Found a started Brittany 18 months old for 2500. Suppose to be a natural in everything. Parents champions..friend says I'm crazy for paying over 1000 for a started dog. I would be using it for weekend hunts for grouse. Once a year trip out west on pheasants. What's your opinions on started Brittany prices? Not going to be using this dog for any field trials. Any breeders in Michigan that you would recommend?
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LMAO....$2500????...over $1000?, Ok, let's talk about it in real terms. Is your friend living in the real world or is he some sort of a stock broker stuck in an office job? What kind of "champions" are the parents? Show ring champions? Forget that stuff...Show champion parents are NEVER a legit measuring stick when you are looking for a started hunting dog. After 35 years of playing in the Brittany field trial, judging, and hunting dog game, how about if I answer your questions with easy to understand automotive analogy? Would you go into a car dealership and ask about finding a 2 year old vehicle previously owned by the little old lady from Pasadena who only drove it to church on Sundays as you told the salesman you were only willing to a pay a price which represented 50% of wholesale? If I owned a dog that truly met this dog's previously stated specifications and I was ready to SHOW you how the dog performed to the stated specifications demanded by you, the chance of you buying it, assuming it was for sale, would be $4000 maybe more since everything is for sale in my world. The REAL costs of my time and effort, I would never even break even. Here is the breakdown. Let's say the pup at 6 weeks old was valued at $800. To raise that Brittany to 18 months with all normal costs, you will have an additional $1000 to $1200, maybe higher. Now we got $2000 total in a break even costs for a 18 month old assuming you sold it with no hunting training. So now with your stated $2500 purchase cost, do you honestly believe for an extra $500 training investment, somebody could train that dog to do what they claimed the dog could do? Think about it. $500 is only a paltry monthly board and maintenance fee for my bigtime Brittany field trial dog just to feed him and keep him tuned. For a 18 month old Brittany, not much is acheived in 30 days and I don't care if your name is Delmar Smith.
I'm a well known and pretty darn good highly competitive amateur dog (pointing and retreiving breeds) trainer as I think I obviously know what I'm doing for the last 35 years as my last 5 Brittanys were good enough not only to hunt to high expectations but went on to win or place in field trials at 6-9 months. Do you really think I only put in $500 dollars in time, effort and training those dogs assuming I know exactly what I'm doing and can get the best out of those dogs? You just may get a good started dog for $2500 bucks, but the guy selling that dog better be able to prove it to me under real time field situations because talk is cheap in selling started dogs for 4 digit amounts of money. The name of the game is "Show Me" what your got and show me what kind of a dog I'm getting for $2500 bucks is the code you live by when you are buying "started" dog by somebody else's specifications. What they consider a started dog may not be what you consider started. Good started dogs cost money and take time to develope even to minimum hunting levels. I have in the past and for a fee evaluated started dogs for guys who wanted to justify performance for what the seller was asking. The first thing I would do is pop off a blank gun when the dog is out front and see how the dog reacts.....then see if the dog can find and point a planted pigeon. IF the dog can be run for 30 minutes without taking off and/or without running 10 feet in front looking around like he just landed from another planet, you might have a good "started" raw dog. NEVER let a seller run a dog with an electronic collar. As my Dad always said, "you can't be looking for Champagne with a pocket full of beer money" as I will add,"You can't sell a dog for a beer money stating champagne performance ability. I would suggest you pay a guy similiar to myself to evaluate the dog you plan on buying. If the seller is legit and has nothing to hide, he will not object. If you don't get a second opinion, you might be lightened of $2500 from your wallet for a dog that didn't meet your expectations. Training a pup from the get go and building a foundation to 18 months is much preferred than trying to "fix" something the dog is doing bad. I hoped I answered your concerns and I can add more to the equation if you want. For the record, all my winning dogs were raised by me as puppies as I wouldn't have it any other way. I would much rather straighten own my own dog problems than try to fix other trainer's screw-ups. Trust me, there are no perfect birdogs at 18 months to 18 years. Some just are more perfect than others. The ones that are more perfect cost money and are to die for.
What's "started" mean to you, and what does the seller mean by "started"? Be sure you get on the same page!
