Planning for a Puppy

cr1mson

We are hoping to get a puppy next year. Rather than get everything at once can anyone suggest what things we can get in advance? Does dog stuff ever go into January sales?

Thanks.

krlyr

My suggestion would be to start a little savings fund now - perhaps look at what the insurance costs for your chosen breed would be, and set that aside now if you can. It'll get you used to the amount you'll be paying out for the insurance, and should come to a nice little sum to buy everything with. If you have more leftover, you can keep a little 'emergency pot' - even with insurance, you need to cover the excess, there can be some treatment that isn't worth claiming (one-off bills under the excess), and the excess is usually per condition (per policy year), so more than one may be payable within the year. Also, not every vet will do a direct claim, espcially specialists, so it may help to have some money set aside to pay a bill before you get your payout.

If you're not going to go down the pet insurance route, I'd suggest setting aside as much as you can spare in the next year to build a good vet fund. If insurance was, say, £30 a month, then you'd only start off with a vet bill fund of £360. Might be OK, but an emergency op for that pile of socks puppy ate, or that x-ray and splinting of a broken leg because pup dashed out of the front door into the road, would blow through that with ease.

Some stuff you could purchase now, but a lot of it will depend on the breed/size of the dog you end up with. If you've decided 100%, you could start buying bits - you'd know the rough size of the bowls needed, the bed, crate, car crate, lead, etc. but probably best waiting to buy things like collars and harnesses. Flea treatments and wormers go by weight, too, so I'd hold off on them too (but maybe look to see what deals your vets too - some do treatment plans to spread the cost of flea/worming treatment and checkups across the year, with discount for vacs, neutering and microchipping. Probably not the cheapest way for an adult dog, but if you get a puppy then you need most if not all of those procedures done so it may be worthwhile signing up for the first year. Weigh up the costs against getting a prescription and buying online, and also of any local vaccination/neutering clinics (Easipetcare is one I know of - I use their nearest branch for my dogs' boosters)

There's not really a widespread "January sales", but individual shops will hold sales. One petshop I worked at always did an annual sale of all the beds in around January to clear old stock. Online shops often do sales throughout the year - Zooplus is a good one.

You could also start doing homework on what food you'd like to feed and where to source it for the best price. http://www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk is a good read.

cullet

Plenty of cash !

cr1mson

cullet wrote: »

Plenty of cash !

Besides that!

arbrighton

The only things we've found useful so far (she's now 6 months old) is a crate, and also a playpen, as we've had builders and sometimes she needs to be contained so they can work inside or so that we know she isn't chewing something she shouldn't. We borrowed the play pen from friends and will probably return it once the builders leave (week or two tops).

Collar, lead, tag (legal requirement and doesn't have her name on), bowls. Look around for local vets and for puppy training classes.

We are very lucky to have a daycare/ home boarding place up the road so she is regularly socialised and it means we can go out for a full day if needed.

As for toys- sometimes a cardboard box is just as entertaining.

rising_from_the_ashes

Bargains can generally be found at all times of the year if you're willing to hunt around

IMHO you'd be better putting a set amount aside each month & then get stuff nearer the time & when you know what you'll be getting

Certainly starting a 'savings pot' for him/her now would be an excellent idea - vaccinations can cost up to £100 and neutering can be even more (around £350 here for a Lab sized dog up to 30kg) - to cover those 'one off costs'

cr1mson

Thanks we have money set aside and have been saving monthly equivalent of pet insurance.

At the moment looks like February if all goes to plan and will be a mixed breed which will be 16" at the shoulder.