stud fee
 

I have a black lab male and I was wondering how much do most people charge to breed him with a female?
thanks

RE: stud fee
 

Stud fees are determined by the quality of the dog. Unfortunately, most dogs that are breed shouldn't be. A dog with an impeccable pedigree and/or one that is proven in the field or ring will fetch more money than your average house dog. I've paid as much as $600.

RE: stud fee
 

What is your dogs background like, Pedigree. Has he been Cerfd and had a OFA rating. Is he a HT/FT or Hunting dog. these all make the difference.

RE: stud fee
 

In answer to your question: Stud fees can vary from Free to $4000 (yes, four THOUSAND) or more. But first, you have to ask yourself some questions. What does this breeding offer as to improving the breed? If a dog doesn't have any titles (Field Trial or Hunt Test) and there are few or no titles (such as FC, NFC, AFC, CNFC, MH etc etc) in the first 3 to 5 generations in the pedigree, the dog would have little or no value as a stud (the same holds true for the female). Just because a dog DOESN'T have titles itself, does not necessarily mean that the dog isn't a good dog -- it just means that with titles, you have the proof, and proof = $.

In general, stud fee will be equal to the selling price of one pup from the litter. So in a litter where the pups would sell for $100, that would be the stud fee. If the pups would sell for $3000, that would be the stud fee. If your Lab points, you can add another $150 to $300 on top of that.

As BLKLAB said, there are other things that come into the picture as far as genetic health. Both dogs in a breeding need to have had their hips (and preferably elbows too) OFA'd (PENN hip is also acceptable) CERF(done within one year each time the dog is bred) on their eyes. The female needs to have been tested for Brucellosis within 30 days of the breeding.

OFA certification only needs to be done once in a dog's life (after they turn 24 months old), but CERF is only good for one year. Getting these certifications isn't cheap, so if you have a dog that is worth a $200 stud fee, you are going to lose money right off the bat. OFA X-Rays for hips and elbows will be between $200 and $300. OFA registration will be about $50 for both. A CERF exam plus CERF registration will be $50 to $70 and a Brucellosis test on the female is only a few bucks.

An example: My dog has a great pedigree (11 big time titles in the first 3 generations), and he himself has his MHR, WR and SR titles. He passed the PacNW Regional Invitational Field Test at just under 2-1/2 years of age.
He is OFA good on his hips, OFA normal on his elbows and he has recently CERFd clear. He is also a natural pointer, but even at that, he is only worth $500 to $700 for stud fee (depending on the qualifications of the female). Unless a highly qualified female would come along, I wouldn't even consider breeding him.

To be done properly, there's a lot more to breeding than just putting a couple dogs together.

RE: stud fee
 

The mother of my lab is hip certified, but the father is not because he is not old enough. The parents dont have any certificates or awards. I have the akc papers from the parents and their parents and then there parents so its three generations. I am going to get him registered here pretty soon.

RE: stud fee
 

1a. Ethical breeders won't breed a dog that's under 2 years of age. There are MANY reasons for this, but one of the main ones is that a dog's hips can't be OFAd before age two.
1b. What is the rating on the mother's hips?

2. This means that regardless of how good (or poor) they are, there is no proof of abilities.

3. Are there any letters (FC, NFC, AFC, MH (or others) before (or after) the names on the 3 generation pedigree?

RE: stud fee
 

My female lab if we bred her with a male with the same quality genetics, we would pay around $1200 for the stud fee. Of course each pup would sell for around $1200 in and of itself.

RE: stud fee
 

Tell us about her and why her pups (with an equivalent stud) would sell for $1200.

RE: stud fee
 

I'll need to find all her papers and such, but both her parents (and all her grandparents I guess you would call them that) have taken first either in national competitions or major region championships. Her parents are both hip and elbow OFAd. Both parents and her are natural registered pointing labs. Her parents and her have their CERF on their eyes. My lab herself cost us $1200, so getting an equal stud would keep the pups at that level, wouldn't it?

RE: stud fee
 

1. Without knowing the letters (like FC, NFC, AFC, NAFC, MH, MHR, etc etc etc), there is no way of knowing.

2. What are the ratings? (A dog can be rated as badly as OFA Dysplastic, but it's still a rating).

3 No they aren't. Labs that point aren't "registered" as Pointing Labs. They can have Pointing Lab titles (CP, IPR, MPR or GMPR), but there is no registry that registers them as such.

4. What are the CERF ratings? Just like hips, they can be CERFd as having retinal folds or retinal dysplasia or genetic cataracts etc).

5. Not necessarily. There are dozens of $3000 dogs that are washed out of Field Trial training every year, that end up getting given away or sold for a small % of their initial cost.

What does your dog have as "proof" (titles etc) that she is actually a dog that would (upon being bred) have puppies that would be likely to enhance the breed? A dog can be dandy good without titles, but without titles, you have no proof that she actually is.