To go along with the previous post (which was not made by me but I found interesting), what is the going rate for a stud fee?
I have recently heard of certain breeders asking $1200-$1500 and I am still at $1000 and wondering if I should be asking more for my Grand CH (BISS) male with all his final clearances including a clear echo?????


And what about a male with finals but not yet a CH?

Or a male on prelims?

My Ch. boy with all of his clearances , is going up this year to $1200 , that's what I get for puppies . My boy is a a known producer of Specialty winning get.

As long as the stud owner is willing to do an up front service fee of say $200 and the rest due when the puppys are born I don't have a problem paying $1200 for a stud fee on a proven male.

I have been paying $1,000 to $1,200. I would not pay anymore right now. Some of the best fit in this range. Some are BISS, some Champions, some not. Don't care if champion or not, want the right dog for my female. Not using any stud on Pre lims, just my thing. Let them get proven. Like to see some get out in shows or working first. Stud fee with the up front $200/300 works great for everyone. Having a stud if you want to go else where for a second or repeat you are welcome to go. Don't want to be locked in. This is how I see it.

I agree that I prefer to pay the $200 to $300 service fee upfront over paying out the $1,000 to $1,200 stud fee upfront. It has come to where I have to many repeat stud breedings owed to me that I have forked out the big bucks for and got nothing. What I have found with *some* of the bigger time stud owners is once you go back and request your repeat breeding from them, they become UNREACHABLE. They are all willing to ship when you are sending out your check for the initial breeding, but when it comes to the repeat breeding if the first one misses, suddenly some of them are not in such a hurry to accomodate you like the first time. I have about 4 repeats studs owed back to me by now and I would much rather have paid a service fee and lost out a few hundred bucks rather than a thousand.

Even worse is the stud dog owner who owes you the breeding and when you contact them when your girl comes into season and ask if their stud is available and they say "yes absolutely" send me the shipping boxes and extender. Then you send it to them and when you call with your bitches pg numbers they say, "oh I won't be home to ship sorry to bad for you" and they don't even return your boxes. That is the real loser breeder stud owner who lacks integrity and good ethics.

Here is a word of advice to all you newer breeders, don't have very high expectations of *some* of these bigger used stud owners they are not all they make themselves out to be. They are all about the $$$$ and don't care if you get your breeding or not.

It's actually more than just a few hundred dollars worth on Stud fee when the breeding didn't work. It's Progesterone fees, Fed X for 2 shipments, Extenders, Boxes, One time the stud dog owner charged me $500 service fee. We got 1 puppy via C-section. That was worth it.

I have heard this said by a couple of different breeders lately. That is sad. If you have a stud dog and offer him, you should be ready to ship. No excuses. It does cost alot to get a litter these days. I am glad the two different times I had to repeat, the stud owners were just as nice as the first. And don't think the word does not get around when you are very nice or hard to work with.

I WILL NOT pay full stud fees upfront anymore. It is better to have the option to go somewhere else for a new breeding. I also feel that the stud owner will make a better effort to get the best shipping if there is still money pending on that.

If you want to charge $1200 for a stud fee, your dog better produce good. I have not seen stud owners charging over $1200.

Charging $400-$500 stud fees is a little up there. I do not like that, but I did it once because I wanted to breed to that particular dog. It was a top producer.

GCH and full clearances, don't mean top producer. That is just the beginning of a stud dog career. Breed the dog, get puppies in the ring, get Champion get, and get his OFA page with at least 10-20 offspring with all good clearances and then you can ask for top $$$.

I try to get the best deal I can for the stud service, but breeding to the best male for my girl is my main goal.

That is so wrong for a stud dog owner to back out on shipping after agreeing to it. There is a lot that goes into planning a breeding and matching the right stud with your girl. It is just not right after paying for progesterone testing and shipping that they say they are not available. I would never deal with that person again!

As a stud owner, I have a concern I'd like to mention regarding stud fees. I ask for the whole fee up front. Why? Because too many times, I've dealt with bitch owners who are relying on the money they hope to make from the sale of puppies to pay the stud fee. They offer to pay part of the fee or ask if they can wait until the puppies arrive. And as we all know, many things can go wrong that end up costing the bitch owner money. When that happens, who gets paid? The vet first, and then me maybe.
My stud contract is very clear. I try to work with people, but I've been burned more than once.

AMEN to the last post. Do you think we as stud owners , like to ask for that entire stud fee up front. NO, it is because we are last on the list to get paid. WE have no leverage to get our fee, we drop everything and get the dog collected sometimes at a moments notice, and get that shipment out , and then wait forever or not at all to get the fee. I have Vet bills to pay too, I keep my boy in top shape ,and make myself available. REally, I have a life too, I have a family, I have dogs that need my time, but I drop everything to make your shipment on time, so when I have to wait until your last puppy is sold to get my fee, I am not happy.
There is always two sides to a coin. If I know you, you get the service fee, IF I don't , then you can pay up front. If you want to move on, have at it.

I charge $900.00 stud fee for my boys. This is the same for all of them. Whether they are the new kid on the block just having their first litters or the boy that has proven offspring winning in the ring. Like another mentioned, if I know someone or have worked with them before I offer the service fee. If I don't know them, I like to get the full fee upfront.

When I bred (to a well-known breeder) in 2010, the stud charge was $1000. I paid upfront. The fed ex & box charges were I believe maybe, maybe $50.00 if that, I paid right away. It didn't take, we tried again & success. I had no problems with the stud owner AT ALL. She was wonderful!

Do I understand this thread correctly...
Some want to charge a separate service fee of $500.00
Does this service fee include the shipping?
Plus charge a stud fee of $1200-$1500.00
I am just curious and trying to understand.

I think the litter can be registered without the stud dog's signature online. Which is why , the stud dog owner has no leverage. You should know that AKC does NOT get involved with money issues , and will NOT hold up any litter registration over a stud fee.
So, again, people on here, speaking out of turn, when they do not know what they speak of.

AKC frowns heavily on anyone holding up a registration , they do not get involved in "money owed" issues. Owed stud fees is NOT their problem, they want those litter registrations , and if you are not signing , then you /the stud dog owner are the enemy !

I will allow a service fee but it is one of the more expensive ones compared to what other breeders charge. Why? Because my time at work is more valuable than it is collecting a stud dog. I believe I am very helpful and accomodating but a one time service fee for something that may not take is going to be commensurate with the value of my time. Also, I look at this service fee option as me financing your litter. Again, I don't mind doing it but there is a price for it.

Ultimately, I don't really care if you want to use one of my stud dogs. I didn't keep him for that anyway. If you want to use him then I will do everything I can to help you get what you want. I have been told I am very easy to work with. The only reason I am commenting on this thread is the implication that some stud dog owners are taking advantage of bitch owners who want puppies. I don't think that is as pervasive as some would portray. Someone commented that there are a bunch of beautiful stud dogs out there. That person is absolutely right. So, if you don't like the way one stud dog owner does business then go someplace else. But, don't make a personal value assesment of that person for it.

I might agree to the service fee if no litter is produced. The way I would agree is if the total fee was paid upfront and a portion returned if no litter was produced.

Seems fair to me.

So I am reading all of this and it is sad to see such overal mistrust in the Labrador Community. When I stood a dog at Stud, I never had a problem with follow through on the Bitch owners' part. Of course he was never up for "Public Stud". I approved the bitch and the owners prior to agreeing to the breeding. If I did not "feel" this breeding was in the best interest of my boy or the breed I declined the request. If I didn't feel right about the Bitch owner I declined their request. I charged a small service fee up front for my time and care while the Bitch was at my home or if I traveled to the bitch for an AI(which I almost prefered). But when I did ship semen on the few occasions I did not charge a stud fee till puppies were produced. Heck it didn't take much effort to collect, extend, and prep the package for shipment. As far as I was concerned a Stud Fee was qualified only once puppies were produced. I guaranteed 3 live pups. 1 for you, 1 to cover your expense, and lastly 1 to cover the stud fee.
Maybe because I was a bitch owner first and my dogs are my pets first I wasn't caught up on the $$$. Sometimes the Stud fees came in fast an other time when a bitch owner had a Financial hardship it trickled in through a payment plan. In the end the money I spent on my boy for his clearances shows etc. were my choice and if I never made it back it was already money well spent. It was an honor when a breeder chose my boy to sire their litter.

I charge a $200 fee up front which does not include shipping or boxes but does include 2 collections by a repro vet (not me) experienced in collections. It also includes semen analysis prior to shipment and a 2nd analysis of some of the extended semen the next day to compare to the semen that arrived at the shipping destination. Once 2 live puppies are born, an additional $800 is due.

I will not allow my boys to be bred to bitches that do not meet my minimum requirements or who have owners I am unsure of. This may not always work but it has so far.

As far as what a dog produces is concerned, as a bitch owner, yes, I would pay more for a dog that has truly produced well with a number of different pedigrees, but the offspring are the result of both parents, whether they are all pet quality or fabulous. The stud dog deserves neither all of the blame NOR all of the credit for the offspring. It is up to the bitch owner to know how to put together a breeding and for a stud dog owner to honestly answer any questions they may have.

The AKC will register the litter without the stud owner as long as the pedigree is correct. Not sure but they may require DNA. Anyway, the AKC doesn't care about your contract or agreement. They care whether the stud book is accurate. End of story.

I charge the full stud fee up front, then will either provide a repeat service or will refund all but the service fee if there is no litter. I have been burned in the past and now I am the first to get paid, not the last. If the bitch owner can't afford to pay the stud fee up front then they can't afford to whelp a litter. Period.

That is a great idea to charge up front and refund all but the service fee!! That way everyone wins. Thanks for sharing!!

Respect goes both ways between the stud dog owner and the bitch owner, treat people the way you want to be treated.

I just got caught with my girl ovulating on day 8 of her cycle, I hadn't even given the stud owner my Fed Ex number, sent my boxes to her, paid for extender, or paid for the stud fee, (service fee or otherwise) yet. I was away from home for the day when I found out what the progesterone result was, fully expecting a baseline reading. I called her and she went out of her way to accommodate me, shipped semen by the skin of her teeth, 15 minutes before the Saturday Fed Ex cut off, using her own Fed Ex number, shipping supplies, with no money from me. I just met her for the first time at Potomac last week. Not all stud dog owners are difficult to work with!!
Needless to say, her check went out in the mail first thing this morning!

Thank you 'me too' as you're absolutely correct!

This person can't be an ethical breeder if she's a breeder at all. Maybe a BYB? First sign was she's Not sure if AKC requires DNA for a stud dog.

I don't own any boys, all bitches and I recall the DNA rule by the 3rd breeding many years ago. At least 15 years back if not longer.Friends of mine who owned a stud dog or multiple boys were busy sending in DNA for their boys that would be used to sire litters if they hadn't already.

So Another breeder, learn the AKC rules or don't quote them.

Know you think you know it all but you don't.
It's right in the rule book and I have known other breeders who had to do it because of stud dog owner who thought she could get someone back for a personal vendetta by refusing to sign off on a litter.
Nope. If stud dog owner doesn't do it, akc will. Rest assured.
Also know of an unethical bitch owner who thought she didn't need to pay. Well she got her litter registered too.
Look it up.
Akc will not withhold registration unless there is a question on parentage and then only DNA is required to prove it.

This is specifically directed at ME TOO. Your are incorrect in your rather impolite post about what the AKC will or will not do with regard to registering a litter. Yes, they will register a litter, regardless if the stud fee has been paid or not. Outstanding monetary disputes are not their business and they will tell you this up front. They want litters to be registered so please don't continue to post this erroneous information about AKC not registering a litter unless the stud dog owner signs off. It is you that is incorrect and yes, I do know who to collect and ship out semen and am aware that DNA testing needs to be done on stud that have produced three litters in one year or seven in their lifetime.

this is directed at the post,
"1000.00 for 45 min of work "
then keep your own stud dogs and use them, there is alot more that goes into housing a "stud dog" promoting him , having him out and seen .
it is alot of work behind the scenes, having had a well used male years ago , and ive got to the point , i keep for my use only .

Sure thing I think that any stud dog owner would jump on shipping to get a $1,000.00 for 45 minutes of work. Not so much kindness as it is for profit.

You are just bound and determined to make this into a bad thing.

I am sorry that you cup is half empty, mine is half full! I cant wait for my beautiful puppies!

45 minutes of work? I think not. Showing, finishing, expenses, food, time and alot more.

The breeder who got that chilled semen collected & shipped that quickly did not do it just for a stud fee. She did it to give the bitch owner every chance to have a litter in my humble opinion. That was what some use to call a Chinese fire drill in jest. (no Asian pokes of fun!). It means to rush around or have all switch seats in a vehicle and it's a joking term but no fun for the stud dog owner. They stop their own lives to get that shipment out. Just because some breeders brag about how fast they can collect their many boys doesn't mean most can't do the same. I've watched probably over 50 collections and never saw one take long esp with a teaser bitch around but not necessary with a seasoned stud dog.

Kudos to that stud dog owner, not all would do the same regardless of the green coming in. I would be happy to work with her.

Btw, Ever think the stud fee was already there being day 8 ?.

Not a well know stud but have one. And $1,000 for 45 mins. is an insane statement. That just shows how very little some think of this wonderful breed. Just a dog. Not all the work from birth ! They will buy one and have it standing in their back yard for use. Never pay a real stud fee. It does not cost them much for 15 mins. of use. Bet they are nice too. NOT ! $$$$$