Do need plenty of funds to own two dogs?

the_devil_made_me_do_it

I already own a rescue dog and have seen another rescue dog that I'd love to offer a home.

However, I'm not financially well endowed, so wondering whether I'd be irrisponsible giving this pooch a home.

How do other people manage? I know there are many people who are probably in the same boat as me

codemonkey

You'd need to factor in certain things I think:

Costs of food may double or more depending on the size of dog you already have and the dog you are interested in.

You'll need to factor in insurance and vet costs (for smaller things like boosters) for 2

2 x flea and worm treatments

2 x collar/harness and leads

2 x treats, bones etc.

2 x boarding kennels/home boarding if you go on holiday.

That's just off the top of my head.

trolleyrun

Could you perhaps foster the dog for a while? Then you can get a sense of the cost, the dog will be out of kennels and if all goes well and you can cope with the extra cost, you could adopt him/her

krlyr

I own two large dogs. They cost me about £150 a month in costs - £50-60 in food (raw-fed), I make my own treats with cheap ingredients like oats, eggs, homemade stock

£60 to insure both, one was more than the other due to being purebred, but was overtaken when the crossbreed developed a couple of ongoing conditions we've made several big claims for.

Costs like flea & worm treatment are spread over the year - I buy Advocate at about £40 for 6 pipettes, I treat a few times a year and worm once every 6 month with Cestem (cheaper version of Drontal) so the cost works out about a fiver a month for both dogs. I found boosters at a good deal using a local vaccination clinic - £10 each, a massive saving from my regular vet's price.

Toys are bought to last - pound shop rope toys are actually one of the longest lasting toys I've found, they do a variety of shapes. Grooming costs are the investment in a couple of good brushes (an imitation Furminator - cheaper than the real thing - and a human Tangle Teezer work well in combination) and some occasional dog shampoo (I only bath when they really need it).

Beds were bought on sale, with washable waterproof covers to help make them last. I replaced the mattress on the cheaper one when all the fibres separated, with a cot bed mattress free from Freecycle.

Boarding costs aren't a factor at the moment, we haven't any immediate holiday plans, other than one which the dogs will join us on, and have family who will look after them if needed. It's not cheap though, and although most kennels do discount for a second dog, it's still extra money to spend.

If you're MSE about it, you can keep costs down. There are some factors outside of your control though - you can't predict an ill pet (even with insurance, there's the excess cost plus you may have to pay upfront if the vets won't direct claim - many emergency vets insist on payment at the time of treatment, especially if it's not your usual vets). You're at the mercy of insurance premium rises, especially if your pet develops an ongoing condition - my crossbreed initially cost about £15 a month to insure when we first got her, I now pay about £40 for her, and this is very likely to jump substantially at her next renewal due to AXA passing customers over to a new company (may well just move her elsewhere and pay for her thyroid meds - but then have the complication of finding somewhere that will cover an 8 year old dog). I'm also quite aware that some treatments could easily blow the fairly decent cover I have through insurance, I can only hope that it doesn't happen, but I have a pretty good limit on my credit card and some savings put aside for such a situation - think about whether this could affect you a lot financially (depending on how much, for us it would probably just mean foregoing some mortgage overpayments and scrimping every penny for a couple of months - for some then the debt may literally not be feasible)


If you feel unable to afford a second dog, then you could consider other ways to help rescue dog. Many rescues will cover some, or even all, costs for foster dogs. Pet sitting could be an option - there are companies who seek out 'host families' to look after dogs - it could even supplement your income. Or maybe finding someone locally who could benefit from a dogsitter - there are schemes like BorrowMyDoggy, or you could place some adverts locally.

rising_from_the_ashes

The real problem for me would be the unknown vet costs

Maisie (current dog) is literally never away from the place

I can pretty much guarantee she's there every couple of months

Never (thank goodness) anything major but things like ear infections, tummy upsets, UTIs, itching etc etc

None are hugely expensive - usually around the £50 - £100 mark BUT none of them are claimable on her insurance so it's 'out of pocket' money iykwim


On the other hand - Ben was hardly ever at the vets ...... if a 2nd dog was like him, then it would be fine BUT if a 2nd dog was another like Maisie .... I'd really struggle

Albertfalcor

We have two dogs (amongst the rest of our menagerie!) we thought about the cost before getting our second. I think the biggest thing is definitely the cost of the food, and then as you say unexpected vet bills are definitely something to consider, plus the additional insurance bill every month.

Also, our two like quite different toys and one is a real toy hogger so we have had to increase the toy collection but quite a bit to ensure we can cater for both their needs.

pawsies

Agree with fostering.

I think dogs can be as expensive as you want to a certain extent. If you don't have lots of money then buy good quality food that you don't need to feed much of or feed raw from the butchers.

Toys- can be homemade- plastic bottles, rope toys, balls, soft toys from charity shop (about 50p-£1) etc all inexpensive

Medicine- I would consult the vet only if there is a serious issue. For things like boosters I've never seen them as essential. Your choice though. Can get pet store products to do similar things to vet prescribed ones although not as strong but may do temporarily.

Bed- old duvet or pillow

Leads/accessories- you probably have several for your current dog anyway

The dog won't be used to much in a kennel so being in a home is a luxury

mandragora_2

It's not to do with money, but if it helps... my son, an animal behaviour degree under his belt and dog nutcase, tells me regularly that two dogs are much easier to manage than one, simply because they're happier (something to do with pack mentality, but I may have stopped listening....)

pawsies

mandragora wrote: »

It's not to do with money, but if it helps... my son, an animal behaviour degree under his belt and dog nutcase, tells me regularly that two dogs are much easier to manage than one, simply because they're happier (something to do with pack mentality, but I may have stopped listening....)

Totally dependent on the dog tbh. Some dogs love having all the attention and treats for themselves!

I agree in the sense that they have a buddy to communicate with kind of like if we were on a foreign holiday and found another English speaker we would be a bit more relaxed however if that English person is an annoying person we may want to keep our distance!

Same with dogs, it's more about their personalities than putting them together because they are the same species.

It seems to me to be a common myth that dogs like to live in packs. Some groups work great, some do not and we should not force dogs to live together if they are uncomfortable and subdued because of it and this isn't always externally visible.


I also have an animal behaviour degree and am obsessed with dogs!

JKSandy

Foster for a while to see if the costs are mangeble and if the dogs get on.

JKSandy

mandragora wrote: »

It's not to do with money, but if it helps... my son, an animal behaviour degree under his belt and dog nutcase, tells me regularly that two dogs are much easier to manage than one, simply because they're happier (something to do with pack mentality, but I may have stopped listening....)

I would love a second dog but my jack russell won't allow it. I have tried twice but he likes being the only dog in the house.