Starting Point Stud “Setting Stud Price”

NEG's King James in his infamous side shot

The goal of any stud owner is to have a stud that produces. The ability to produce equivalent to himself is where he is judged, and the truly special studs will out produce themselves time and time again with a variety of females. This is a goal, but this goal comes with a price, and where that price starts is often what has the owner of these males stumped.

The fact is no stud is free and a price is often dictated by what someone else is willing to pay for it. The easy answer is to start your stud at the cost in which you purchased him, but the truth is your first time stud dog is not his father, in fact he’s unproven. This term “unproven” is where people try to get exceptional… for a discount. As a stud dog owner, I have never liked the term unproven. Here’s the logic, I consider myself an educated buyer, I purchased or created a stud with knowledge of his pedigree, and with the expectation that he creates my future generation of studs. So an opening fee isn’t necessarily a discount to see what he can do, it’s a rate for those that believe in not only the dog, but the owner's knowledge of what he should create from the beginning.

So, what is a good starting price for a stud? The answer comes down to the goals of the owner. Do you want your stud to make a difference in a breed, or a difference in your lifestyle? The answer can be both, a successful stud is going to impact his breed, and for

Time Bomb Bullies Papi is one of Ohio's best French Bulldog studs

doing so is going to make money for his owner. There is no shame in charging a stud

s worth, after all the owner of the bitch he is being bred to is going to charge for his

offspring. There is always business in dogs and the sooner a stud owner embraces this fact, the better off he will serve his stud.

The general starting price should be what you expect his puppies to sell for, a general rule is to set it at the cost of a first pick puppy. If you feel that that’s too high of a price, do you even believe in your stud dog yourself?

Future article- When to raise the price of your stud?

Stay tuned to your K9 Stud source for future articles!