Getting a dog

suki1964

And then theres the hidden costs....

New leather 3 piece as the cloth one was a nightmare to keep clean with a muddy shedding dog in the house

Bedspread cleaning - £10 every two weeks cos he does like to sleep draped over me

Bigger car cos his crate didn't fit in the boot

Re - turfing the lawn (dog pee is a killer)

Re stocking the garden (plants are for digging up surely)

New vacuum - one that could deal with dog hair

Having a downstairs loo put in so that disabled parents could visit us instead of us unleashing mad pup on them in their tiny bungalow

And finally - a bigger house with a bigger garden :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

So ok not everyone has these expenses but I think a lot of owners if they sat down and thought about it have made major purchases with the dog in mind

Kimberley

suki1964 wrote: »

And then theres the hidden costs....

New leather 3 piece as the cloth one was a nightmare to keep clean with a muddy shedding dog in the house

Bedspread cleaning - £10 every two weeks cos he does like to sleep draped over me

Bigger car cos his crate didn't fit in the boot

Re - turfing the lawn (dog pee is a killer)

Re stocking the garden (plants are for digging up surely)

New vacuum - one that could deal with dog hair

Having a downstairs loo put in so that disabled parents could visit us instead of us unleashing mad pup on them in their tiny bungalow

And finally - a bigger house with a bigger garden :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

So ok not everyone has these expenses but I think a lot of owners if they sat down and thought about it have made major purchases with the dog in mind

Yeah but Suki, a dog owner doesn't worry about mess like that. Because i foster dogs my garden has hardly any grass left now, but my kids are older and do not use it, so the garden is the dogs and it doesn't bother me. As for muddy paws, i clean the dogs paws as soon as they come in from the garden/street, i keep an old towel next to the door. I have no mud in my house. As for the bed spread, well thats your fault Dogs should sleep in the hallway, or in your bedroom but in it's own bed.

niceshoes_2

When we bought our puppy home, we dog proofed the area that he was going to be spending most of his time. He was in the kitchen/utility room area and we lifted everything up off the floor and virtually emptied the room so that there was nothing he could chew. I sprayed some bitter apple stuff on the woodwork and a bookcase which I couldn't put anywhere else and covered the bottom of an expensive wooden mirror that he could reach in bubble wrap and sprayed that too. Luckily, he has never chewed anything whilst we were out, other than an old piece of carpet that was used as a rug, which I put down whilst he was being house trained. I've now replaced that with a proper rug.

He is now nearly 8months old and we have been very lucky with regards to the dogs chewing/destruction, although I think that we should take some credit for that!

We did dog proof the area, so that there wasn't anything he could chew and when I know that we are going to leave him, I do make a point of walking him so that he is tired when we leave, so that he sleeps whilst we are out. He is also left with toys and chews to keep him amused, although the lazy bones that he is, just sleeps all day.

When he was in the rest of the house, (with us watching him) we did have to watch him constantly and distract him when he was going to chew or scratch. His favourite used to be sctratching the bottom of the sofa and the carpet (he still does this occasionally) and we found it difficult having to watch him like a hawk all the time - it was quite exhausting in the earlier months to be honest, but we've managed by making sure that anything of any value was away and out of his reach. I think that we monitored him constantly until he was about 6 months, when he needed less intense supervision.

In terms of cost, he doesn't cost us too much:
Jabs £65 (one off)
Boosters £35 (yearly)
Neutering £130 (yet to be done) one off
Flea Stuff (£5 month)
Worming (£5 month)
Food £4 a week (estimate)
Pet Insurance £22.00 (monthly)

These are the ongoing costs we have for the dog, some of which are one offs etc. I also put £20 into an account each month to cover anything unexpected such as an emergency trip to the vets etc as a consulation costs nearly £30!!

Other costs paid out at the start were:
Food bowls, collar, lead, dog blankets, dog bean bag, crate £40 but borrowed from friend), towels, toys

They are hard work and do need alot of supervision if you want to escape puppyhood with your house still in tact, but they are worth it in the long term.
You just need to consider whether a puppy is for you or whether an older dog would be more appropriate for your families situation. I don't think that I could have coped with a young family as well as a small puppy to look after, as they are very demanding in the first 12 months.

HTH

Rowan9

All dogs are different. We have 2 and the youngest has always chewed, since a pup. She has chewed 4 dining chairs, the corners off the food cupboards (ie fitted kitchen), handles of the dresser, table legs have had a good chew, books if left within reach, lino, brings in sticks from the garden or bits of my nice lavender and chews them up all over the floor while I'm innocently on the computer. We adore her - just as well as she is 4 years old now and is going to be a life-time chewer i think. When we go out we sometimes give her and our other (perfectly behaved!!) dog 'center parcs' where they have kitchen and living room. She spends most of that time on the settee (where she's not alllowed) peering out the window.
Our older dog is only 8 but is already bothered by stiffening hips and is on glucosamine and chondriton (??) - have been buying them from the vet at £50 a tub (last about 6 weeks) until i discovered you lovely people and will be buying from health shop again. My vet told me I needed specific tabs made for dogs ggrrr.
What else?
Nothing quite replaces a lovely greeting from your dogs, even when you have been out for 5 mins. i remember reading on some training site that you have (perhaps) a job, friends, hobbies, books, TV, music etc to look forward to and fill your time - your dog just has you. This was a kind of eye opener for me and I've always had dogs.
Good luck with your search!

lemontart

also factor in cost of getting the dog I adopted one at £100 but best £100 I ever spent.

Liz

Kimberley

lemontart wrote: »

also factor in cost of getting the dog I adopted one at £100 but best £100 I ever spent.

Liz

I'm lucky, i get to foster all sorts and can hand them back after

foreign_correspondent

I have a lovely rescue dog. She is a fantastic companion and quick to learn.

The donation was £95, and she came with all her vacs done and newly speyed. I have halifax petinsurance, which costs about £6 a month, and she eats wagg complete dried food, which costs about £10 fr a big bag which lasts her 2-3 months.

She was an adult dog when we took her on, and is quite sensible and steady, so no chewing, weeing or pooping in the house, luckily!

I would say adult, female dogs with a good temprement are the best bet!!

Mongrels/crossbreeds genrally have less risk of inherited/genetic illnesses and weaknesses, so are often healthier and hardier.

Take your time and look aroind till you find the right dog for you. I would advise you that, with a child, to look for the dogs that are happy and waggy to meet you, and perhaps avoid the more nervous looking dogs. I am not saying these dogs may improve with time, and I have had several that have, but with a child I would definitely look for a dog with an easy, fun disposition.

Good luck!

ps I have found 'the dog whisperer' by jan fennell quite a useful book

berzolla

When we got our dog he was so small he could get behind the T.V unit, fridge, freezer we had to put bottles of water infront of anything he could squeeze behind. We thought we had "lost" him in the frontroom but we found him behind the T.V unit cheerfully chewing on the wires.

As for the garden all grass has gone and we spent a fortune on paving it. Oh and as for the plants we couldn't figure why they kept disappearing !!!! We then saw him lying on his side in a oblong plant trough biting the flowers off with his teeth, deciding they didn't taste nice spit them out and then trying them again, hence no plowers either.

But yes he gives us some much pleasure and love (he is sitting by my feet while I type this). Thinks he wants me to say don't forget the insurance as it would of cost us 4352.47 for his op in September luckily we only had to pay 15% seems a lot but when I got a phone call at work to ask if I want to put him down it puts it all perspective. He will be 5 on 14.2.2008.