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Talk to me about having a dog

34 replies

ssd · 29/01/2019 21:10

We're on low wages and I'm worried about the costs involved
Dh says if we get one it'll be a rescue dog
Please can anyone advise me of costs including food, insurance , vets bills, anything else
Thanks

OP posts:
ssd · 29/01/2019 21:10

Also we have no family to take a dog if we go away anywhere

OP posts:
Bunnybigears · 29/01/2019 21:16

We have a rescue dog. He cost £200 adoption fee. I spend £21 per month on basic food but he is a small dog obviously a bigger dog will cost more. He also vets treats on top of that. His insurance is £13 a month but thats because he is a young small mongrel. Pedigree dogs even if not kennel.club registered and older dogs can cost a lot more. We paid £99 for vaccinations for life from Vets 4 Pets. We have a friend who dog sits jf we go on holiday but if you dont you need to factor in kennel fees as well. Other costs are dog poo bags, harness, colar, lead, dog car restraint and dog training.

YoureAllABunchOfBastards · 29/01/2019 21:18

It is fantastic, life changing, wonderful and also bloody difficult, ties you down and costs you money!

Financially, it costs us about £35 a month for food (kibble) and £20 a week for one day's daycare. We haven't left him overnight yet - that will cost £25 a day/night. We pay an extra £20 every time we stay in a Travelodge so we can take him.

I wouldn't be without him, but don't underestimate costs. I haven't even mentioned vet bills, insurance, treats etc

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DawgLover · 29/01/2019 21:19

Insurance- £20 per month, would rise if we claim obviously,
Food - Maybe £10 per month for basics, plus another £15 per month for treats/white fish to mix in
Dog Walker (unless someone is home during the day?) - £200 per month
Vets Bill's if something goes wrong - could be anything really. I once paid an extra £2k for a dog, over and above what insurance would cover.
Annual vets Bill's- £50 for boosters
Flea / worming- £15 every 3 months

Add to that approx £30 per day if you needed to board with a sitter whilst you were away. No idea what kennels cost as I wouldn't consider them personally.

DawgLover · 29/01/2019 21:20

A rescue is a good idea, they would already have had up to date vaccinations and be neutered/spayed

lpchill · 29/01/2019 21:24

Rescues are definitely cheaper as they would come already castrated and with the annual injection. You need to price everything up and make decisions where the dog will sleep, transporting it and dog care.

Check out your local vets to find a good but reasonable price one.

Insurance is a must but we got brought by many where if it's not used they refund some of the money. Look at insurances that actually pay out a good percentage.

Food you can shop deals. We have a ten month old that we put on dry and wet food mix. Don't buy a lot when you first get the dog as it may not like it/be allergic. Dog can covers we got from pound stretcher (they where a pig to find)

Toys and leads- if puppy get the most adjustable collar (save you some money until fully grown) same with harness. Lead- we have a good zippy lead and a short one. Ezydog I found is a good all round brand. Don't buy a long lead for recall. Get a massive bit of rope. Toys- b and m do great dog supply stuff at fraction of the price.

ssd · 29/01/2019 21:33

Thanks all, not sure if we can afford one yet

OP posts:
DawgLover · 29/01/2019 21:43

You could always consider weekend boarding? My friend is dog mad but doesn't have time during the week for a dog. She will dog-sit/board Friday night to Sunday night and gets about £50 for the pleasure of looking after a dog for the weekend.

Some weekends she doesn't have any so it's pocket money rather than a steady income but if you would like canine company and some extra pennies might be worth a thought?

ButDoYouAvocado · 29/01/2019 21:53

Hi, dog groomer here. If money is tight go for a short coated breed that doesn't need professional grooming. Some breeds need grooming every 4-6 weeks and it soon adds up.

Aquamarine1029 · 29/01/2019 21:57

Don't get a dog. You can't afford it. One of my dogs had a bladder condition and in total we spent over £11,000 over the course of his 7 year life in surgeries, medicine and a special diet.

TooExtraImmatureCheddar · 29/01/2019 22:04

Depends where you are in the country re costs. Our dog was £80 from the Edinburgh Cat and Dog Home, and already neutered, vaccinated and chipped. A dog walker cost £10 a day (we needed 3 days a week and someone was home the rest of the time). You may not need a dog walker if someone is in the house or if you work short days or similar.

Insurance started at about £15 a month but we had to claim on it for an accident - ddog spent a week in the vet hospital and we only had to pay the £85 excess, thank god. His actual bill was over £4000, so insurance really is worth it! Premium didn’t go up much, but as dog got older he started to develop other issues (liver issues, which he recovered from) and a lot of insurance only covers a new condition for the first year, so we paid about £70 for pills every 2-3 months until he had fully recovered. Also, horribly, when he had to be put down we were charged for that too (can’t remember how much). In the end the insurance was up to about £35 a month due to his age and various ailments.

Food is up to you - you can spend wildly varying amounts on it from basics dog food to luxury stuff.

You’ll need vaccines - not covered by insurance. Some vets do vaccine deals where they’ll charge you a small direct debit every month and it covers worming, flea stuff and vaccines when they fall due, which spreads the cost.

Lead, collar etc don’t have to be expensive.

Dog sitting is a pain to organise if you don’t have anyone to help out! It’s expensive. My dog hated kennels - was phobic about being back in the pound.

But our dog was an absolute joy and delight —most of the time—. I would have another in a heartbeat if we weren’t out so much. When we got the old dog, DH could take him to work. When his business folded and he worked 9-5 the dog quickly demonstrated that he hated being left for the whole day and we had to get a dog walker quickly. It wouldn’t be fair on the dog to get another one now - maybe one day!

TooExtraImmatureCheddar · 29/01/2019 22:05

You don’t need professional grooming. Buy a pair of clippers and do your own. Vastly cheaper. If it’s a breed that needs it at all - most don’t.

Kittykat93 · 29/01/2019 22:11

If you're unsure whether you can afford one and are both on low income, I would leave it for now and see how your finances are next year (or whenever).

Dogs are a massive responsibility. I've just had to pay a couple of thousand for an emergency operation for my dog - even with insurance.

Bunnyhop1502 · 29/01/2019 22:11

There’s one going spare on another thread...

Fairylea · 29/01/2019 22:14

Dogs are expensive. Especially as they get older. Pet insurance is expensive and as they get older it becomes ridiculously expensive to insure them. My mum has always had dogs and the last two she had had heart issues that ended up costing her £50 a month each in heart medication, let alone the ££££ in vet costs.

Dogs are lovely but they cost a lot more than people think they do.

wishingforapositiveyear · 29/01/2019 22:15

Do you work ? Ddog costs me 25 insurance 14 a month for flea wormer and injections , food about 20 but the biggest expense is dog walker at 200 a month.

JeezOhGeeWhizz · 29/01/2019 22:17

Having a dog is expensive. If you're already worried about money don't get one. You could end up skint as a result.

CommunistLegoBloc · 29/01/2019 22:20

It’s not the cost of acquiring the dog (£125 rescue here) but all the other crap. Food, toys, bedding, harness. Insurance. I’ve paid four figures recently for a condition that wasn’t covered by the insurance but was causing pain so obviously had to be dealt with quickly. What would you do if you had to pay for something unexpectedly and immediately?

I love the company but it’s a ballache when we want to be away for a holiday or just a night or two. We have family to take him so it’s free but not close by. An extra level of planning is always required.

He’s a bastard too. I do love him.

cowfacemonkey · 29/01/2019 22:21

Mine costs around £200 a month (minimum)
Dog walker £100 p/m
Food and treats £60/£70 p/m
Insurance £25 p/m
Flea treatment and worming £15 p/m
Water and electricity from all the extra washing!
Loss of income (try not to think about it!) I work part time and the opportunity to take on more is there but wouldn’t be fair on ddog.
Walking in the winter is miserable in poor quality outdoor wear so I’ve spent a lot of money on a winter coat/boots etc this year.
We haven’t needed much get treatment but our insurance excess is £100 and minor treatments and consult fees have been around £50/£60 a time. £20 for effectively 5 ibuprofen tablets and I swear to god he stopped limping the second we left the vets!

cowfacemonkey · 29/01/2019 22:23

Oh yeah forgot about the harness he chewed through (£30) and all the beds and blankets he’s destroyed and the bannister rail he chewed through. Oh and the adaption collars and plug ins cause bonfire night lasts 3 months these days.
Good job he’s adorable

cowfacemonkey · 29/01/2019 22:24

Adaptil

dontblameme · 29/01/2019 22:24

Have a look at borrowmydoggy.com

I lend my dog out once or twice a week to lovely people who can't own their own dog right now. Win-win-win situation :-)

Chingling · 29/01/2019 22:29

It can be quite hard to get a suitable rescue. We were registered and approved with 3 but no suitable dogs were available for over 6 months- when they came up there were lots interested in them etc. One rescue was really trying to find us a dog as we had adopted from them before 10 years ago.

In the end we had a 'private' adoption. a 9 week old puppy who had been bought at 7 weeks and within 10 days the owners realised that they couldn't cope. Came through a friend of a friend of a friend kind of thing. It was a massive gamble but we later met her mum and all of her siblings- they get together every few weeks. We mostly took her as I was so worried where she might end up- desirable type of dog. She is now 14 months and a delight.

Probably cost us £1500 plus in the past 12 months. Insurance £135- went for maximum as unknown dog, vaccinations/worming £100 for year, neutering was almost £300 as needed another small op at the same time. Additional garden fencing £125. Grooming is £36 every couple of months etc etc. Dog training/puppy classes was about £150

FrangipaniBlue · 29/01/2019 23:18

It's the best and hardest thing in the world!

FrangipaniPup is 18wks old, we lost FrangipaniDog of 15yrs last year and I honestly think my brain forgot how hard having a pup was Confused

FrangipaniDog was a rescue cross breed, cost us £200 ish for neutering/micro chipping etc when we got her and I'd say lucky if we spent £2,000 over the course of her life - she ate leftovers mixed with kibble so we didn't really buy much dog specific food and being a mongrel we didn't bother insuring her.

FrangipaniPup is a pedigree and a whole other kettle of fish.

Cost to buy £1500
KC registration £45
Microchip fees £20
Puppy crate £55
Second stronger puppy crate after he escaped from the first one £110
1million bull breed proof chew toys £100
Kibble £25 pm
Chicken/rice/eggs/tuna £35 pm
Dog walker £150 pm
Insurance £50 pm

You get the idea........ choose your dog wisely Grin

Iloveautumnleaves · 29/01/2019 23:34

SSD your kids are almost grown, do you really want a 10-20 year commitment to a dog right now? 😖. That aside, they do cost quite a lot of money. Insurance doesn’t cover everything & you need a good ££££ back stop for the things it wouldn’t cover.