Dog breeding definitely seems like a fun business.
Watching tiny puppies open their eyes for the first time. Watching them play. The joy of delivering that puppy to his new family.
Well, we all know there’s work too.
Cleaning up after pups who are, of course, not potty-trained yet. Feeding the pups, socialization, etc.
But there’s actually far more to dog breeding than just the mechanical tasks.
A lot of time, knowledge, and thought goes into a proper breeding program.
So what does being a dog breeder actually pay? Surely the pay has to be awesome for top breeders of their respective breed.
Or is the dog breeder pay not as good as many think it is?
How Much Dog Breeders Actually Make
Most breeders with a small breeding program of two female dogs usually make between $8,000-$20,000 for small breeds and between $20,000-$36,000 for larger dog breeds in revenue.
Professional dogs breeders with four female breeding dogs can make between $16,000-$40,000 and $40,000-$72,000 for small and large breeds respectively.
That being said, your breeder pay could be significantly higher or lower, depending on your selling price and litter sizes.
But it could also be lower or even negative if you’re just breeding with your own dog and still incur the cost for health testing, socialization, etc. in the first year (which I strongly advise doing).
So what exactly does the average dog breeder salary depend on?
- Dog breed (small or big)
- Price per puppy
- Number of females for breeding
Smaller dogs get smaller litters, averaging around 1-4 puppies per litter while large dogs often have 5-10 puppies per litter.
Exceptions naturally apply and your large dog could turn out to only have one litter this year, so keep that in mind.
Price per puppy largely depends on what breed you’re planning to advance, what you’re planning to do with the puppies, and lastly, what your geographic location is.
The number of females is often scaled up as you get more and more experience if you’re trying to go for full-time breeding.
However, most breeders are probably just starting out with 1 or 2 females and have 4 at the very maximum.
Breeding is feasible once a year for one female (unless the breeder uses back-to-back breeding).
Here’s a little table that illustrates the possible pay in relation to the number of pups per litter and the price a breeder might ask for:
| Puppies per litter/ Price per puppy | $1,000 | $2,000 | $3,000 |
| 1 | $1,000 | $2,000 | $3,000 |
| 2 | $2,000 | $4,000 | $6,000 |
| 3 | $3,000 | $6,000 | $9,000 |
| 4 | $4,000 | $8,000 | $12,000 |
| 5 | $5,000 | $10,000 | $15,000 |
| 6 | $6,000 | $12,000 | $18,000 |
| 7 | $7,000 | $14,000 | $21,000 |
| 8 | $8,000 | $16,000 | $24,000 |
| 9 | $9,000 | $18,000 | $27,000 |
The table above only applies to one female dog, so you can multiply that by two, three, or even four if you’re serious and knowledgeable enough to scale a breeding program.
Of course, dog breeders do have to pay taxes.
Also, this is just the revenue before any costs associated with breeding.
As a mental exercise, let’s calculate the hourly pay of a dog breeder.
With the breeding program of 2 females mentioned above, you’ll have to be around the pups for 8 weeks straight, twice a year.
Plus, you’ll have to take care of the female before, during, and after birth.
You’re easily looking at 200 hours per litter, so 400 hours total in our example.
That’s $20-$50/hour if you’re breeding small dogs and $50-$90/hour for large breed dogs.
Doesn’t sound too horrible?
Well, that’s just the immediate puppy care but there’s also pre-birth care.
Furthermore, while breeding may not be the 24/7 job we’ve laid out here, it requires a whole lot of knowledge and effort if done right.
All the training that went into this isn’t counted and you haven’t yet subtracted the business costs.
How Much Does it Cost to Start a Dog Breeding Business?
While some sources are trying to tell you breeding a dog is possible for as little as $500, that’s definitely not true.
Responsible breeding is not possible with an initial investment as low as a couple hundred bucks.
That’s not even enough to get a healthy female dog with breeding rights.
Apart from that, training and bonding with the dog you’re planning to breed with should be the absolute number one thing on your list.
Don’t breed for the money. I repeat, do not breed for the money.
There are far more lucrative business ideas out there that also don’t happen to harm an entire species if done wrong.
However, I’ve actually compiled a little list of what you’ll have to initially invest before you can start breeding.
- Health testing (hip/shoulder, x-ray, heart, blood work, etc.): $750-$1,500
- Stud fee: $500-$2,500
- Whelping box, kit, etc.: $150-$500
- Prenatal, birth, and postnatal care: $250-$1,000
- Complications during birth like c-section: $0-$1,500
- Puppy shots, deworming, collars: $200-$800
- Puppy food: $100-$500
- Enrichment for puppies: $150-$1,000
- Socialization trips: $100-$250
- New owner starter kits: $0-$250
- Show titles (trips, grooming, training lessons, etc.): $0-$2,000
In total, breeding one dog responsibly can cost around $8,500 in the first year alone.
Every breed will incur different costs associated with the business and I’m always talking about responsible breeding.
The lower end of $2,000 is already the bare minimum to keep an ethical operation going.
If you think you can get the neighbor’s dog as stud for $50, please don’t.
Of course, some costs like show titles or a c-section are non-existing costs for many breeders but if you actually include these too, breeding can cost as much as $12,000 or more in the first year.
As mentioned above, multiple dogs will mean a more costly operation (along with more profit).
While the cost in the second and third year will probably be lower, if you intend to be a breeder for the long-term, you’ll encounter very unexpected costs from time to time.
How Hard Is It To Breed Dogs?
Breeders have to invest money, not to mention the time and knowledge it takes to raise puppies properly.
Here are the qualities you should have as dog breeder:
- Financial savviness to set up business plan
- Dog training knowledge
- Ability to set up a proper breeding program
- Interest in caring for pups & mother
- Nutritional knowledge
- Patience
- Skilled at socializing puppies
- Good at selecting future puppy owners
If you can cope with the puppy screaming and whining all day, that’s a good first step.
Being able to provide financially for your dogs is also essential as is loving to take care of the pups.
However, that’s not enough because the hard part is setting up a breeding program that actually makes a difference for this particular breed.
After that, socializing and properly desensitizing pups to sounds, people, animals, textures, and smells is the key to responsible breeding.
But is it actually hard to breed dogs compared to other jobs?
Well, depends on what your goals are. To be in the top 1% of any given profession, you’ll have to invest quite a lot of time to develop a breeding strategy and acquire the necessary knowledge.
While getting into the top percentile of dog breeders may not be as hard as getting into the top positions of some coveted Silicon Valley jobs, there’s a crux to it.
It’s still hard to be a great breeder and the time or effort saved is disproportionately less than the big salary cut you’re taking.
So, in other words, it’s definitely more lucrative to try to become a great software engineer, lawyer, or heck, even artist.
Is Dog Breeding Profitable?
To be fair, all jobs in the dog niche are not paying exceptionally well.
I actually have an article on how to become a dog groomer and how to become a dog trainer.
Dog trainers may be the best-paid group among jobs in the pet industry.
If you’re good at attracting clients and love working for yourself, you can charge decent rates for board and train, daycare, or private lessons.
If you’re in dog breeding for the profit, don’t do it.
You’re wondering why someone might think dog breeding is a lucrative business? Puppy mills.
These disgusting operations churn out puppy after puppy with minimal veterinary care and certainly no emotional support for the little pups.
To be competitive, puppy mills often sell their dogs for as little as $500 or sometimes $1,000.
Their power lies in quantity.
Dozens of breeding of dogs at the same time in some shabby junkyard is a common sight for rescue organisations busting these puppy mills.
To be fair, with minimal care or thought, backyard breeding may not make these people rich but it’s a nice extra income (which is often not taxed either if they’re not doing it commercially in their own name every time).
Sadly, responsible breeding is not really lucrative.
It can still be a great option for you and if done right, you can live decently off of breeding canines.
How Many Litters Can a Dog Have?
It’s best to retire a female at 5-6 years of age or after she had 3-4 litters.
While it might be tempting for somewhat larger amateur operations (don’t get me started on how puppy mills do it), it’s not advised to utilize a female dog beyond 3 or 4 litters in a breeding program.
Health risks for your female dog increase drastically and the same applies to potential risks for the pups. Also, older dogs can’t provide optimal care in many cases.
What Is The Most Profitable Dog Breed?
Chasing trends in the dog breeding industry is never a good idea.
No matter which breed is popular right now, that can change quickly once the media limelight disappears.
Also, it’s often designer dogs (essentially crossbreeds) that are high in demand.
Having a certain pairing, color, or whatnot can provide a great return but these breeders are just playing the short-term game.
While I don’t think that all people who are breeding mixed breeds have bad intentions in mind, their effort is often misguided.
If you’re so deep into the American Bully XL community to completely ignore the healthy type for a bully breed and how their frame is built, or you’re just trying to get that perfect shade of blue, something’s wrong.
That being said, relatively rare and recently popular dog breeds like the Cane Corso, Saluki, Tibetan Mastiff can be a good choice if you decide to breed ethically and dive deeper into any of these breeds.
Quality Rottweiler lines or other European dog breeds are also a favorite among Americans.
Other popular breeds include the French Bulldog (as long as they’re not flat-nosed with respiratory issues), English Bulldog, Samoyed, and German Shepherd.