The price of a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel puppy with a pedigree in Serbia and the region ranges between 1,500 and 2,500 euros.
Below that line adverts crop up from time to time, above it sit puppies from show lines. The range is not arbitrary and it is not a matter of haggling: behind every figure lies a different amount of work the breeder did before the litter was even conceived.
This page explains how that market is put together, what exactly you get at each level and how to compare two offers that look the same at first glance. If you are looking for the price of a particular puppy from our litter, it is on the page puppies for sale.
When a buyer sees the price, they see the last step of a long job. What is not visible:
In a litter where none of that was done, a puppy can cost half as much. The difference in price is real, but it is not a discount — it is work that was not done and that you will pay for later.
The pedigree. A pedigree is not a decorative piece of paper but proof of origin, and the only way to know where a puppy comes from. Without it there is no way to assess hereditary risk, and in Cavaliers that is the key question.
Screening of the parents. The heart and the spine are the two points on which fates are decided in this breed. A breeder who screens the parents regularly has a higher cost and a higher price, but also grounds to promise you something. We wrote in more detail about which health tests are required for the parents of a litter.
Our results are stated openly on this site. In all three dogs — the stud dog and the the two females — the heart is clear, patellas 0/0 and eyes clear, and the DNA tests for episodic falling syndrome (EFS), dry eye curly coat syndrome (CKCSID) and muscular dystrophy are N/N.
Show results. The parents' titles raise the price because they confirm the dog matches the standard. For a family looking for a companion this is not decisive; for someone planning shows or breeding it is.
The puppy's purpose. In every litter there are puppies in which show potential is visible early. There are few of them and they cost more. This does not mean the others are worse dogs — it means these are rarer.
The purchase price is a one-off. The dog stays for twelve to fifteen years, and that is where the real bill begins:
We have broken down every item in the article on everything that goes into the cost of keeping a Cavalier. It is worth reading before the decision, not after.
At domestic breeders working with pedigrees, the price of a Cavalier generally ranges from 1,500 to 2,500 euros. In Croatia and Bosnia the price of a Cavalier is in a similar range, with the difference made by demand and the number of active kennels.
In western Europe prices are higher, but so are the costs of compulsory screening and litter registration. Importing a puppy from abroad also carries extra items that are easily forgotten: a passport, a rabies antibody titre, transport and paperwork. How that looks in practice we described in the article on how to bring a puppy in from abroad.
What does not change from country to country is the relationship between price and work invested. A kennel that screens its parents and socialises its litter has a similar cost in Belgrade and in Munich.
When you get two prices for a seemingly identical puppy, ask both breeders the same things:
A breeder with nothing to hide will answer all six without hesitation. If any of these questions is dodged, a lower price does not make up for it. We wrote more about how to recognise a serious litter in the articles how to choose the right kennel and the how to avoid a bad litter.
Our price, everything that is included and how a puppy is reserved are stated openly on the page puppies for sale.
