Since there's recently been a lively discussion on the possibility of profitability in selling chickens, I now wonder: Is backyard dog breeding a profitable venture?
Please let's not open up worm-cans about puppy mills and the folks who factory-farm dogs. But I sometimes wonder if I'm dealing with the wrong species when I go to the community bulletin boards to post signs advertising my chickens for sale and see so many other signs advertising dogs for sale, often asking $500-$1000 a pup! And often they're for tiny little dogs, and I'm amazed to think they're getting over $100 a pound for these animals. And none of them will ever lay an egg!
I know there's a lot of costs involved, dog food costing much more than chicken feed, plus all the shots & shampoos & stuff, and the fact that dogs are limited to the number of litters they can & should have in a year. And you can't hatch dogs by yourself in an incubator. But can people realize a profit in their small-scale home-grown dog breeding? Or must they resort to a factory-farm puppy-mill type of enterprise to make it profitable?
Just curious here.
Please let's not open up worm-cans about puppy mills and the folks who factory-farm dogs. But I sometimes wonder if I'm dealing with the wrong species when I go to the community bulletin boards to post signs advertising my chickens for sale and see so many other signs advertising dogs for sale, often asking $500-$1000 a pup! And often they're for tiny little dogs, and I'm amazed to think they're getting over $100 a pound for these animals. And none of them will ever lay an egg!
I know there's a lot of costs involved, dog food costing much more than chicken feed, plus all the shots & shampoos & stuff, and the fact that dogs are limited to the number of litters they can & should have in a year. And you can't hatch dogs by yourself in an incubator. But can people realize a profit in their small-scale home-grown dog breeding? Or must they resort to a factory-farm puppy-mill type of enterprise to make it profitable?