’s home to evaluate the litter and make selections (mine was the only male so I knew he was mine, but the others were selecting the best show quality bitch puppies from the pet quality ones.) Very tough decisions! I think they were all nice so it didn’t really matter.
But, it was really nice not to have to make that drive to STL myself! Probably could have found a way to get him transported at least part of the way. That can be an option if you (or the breeder) have connections - a lot of breeders and/or show handlers routinely drive for shows and will help each other out.
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@DiamondJubilee @S1969 I’m hopeful that when I’m actually looking (we’re a one dog household and current 10yo pup was still game to skijor a couple miles yesterday 
) that there will be a litter close by.
Years ago when my mom was still active trialing and testing her labs she used a nice stud from New Jersey. About half the pups from the first litter went to NJ via contacts of the studs owner, the following year almost the entire litter went to the US. We’re up in Ontario but my Dad was a pilot with his own small plane so he ended up flying the pups himself.
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