The short answer to this question is it's expensive to a responsible breeder over an extended period of time, let me explain giving a scenario:
A breeder has a core bloodline, or two in our case that proved to be clear immediately (how lucky) There are still other important considerations like temperament, coat type, etc. Most breeders will maintain certain lines that they found to be "the best" in their opinion.
To keep the line from becoming inbred the breeder purchases outside dogs, preferably "unrelated" (as a purebred dog can be) from their current line, and maintaining standards the breeder emphasizes as important in their program.
The breeder does their due diligence and tests every purchased dog as well. Sometimes these results are great and sometimes only fair to midland. Here's where it gets expensive. Let's say 20% of those outside purchased dogs carry one recessive copy of an undesirable gene that has a 10% chance of negatively affecting 50% of their offspring. Even if these odds are low they are unacceptable for a breeder moving towards the betterment of the breed.
Now the breeder must be prepared to raise said dog for two years, test the full litter, keep pups from the litter that do not carry the undesired gene (to raise for an additional 2 years) AND make it right with any pup homes that have a low chance of having a slightly affected pup should a pup present with symptoms (this strategy is not used for undesired genes that are lethal in our program) Now the breeder is 4 years in to improving the bloodline and maintaining genetic diversity for the addition of one line (that is now intermixed with their line and unable to breed with half their program) and so the process repeats itself of bringing in new blood and testing.
This makes just the portion of the program dedicated to eliminating a recessive copy of a gene in one bloodline probably around 3 dogs (in case one is not breed standard or should not be bred for some other reason) and pretty soon . . . . You've got 10+ dogs easily to maintain a healthy genetic pool.
And this is a small piece of the equation why a well-bred purebred dog from an knowledgeable and dedicated breeder is worth every penny.
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