I worked dogs for almost 16 years before I had a litter of pups born on my yard. I had (and still have) a good place to get pups and don't mind paying the price for a good one. Heck, I haven't done the math but I reckon I could pay $300+ for a well bred pup and still be better off than what raising a whole litter of unknowns would cost me and still there being a chance of all being culls. I chose to start breeding a couple litters simply because I had some blood that I wanted to cross a certain way and have a goal in place that I'm working towards. When the first litter was born on my yard in May '09 any pups I made available were sold before they were born to people who had hunted with my dogs and wanted one and had no frills about paying what I felt was a fair price. Some proved better than others, but only one pup out of a litter of nine didn't at the very least make a dog that would leave out and find a hog. Pretty good percentage, and I was pleased with the cross. Several folks on here are hunting them now.
Since then, I've raised two more litters and what pups were available were handled the same way. In fact, my most recent litter (born in July) two of the three pups I let go of went to people who had previously gotten a pup off the first or second litter.
I'm not bragging on the dogs...I feel very fortunate to have gotten the blood which I have, but consistant hard hunting dogs don't need advertisement and people will have no issue paying what they're worth. I believe it also makes a difference your reason for breeding. I've yet to meet anyone whom I would desire a pup from that usually had them readily available. Usually the pups a man wants are the most difficult to get your hands on.
The first litter and that high percentage tells me someone spent some money, time, and then selecting correctly from those dogs and pups, and also breeding them right for at least 3 generations prior to your first litter... a good deal for you...
