Can I afford a puppy ? Upfront costs help please

um.......

Just going on what we got our Jack when we first had him.

insurance! - depends who you go with and what cover you get!

Bed - £5 - pillow thing - was later freecycled a plastic dog bed but you could use a spare folded up blanket in a quiet corner if you dont want him/her on yoru bed or if you dont mind them on the sofa

Bowls - £4 (at most) - unless you ahve soem old bowls in the cupboard you dont mind using before this.

food - see what the pups fed on at present though as it may not be wise to change to a different meal straight away until they are settled at home.

Collar - £2

lead - £2 -3 again

flea/wormer - although i would have thought they would have been treated for these already although they arent much really and some you can get last 3 months, usually about £8-9 as well as vaccinations but agian woudl think they'd had these too

toy - to help them settle - £1-2


we did later get him his ID tag - with his name and our number on it and that was only a few quid too.

Also - re initial costs - bear in mind that rescue centres very often have pups in, and that they will neuter, vaccinate and microchip them for before you get them!

Also, a rescue centre charges a rehoming fee that is rarely much more than £100. (I think neutering is about £60 upwards, chipping is about £20, and vacs are about £25-30)

Bearing in mind that the rehoming fee includes the vacs, chip and neuter, you are getting a bargain, and also saving a dogs life.

£250 is very expensive for a cross breed. You could buy a pedigree springer for that amount. There seems to be a lot of ridiculously priced cross breeds round at the moment since the whole designer breeds thing took off. Don't be fooled!

I second what Foreign Correspondent says about choice of breed - we got our English Springer Spaniel puppy back in August last year and he does take an awful lot of exercise to keep him happy. (we had done lots of research before choosing this breed and he fits into our lifestyle perfectly - we are off on a gun dog training weekend soon to teach us a bit more about how to give him opportunities to use his natural abilities).

Anyway, a quick run down of what our puppy has cost us:

Prior to bringing him home:

A canvas crate and puppy 'playpen' to give him his 'den' in our living room (together cost about £75 off ebay (all new items))
Soft padded bed to fit inside crate (£27.99)
2 x spaniel water bowls (shaped to prohibit ears falling in water - £16)
2 x food bowls, stainless steel with rubber non slip edging - £10)
Blanket (£3)
Soft toy (we slept with it a couple of nights then gave it to him on initial visit at 4 weeks old - he still has it now, carefully hidden, by him, in his crate - £5)

Since we've had him:

Chip fitting at vet (we went for the expensive one that gives a temperature reading to save him having it done the traditional way!!!)
Monthly insurance £22
Monthly plan with our vet which covers wormer, flea treatment, innoculations £12
Monthly Food - James Wellbeloved Huge Bag £37
Monthly Food additions - liver (for homemade liverbread training treats) £5; punnet cherry tomatoes a week, pot bio yogurt a week, box mini bonios a month; box marrowbone biscuits a month, large carrot a day.

Collar and ID Tag (£10)
Harness - 1st grew out of (£5); 2nd chewed to bits (£5); 3rd not happy with design (£7); 4th and latest - extra nice design, padded straps etc (£12)
Lead - x 2 (1st one nibbled through) - (£16)
Extending lead to use before recall was established
Slip lead (for short walks ie, house to car, when its not worth putting the whole harness on)

Poo Bags - biodegradeable £5 for 100 or so

Additional crate for car -we got fed up with lifting his original one in and out of the car so now we keep one in there all the time (£40)
Replacement soft bed last week for indoor crate following explosive tummy upset incident in the night (£28)

Towels - no cost as we had some old ones
Doggy shampoo - don't tend to use much, still on our first bottle, only really needed following rolling in poo incidents (yep, Springers love doing that!)

Brush and comb, scissors for grooming (£15) - would be more if we took him to a proper groomer (which we haven't yet!)

Equafleece coat - he goes out in rain or shine and can get cold quickly when we put him in the car to drive home after a wet walk - excellent item (£15)

Equafleece neckerchief - luminous yellow - for the early morning walks in the dark (so pleased the mornings are getting lighter!)

Dog whistle, tennis balls, chewy toys .. probably spent about £40 in the last 9 months.

Twisted knee (2 days before the insurance started!) - vet visit including anti-inflammatory injection £50

Tummy upset - extreme - needing antibiotics, anti sickness and anti acid injections and medication - 2 days off work and over £200 vet bill (thank goodness for insurance - excess is £80 nonetheless).

Long weekend gun dog training residential course £750 (for 2 of us and one dog); obedience lessons £5 per week; puppy socialisation classes at vet £45 for course.

We have wood floors and were very lucky with the speed that Roly picked up housetraining but you may need to factor in additional cleaning requirements during the puppy days.

PHEW!

This is just my quick estimation of what we have spent on Roly during his short life so far!! No doubt there is stuff I've missed, and I know there are things on the list that are not essentials but we have chosen to get/do that have increased our expenditure - but as I said, the decision to get a dog wasn't one we entered into lightly.

Also, because Roly is crate/playpen trained we haven't had any expensive chewing incidents of household items - although he has shown interest in a couple of doorframes and a dining chair - but a wipe over with Olbas oil tends to put him off!

Hope that gives you some idea of the costs - although I appreciate not all of it is essential.

Good luck with your puppy x