how much more is a dog (canine) going to cost me compared to the un-dog, which i have at the moment. monthly costs, inc food vets etc?
i know all about 'they're a tie and they die' thing. apart from that. pure financials - for a medium size thing.
If you hang your nappy sacks in trees like all the other owners you can make a saving on Christmas decorations this year.
About as much as a GF would cost to maintain.
Buy £450-900 for a pedigree
Vet £200 year for check ups an vaccinations
Food £50-60 month
Walks - every day without fail
Kennel £12-15 day when you're on hol
Buy £450-900 for a pedigree
Aren't you better off buying a mutt? much cheaper or free, and no problems caused by in-breading.
[url= http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427311.600-how-green-is-your-pet.html ]How Green is your dog?[/url]
Our 2 cost £400 each.
Food is about £20 a month for them both.
We get through about 100+ nappy sacks a month at £2.
They are insured, so the Vets once a year each at £25 a pop.
Insurance is £20 a month for Both on 1 policy
And yeah, you have to walk them every day.
So a year long pass at Delamere is £30!
I dunno what breed Dangriff has, but if its eating nearly £60 a month on food, I'm guessing its bigger than our 2 Westies...
john1973 - unless you consider that you are supporting the unlicensed dog trade and encouraging the destruction of innocent animals each year?
initial cost
puppy - depends what you want £250 - £1500
I would allow a couple of hundred quid on top for start up costs, includes leads, collars, toys, bowls, guard for the car, stairgate, bedding, microchipping, register with vet.
Allow for training!
£50 a month should cover all food, treats and allow a contingency for kennel fees if you intend to leave the dog at all.
£200 a year on insurance
£200 a year on vets fees (insurance excess or other meds)
My springer spaniel gets a 17kg sack of dried food for £10 lasts about 5-6 weeks i think. Insurance is £18.00 a month.
He was just run over and his vet bill is so far £2700 but we have just had the cheque through for that.
He had a car bought for him too as the old one wasnt big enough for him so add £8000 to that too lol
Will be getting a free mutt. walking daily isn't an issue. will feed it combo of scraps and dry.
I'm guessing its bigger than our 2 Westies...
Hi Teeto, if I could ask, where did you get your Westies from? My wife really wants one as our next family member, been thinking about suprising her at Christmas 🙂
Ours costs £15/week to run plus £200 a year for vets typically. He does eat well though. Better value than a personal trainer.
Ours was from the RSPCA. £80 adoption fee that covered bits off, all jabs and getting him chipped. He's pointer sized.
Food £10-15 per month (dry)
Vets £30 per year for jabs Usually has another trip once a year for either a missing/split claw or dirty ears so £35 for that.
Kennel fees £6 per day inc food. Have used them for the last 9 years)
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Vets for boosters, worming tablets & checkups are £50odd a go, Banff probably has 4 visits a year which he utterly detests.
Food is £40 per month delivered big bag of posh dry stuff wot smells of decaying salmon.
Emergency call out vets are *a bit* expensive, thats when Insurance is worth paying for.
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john1973 - unless you consider that you are supporting the unlicensed dog trade and encouraging the destruction of innocent animals each year?
RSPCA kennels are full of unwanted pets, so using pedigree breaders isn't the only way to buy a dog without supporting the unlicensed dog trade. People buying pedigree dogs while there are hundreds of unwanted pets seems a bit distateful to me.
Incidently, just cos someone is a licenced breader, doesn't mean that animals don't suffer at their hands.
I've got 2 golden retrievers.
£400 each to buy.
£30 per month food
£20 per month insurance
£25 per dog per year vet check up and innoculations.
Extra costs: crate for training (essential) £80
Plasterboard and paint for when they tried to escape as adolescents £100
Having something in the house that doesn't have moods - priceless.
john1973[sic] - unless you consider that you are supporting the unlicensed dog trade and encouraging the destruction of innocent animals each year?
Eh? We got our dog many years ago on the result of an unplanned pregnancy that the dog down the road had. These things happen in life. No destruction of innocent animals, but a well loved family pet. Most people I know with dogs get rescue animals. I'd have thought getting pedigree dogs to be far worse for 'dog-kind' if you were to compare the two.
Scruff
Is that one of those magic eye pics? 😀
Is that one of those magic eye pics?
I do hope so as I can actually see something in it 🙂
Two adopted Lurchers, around £100 each
Food around £40 per month
Walkies every day
Don't pay for insurance, our previous dog had it and every vets bill was always just under the excess figure...
Treats and toys maybe £10 per month, ham ends from the supermarket and new rubber balls cos he keeps dropping them in the water when he barks at his reflection.
Love and affection from two dogs who were so timid when we had them two years ago, they still cower when you raise your voice - priceless.
thought skiprat had borrowed my dog for a minute then
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how do you post pictures?
look to the top right of the page for forum help.
i only learned about 12 minutes ago. 😀
Our beloved hound died in March. Her demise between Sept/March was the only time she incurred any significant vets' bills, all told, probably no more expensive than insurance would have been. Some breeds have inherent health problems, mongrels tend not to. We normally fed her dry food and offal from the butchers, which was probably about 5 quid a week. We never kennelled her, used to leave her with family when we were away.
They don't cost a lot compared to what they give you back.
On a side note, I recently met a couple who work for the Dogs' Trust (formerly canine defence league) and they recommended feeding dogs raw chicken wings, as raw meat is better for them to digest apparently.
Apparently you're better off feeding your dog on scraps. Dry dog food is probably another scam - like yakult.
Davey, yes raw chicken wings are good for their teeth - however not cooked wings - they get fragile and brittle and this can cause major issues with dogs.
Davey, yes raw chicken wings are good for their teeth - however not cooked wings - they get fragile and brittle and this can cause major issues with dogs.
Davey, yes raw chicken wings are good for their teeth - however not cooked wings - they get fragile and brittle and this can cause major issues with dogs.
Flatfish, just had to do several double takes then!! Long shot....is yours called Ace? Ours (Buck) had a brother, the RSPCA wanted to spilt them up(used to trash houses when they were together) so we had to leave Ace behind. He had similar ears to yours, bit longer and a bit curly.
Nice looking dog by the way 😉
no, ours is called rufus and we collected him from the breeder down in somerset as a 9 week old. no trashing of houses here, just toys.
How long do you need to cook a dalmation for, and how do you suspend it over a fire like that?
The whole thing is quite a lot thinner when:-
- You live with a Vet (free checkups, trade on any equipment and drugs used, free/trade food from reps)
- The dog has a massive fan club who are falling over each other to look after it on holidays.
Walks every day is not a chore, I love doing it even in nasty weather.
Emergency call out vets are *a bit* expensive, thats when Insurance is worth paying for.
You want to try being on the other end of the 3am call with the owner who's dog won't lie in it's basket so it must be ill!
Like Algarvebarin But One Golden Retriver
and similar costs.
Layin by myside and does not Nag for cloathes
or Shoes and wants to come out with me riding Pricless 
Working cocker spanial.
£550 to buy, and about £100 start-up plus a steel outside cage - as he lives outside (except nights).
Big bag of dried food, circa £10 will last over a month. Vets about £50 per year.
No insurance, don't see the point - as you are just insuring 'money' and paying a large margin for it. TBH we do the same with my wifes' horses as well, and find the the vet bill is cheaper when you pay it yourself...
ours costs about £20 a month to feed including all her chews she gets left with when were out. £15 a month to feed, not had her a year yet but the vets have cost about £100 to get vaccinated etc in 10 months or so. She cost £195 to buy (lurcher).
forgot to mention puppy training which wasnt cheap £80 kennel was £100. Shes ace though[img] 
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Reilly, my Springer/Lab cross, cost £300 to buy, around £30 per month for food, insurance £20, vets probably £50 per year plus one off costs such as neutering. A bit more for toy replacement, luxuries such as his boots and panniers for mountain walking & biking.
Worth every penny IMHO, if just for the reception I get whenever I get the bike out, you'd think I'd given him a steak or something!
Cheap dry dogfood is cr@p. Change to a good recommended brand and you'll notice the difference in your dog's condition in a couple of weeks. We have a golden retriever, and her coat is lovely and shiny on food around 60 quid for 15 kilos. When we tried cheap stuff, it went all dry and she lost lots of hair.
We would have gone for a rescue mutt, but needed the predictability of character from a pedigree as we have two very young kids.
Having a dog that lies on her back and loves the attention from a 1 year old pulling her about - priceless.
[quoteDougal - Member
The whole thing is quite a lot thinner when:-
- You live with a Vet (free checkups, trade on any equipment and drugs used, free/trade food from reps)
- The dog has a massive fan club who are falling over each other to look after it on holidays.
+1 for this
We are talking about replacing my gf's dog who died last year, but will probably till she is settled in a job up here
I thought the cost wouldn't be too bad before we got our dog. What I didn't expect was that it accelerated my plans for leaving work and I more or less ended up with my dream job because of it! Mountain bike skills instructor and B&B owner! Finanically more uncertain but much more fun! You can't measure the cost or gain in money with pets, once you have got them that is it! You will adjust one way or another to fit in with them!
thanks for all the info
been searching the rescue centres - a shit load of staffies, which i don't want and not a lot of what i do want
also have to negotiate some walkies and feeding cover for when i'm away
£80 from SSPCA
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Running costs:
Insurance £30 a month
Prescription food £65 a month
Swimming £28.50 each week.
Routine vet costs on top, I've claimed back well over what I've paid out on this one.
What sort of dog are you thinking of getting ?
Dalmation puppies are MILF magnets, fo sho.
I know scruff, i've seen you 'work' marquis drive playground
i had a dalmation that shat the runs 24/7
i'd like another with more regular shatting habits, but will be going the rescue route this time
What are you looking for?