buying a dog pup ?

A well bred, well reared, dog pup weighing 72 - 78 pounds costs €2000 to rear to 14 months - there is a benchmark

thanks, what is the oldest you could realistically buy a puppy without the owner knowing its potential, if that makes sense , as I have no idea when they start showing something, 10 months etc ?
Its a real dilemna as the most I could spend is 7k , but I saw 8k quoted for an A1 shelbourne dog that would be average open class, so my only avenue seems to be spend good money on an unraced pup and hope for the best , would that be the long and short or do you think I could afford a half decent once raced pup and hope it improves out of sight.

ive just taken a stab on a couple of incredibly well bred pups that are just weeks old. they are costing me 25 a week and i paid 1800 for the pair of them, they hit the rearer about a month ago. could be absolutely anything or absolutely useless, think that will be part of the fun. not sure at what age one looks to be that bit quicker than the other though, cant help with that.

good luck with the pups .

You should be able to buy a decent dog for your 7K, imho, I would say go for a once or twice raced dogand if its in Ireland that you are loking to buy Thurles usually has a good unraced stake around this time of the year, Enniscorthy is also a good track to buy from and lots of unraced sweepstakes down there at this time of the year, and also Youghal down South does have a good record with unraced stakes supplying Taylors Sky, Tims Crow and many others........... good luck and plenty honest help out there if you want it.......

Get on ryanair into shannon, loads of unraced pups here at exactly the age you want , p m if you are serious

I wouldn't spend 7k on anythink if I didn't have danny!
Like buying a motor u get someone clued up with yar to look under the bonnet!
There's tons of sharks about get yourself some good doggie m8s or on the level trainer! Get u dog with contacts!
Gl two roo!

loads of sharks about agreed but atthe end of the day its your decision

If your spending over 5k wouldnt you seek out  a dog agent? Or broker ?

thanks for all the replies.
I do have a trainer I can go to who will give me advice but I know what money I was paying 10 years ago for a decent competition dog, so didnt want to turn up and make a fool of myself , as I am so out of touch with prices these days and like I said I saw a shelbourne exposed top grader offered for 8k, so was a bit disheartened, but now after reading ALL these replies I think I can get myself a once raced pup and have some fun.
thanks again lads.

12-14 months they will have a idea of whats what
with 7-10k to spend i would look about see what catches your eye and make a offer you should be getting a decent open racer for that ammount that will be getting into the top comps (i would look for somthing from a owner/trainer or very small kennel) they might be glad to sell

you get a 7-10k pup its a 14month wait with 2-3k fees and might only be graded

thanks PP
its all very encouraging and it seems that prices have pretty much stayed stagnant over the years.
I just presumed that prices had kept rising and I would struggle to get an open racer let alone anything with a bit of a dream attatched !
I think it must of all went a bit mad years ago when the syndicates started paying big money and all the middle men started adding there piece in to the prices.

the top end pups from derby winning line first little will be 15-20k each
somthing which has took off after 1 or 2 races with top breeding 30k plus but probably not for sale

i was inloved with last years pallmall and blue ribbon winners and both were brought for 15k and 8k

and had a b1tch 3k won a handful of minor opens

cheers PP thats what I needed a good price guide, so I know where I am at with it, good luck.

if its just a bit of fun you want i have 2xsept 2010 bitches for sale that could be anything will grade any track now last 2 sold for small money galtee alfie a1/opens romford (£200)fennis mac a1/opens also runner up bitch of the year romford(£300) the pups are £350 each