Im thinking of getting a dog - is this financial madness - LOL!

SuperMum2010

foreign_correspondent wrote: »

....just a thought - if your old cat is on her last legs, I wonder if it may be better to wait till she is gone? - someone I knew took on a pup with an elderly cat, and the cat was very distressed by it.

Wow first of all thanks everyone on this thread - your info has been fantastic - I love it when a thread is busy and so constructive :T
Yes, re my wee puddy cat - I had planned to wait and in fact OH had suggested he get rid of all three cats and replace them with one dog but I soon sorted that one out !!

The only reason this has arisen now is that a friend has a young lab whose doggy mum has just had a new litter, so I have knowledge of the family/breed/etc and also it is likely to be a very good price rather than the usual cost of a pedigree as they are uncertain which of 2 possible sires is the father!! They have one black and one choc sire, all the pups appear to be choc but they cant be certain so cant sell the pups as pedigree. This doesnt bother me as I am looking for a family pet not a breeding dog, but it helps in terms of cost!

SuperMum2010

narabanekeater wrote: »

In relation to the retired greyhound I wouldnt worry to much about you guinea pig. Ive had several x racers and also have 2 cats and have has small furry pets and have never had any probs. All my animals live quite happily together
Ex racers make good pets and if you let me know where you are if you do decide to look into an ex racer I will give you some phone numbers for The retired greyhound trust contacts I know. An x racer will come vaccinated and should be spayed (or we will pay for it)
PM me if I can be of more help and good luck

Im in Northern Ireland - any retired greyhound folk there?

foreign_correspondent

SuperMum2010 wrote: »

The only reason this has arisen now is that a friend has a young lab whose doggy mum has just had a new litter, so I have knowledge of the family/breed/etc and also it is likely to be a very good price rather than the usual cost of a pedigree as they are uncertain which of 2 possible sires is the father!! They have one black and one choc sire, all the pups appear to be choc but they cant be certain so cant sell the pups as pedigree. This doesnt bother me as I am looking for a family pet not a breeding dog, but it helps in terms of cost!

Do have a look at the link above re: hip dysplasia - unless the mum and both potential sires are hip scored (and have low enough scores) this cheap pup could be a false economy.

ETA - before you decide, it may be worth doing a few trail quotes with some insurance companies - see the insurance thread for advice on true 'for life policies' - (I believe petplan and AXA offer this - there are also some to avoid like E&L) just to see if it is affordable for you - dogs do tend to cost quite a bit more to insure than cats, from what I have seen, and I don't know what premiums are like on a lab.

cinderellacomplex

Even if they bring in this compulsory insurance, surely it wouldn't be 600 quid for a lab?

I have a border collie who is 9 months and right now I am feeding her Wainwright's Complete Puppy (which Pets at Home happen to have a deal on atm: http://www.petsathome.com/shop/wainwright-s-complete-puppy-food-with-turkey-and-rice-2kg-and-15kg-12631). Her coat is in very good condition and she has a massive amount of energy outside but doesn't stay hyper indoors which is nice! Over the winter I have been mixing it up with frozen raw mince or the nature's menu frozen nuggets (you can get these in the frozen section of pets at home) to make it a little more exciting for her.. she doesn't appear to be a very foody dog and will happily let the cats eat her breakfast half of the time.. not ideal!

Anyway that I would say that you can find reasonably priced food. What I would really watch out for is all of the few pounds here and there that end up going on toys.. kongs and nylabones etc last a long time and are well worth the money, others might last a day.. if you are lucky. Often you can get cheap ones on ebay too from people whose dogs weren't interested.

Having a dog around is lovely though - I am so glad that I finally gave in and got another one!

Silveralice

Actually the owners of the mother could get the litter registered if all three potential parents are registered and they DNA tested the puppies to establish who the father is. It's not an easy process, so probably wouldn't be worth it unless they wanted to keep and breed from one of the puppies. I completely agree with foreign correspondant - a cheap pedigree puppy can be a false economy. Make sure you see the mother of the pups, the fathers, as they are around, and that you see hip score paperwork for all three dogs (preferably elbow scores as well, but even some reputable breeders don't do that, unfortunately). Have the parents had their eyes checked recently? If I were buying a Lab puppy I wouldn't consider one without hip and eye scored parents, plus a nice temperament. As Fire Fox says, you can sometimes get young healthy adult dogs, particularly of a popular breed like Labs, through good breeders or breed rescue, and end up with an easier dog than a baby puppy and more of a known quantity.
Just bear in mind that even if you have insurance, you have to pay the first however many pounds for each new condition; so if you are unlucky and your dog has four or five unrelated problems in the same year, you could end up paying a couple of hundred pounds plus the insurance premiums. Good luck with your decision.

SuperMum2010

Thanks everyone, I will certainly be asking to see the hip/elbow score certs and I will be able to see all three parents as they are all owned by the same small scale home based breeder (i.e not a puppy farm). I think they have decided not to go ahead with DNA testing as they dont want to keep any of the puppies and because of the cost, and as my friend has another of their young dogs from the same mother (and possibly father!) she is going to help with any info also - I am almost certain she will have requested the same detail as she is a very experienced dog owner and handler .

I had looked at insurance and excesses too, so thankyou for the pointer! Looks as if I might be spending about £15-20pm on insurance to get maximum cover for life. The $$ are certainly adding up, but I do still feel that they are manageable and that we could give a pup a really good stable fun home :-) Will keep you updated on progress!

SuperMum2010

Was just curious - can dogs from the same litter have different fathers, like cats can?!

cinderellacomplex

If you know the parents registered names then the kennel club might have any health test info: http://www.the-kennel-club.org.uk/services/public/health/search/

Not all scores get sent in though, so you are probably better asking

I was pretty insistent on health testing when I was looking for my pup.. but then I made the mistake of actually looking at the pups first! Sigh. Still, her father had a good hip score, and both him and her mom were from lines which I was comfortable with so that and her cute little face swayed me. Very silly (though she is perfectly healthy :P)

I would also double check that neither of the potential sires are directly related to the mom.. that usually happens more with accidental matings and makes the health tests even more important.

And yes.. they can have different fathers, although if the black had mated her too I would be really surprised that there are no blacks.. perfectly possible though if he carries choc

foreign_correspondent

SuperMum2010 wrote: »

Was just curious - can dogs from the same litter have different fathers, like cats can?!

yes they can!

SuperMum2010

sheesh - glad Im not a lady dog LOL!