More than fifty percent of local folks who routinely contact us to buy rottweilers characteristically do a double-take once they learn about our prices. Oblivious of our capital and recurrent expenditure, they assume we must be making a kill and certainly should be able to drop our prices by a couple of notches. We have tried as best as possible to assume the reasoning of our prospective customers, and concluded that at first and cursory appraisal, the situation does deserve some rolling of the eye ball. Therefore, a sense of obligation to you has compelled us to let you into an analysis of some of our costs.

Recurrent Expenditure

Some of our recurrent expenditure are as follows;

1. We feed 100% premium quality commercial dog food here at Vom Hause Ajartodar Rottweilers. Each dog is fed at just a little over N300:00 per day. Last year for example, we had up to eight dogs here at one time or the other. A pertinent question is why feed 100% dog food and incur the attendant high costs? Why not feed 100% home-cooked meals or a combination of both like the vast majority of Nigerians give their dogs? Well, we just departed from a regime that tried many of those recipes and they never did our dogs or breeding program any good.

2. Our highly effective current feeding regime lowers our veterinary bills to merely vaccination and deworming costs. We have no need for vitamin and mineral supplements, and major medical issues are a memory here. As a result we have an average annual veterinary overhead of about N5,000:00 per dog. However, we have consistently spent an annual amount of about N50,000:00 on emergencies for the past three years. Furthermore, as breeders subscribing to a code of ethics, we have or will spend N30,000:00 per dog, incorporating costs of screening and certifying our potential breeding stock (those born here) for health issues such as hip and elbow dyplasia.

3. We spend an average of N5,000:00 monthly on kennel cleaning and parasite control products. We also spend about N50,000 annually on kennel maintenance, plus dog products and accessories.

4. Our kennel employs two resident kennel assistants with an annual salary of N120,000:00 each. They are also given a daily feeding/toiletries allowance of N300:00 and reside in our mini-flat boys quarters which in the absence of our dogs, we could have easily let to collect a rental income of at least N80,000 per annum.

5. We have whelping- and litter-raising expenses of about N150,000:00 per litter of six puppies, until they are ten weeks old. We do it by the books, feeding 100% premium quality commercial puppy food that does not come cheap, at about N350:00/pup per day, for 6 weeks. We are also responsible for at least two of the pups' initial vaccination shots together with deworming at about N3,000:00 per pup. There is also the cost of microchip identification at N5,000:00 per pup. Last year, we whelped two litters of four and six pups.

6. We have annual membership-levy-paying obligations of about $200:00 towards breed clubs in South Africa and Germany. We will soon have similar obligations towards dog/breed clubs in Nigeria. We also have personal international travel expenses for dog related trips that run into thousands of dollars annually.  Furthermore, we would be partly involved with the cost of flying in and hosting real international rottweiler judges, for real rottweiler shows in the future.

7. This website costs us just under $200:00 to host annually, and that's mostly because I built and maintain it myself, otherwise we would be incurring higher. We also pay an internet subscription of N120,000:00 per annum mostly to stay online to promote our dog career.

8. We spend N60,000:00-N120,000:00 on newspaper and magazine advertisement every year.

Capital Expenditure

Some of our short- and long-term capital expenditure are as follows;

1. Our current breeding stock is made up of six dogs, five of which cost us just under five million naira (N5,000,000) to procure in about a year and a half. More than fifty percent of these rottweilers were imported as adults with limited breeding years left for us to take advantage of; there is also no guarantee that we would have a successful conception and litter every time we try. Naturally, we have to spread the costs of these dogs over a projected breeding period of a number of years in order to at least achieve a pay-back.

2. Unfortunately, at the moment, we do not know too many Nigerians that are as ‘crazy' as many have suggested we are to invest up to seven digits of our local currency in one dog. That appears to condemn us to continue to invest more money in trying to expand our bloodlines over the next couple of years. For those that are interested, our import service is partly targeted at systematically trying to address this.

3. We also have costs arising from dogs that we had imported (three so far) after paying bucksdeluxe, but were unfortunate to die soon after they arrived here. As a result, most of them did not contribute anything to our breeding program. Another category are several puppies that were procured mostly through importation, but as adults never made breeding quality when weighed against the eliminating faults specified by the breed standards as well as our own personal ethics.

5. We have a guarantee policy that covers some of the dogs bought from our kennels. It prescribes a shared attitude towards the costs of replacement or refund, so that we as the breeders would incur some liabilities.

4. Our kennels and residence are temporarily located on a small piece of land in Lagos. We currently have mortgage payment obligations towards this property over the next couple of years. We consider this accommodation a dog-related cost because without the dogs, we would have opted and been happy to reside in a less elaborate space.

5. We also have long-term plans to develop a purpose-built, relatively expansive dog facility over the next couple of years. For sure, we are looking at some alternative means for raising the funds required for this project, but a fraction of it must be raised through our involvement with dogs.

Opportunity Costs

Part of my training as a real estate surveyor, lends me the expertise of understanding competing investment options. Trust me; our investment in dogs is mostly a sacrifice stemming from our love for animals and our desire to make a positive statement for Nigeria and the African continent. The only reason why any investment-savy individual would consider ethical dog breeding over competing investment options is primarily for the advancement of the breed. There is no direct profit to be derived from dog breeding by itself, unless you choose to cut corners or you are operating on a relatively low-scale, where your dog overheads such as kennel assistants or servants, accomodation, etc. are shared with your household. Making any money from relatively large-scale ethical dog breeding calls for some honest ingenuity and creativity…...and some high blood pressure too!

There is also our time away from other endeavours we could have been involved with. Personally, I am involved in the business of printing on all paper surfaces, but these dogs have a way of dictating the pattern your life takes and once you are hooked, trust me, you are hooked!

Sundry Considerations

Here are a few other issues that rest on our mind as we price our rottweilers;

We live in a country where, having spent top money (by our modest standards) in importing some really nice stud dogs, we cannot earn more than a marginal amount of income from offering stud services, at least not until the next couple of years, unless we become unethical and breed them indiscriminately. Of course we will not.

As pioneers, it is also pretty frustrating to be trying to breed good quality rottweilers in the Nigeria of 2008. The previous generation of dog people had neglected to put in place any meaningful institutions or structures that may have gradually evolved into some economies of location. As a result, anyone trying to try these days was always going to encounter a huge mountain to climb. Our overheads and challenges as rottweiler breeders in Nigeria are bigger than those of our colleagues located in Europe, USA or even South Africa.

We offer some of the best quality on the continent, and employ some of the best bloodlines from Europe; yet our prices are relatively speaking, the lowest. You will be hard-pressed to find the full complement of what we have to offer anywhere on the African continent, and when you do, you will be landing a ten-week old pup for $1,750-$2,000 (unaccompanied during air freight) If you were buying from the USA or Europe, you will be incurring a landing cost of $2,000-$3,000 or 1,500euro-2,200euro respectively.

Final Words

Our question to you at this point is, given the cost analysis above, how much do you consider as a fair price to pay for an Ajartodar rottweiler? Your objective answer may just about tally with our own figures. Some will say life is not necessarily fair, and a subscription to objectivity is too much to ask of our prospective customers who have economic issues of their own. Yet we hope, that the quest for quality that has led you to us will lend you a sense of identification with our peculiar situation.

Of course, we will be grateful to hear your suggestions about how we can more creatively cut down on our costs, while still maintaining our envisaged quality.

Many times, we are bothered about the lure of prospective clients for owning a rottweiler, which is why we have a bias for selling to qualified non-breeder prospects. The vast majority of those that make enquiries tend to be mostly interested in breeding for money, even if they will not admit it. Many people think, because they have paid some 'big' money to buy a dog, then they can also cash in on the 'dog business' in the future. A dog has immense utility value, and if your main aim is to buy and breed to make money, without employing the dog or making any contributions to the breed, that is most unfortunate.

In 2007, we had two litters of four and six. This year, 2008, we may not have more than three litters. The more successful litters we can have every year, the more we can bring prices down. We have given a lot of thought to our current pricing regime, and tried to meet our prospective customers enroute the money lane for as much as possible. Our prices for puppies are fixed for 10 weeks old and are not negotiable; prices will also increase proportionately by the costs incured after ten weeks old, and as the puppy grows older, it becomes a question of value.

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