To feel that soon , dog ownership will just be for the well off? And thats not fair.

[Tunamelt]

We had a family dog and as a child I really benefited from it . As did my own dc when we had our beloved dog.
When the dc had a hard day she cheered them up so much and it was such a good experience for them.
We have just adopted a dog.
She needed the vets in the first week due to upset tummy.
Ist vet appt £75 and then x2 meds.
She now needs a stool sample and a further vet appt to
check her health.
stool sample test alone will be over £100.
We had appt with behaviourist at £90 ph .
Her food is £60 pm.
the vet thinks she may need fluxotine for anxiety and those meds are around £80 pm
So thats come to a good amount and she has only been here a few weeks.
Its made me realise that these sort of costs are just not do able for
many - and a concern to us -and it seems so unfair that the joy of a dog may be beyond reach for many these days .

@Tunamelt re food - any food changes have to be gradual. As in add 25% new food, 75% old food for a week. Then 50/50, then 75/25.

In terms of food, I feed a balanced kibble with human grade raw meat. With my westie, he can't tolerate high fat food eg regular beef mince - it gives him an upset tum. He gets very lean beef mince, chicken or turkey. Turkey is super lean.

With the chicken and rice that you need to feed her, break up the chicken and thoroughly mix through the rice so she can't avoid the rice. Cooked pumpkin can also help tums. Just boil peeled pumpkin and mash up and mix in with the chicken and rice.

You sound inexperienced with dogs. A clear warning that the "rescue" you got the dog from was crap is the fact the dog came with cat kibble as part of its daily food. Dogs cannot eat cat food as it is too high in protein and fat. The dog should have been on a balanced, complete dog kibble. The cat food could very well be the cause of the diarrhoea as it can cause pancreatitis in dogs - did you tell the vet the dog was regularly fed cat food? Even if it isn't pancreatitis, the fat content of cat food would majorly upset my westie's tum.

In terms of the dog following you around, mine always like to be where I am. They go off and do their own thing but then check in regularly and typically sleep in the office when I work from home.

What are the underlying breeds of the dog? That's important to know as breeds can have innate behaviours eg border collies herd, retrievers retrieve, terriers (my favourites) terrorise LOL Additionally breeds can have consistent temperaments eg livestock guardians are aloof and not lap dogs, some breeds are known for stubbornness. Westie owners affectionately note their "westitude".

Understanding what breeds make up your dog can help you to know what activites they will respond best to.

Personally I'd be handing the dog back to the rescue as you will have the next decade plus of deling with these behaviours. They will never go away.

My dogs (and cats) cost me a fortune

Dog food £120 per month
insurance for both of them £87 per month
flea & worming treatment £10-20 depends on if they need it
training is £60 for an hour (luckily I don’t need all that much as I trained my one dog with a trainer then used all I learnt to train the second, that cost me well over £1000)

Working sport training can cost me £300/400 per weekend.

My dog chipped his tooth…nearly 10k he has one nice titanium tooth! I could have had my own turkey teeth for less than one of his cost - luckily he’s insured and that paid for it. He cost me £500 would have cost me £200 to have him put to sleep.

My failed rescue kittens have just cost me £70 & £110 for spaying and neutering plus £100 each for vaccinations.

Pet ownership is definitely a luxury.

Sadly you will always get bad owners, even most of the people who think they are good owners are bad owners, I’ve worked with some fairly severe rescue cases where the owners thought they were good owners.

@neonbluedog I could never be a vet. I could not cope with the casual cruelty people inflict eg by delaying treatment or trying to self treat things like broken legs, or refusing to treat eg torn ligaments. I just couldn't handle the unnecessary suffering.

I love my vets. My dogs love the vets. With my staffy, he had really bad arthritis so we saw the vet monthly for cartrophen injections. I was charged $26 for the injection, no consult fee, and he got a free check over every visit. Even with my horses, the vets are just the most amazing people.

I think vets costs reflect the extensive knowledge, treatment and facilities that vets have. Medications aren't subsidised for pets and actual costs can surprise people.

‘Personally I'd be handing the dog back to the rescue as you will have the next decade plus of deling with these behaviours. They will never go away.’
Now this comment has really worried me .

Mines the same but had zero problems now he’s on chicken. I cook chicken drumsticks, it really helps him.

@Tunamelt ignore this. It's a stupid comment. You've rescued a dog, knowing what it is to have a dog. The dog just needs time to settle.

Lots of dogs have trouble with dairy products so probably best skip the yoghourt for now, at least until you've got her on an even keel then you can try introducing new foods one at a time & see if she's got any specific triggers.
Yes, you easily can get pumpkin powder online.

@Girliefriendlikespuppies a dog walker is often the biggest cost. If a dog walker is needed I'm not sure the individual should have a dog.

Isit2026yet
thank you - it didnt help x

I dont agree with comment if you can't affoard you shouldnt have one. Pets owners dont know whats ahead when they get a dog. Circumstances can change over the years. IMO Vets costs should be cheaper

@Dolphin66 i think if you need a dog walker, are willing to put your dog in kennels and can't afford quality food, insurance and vaccines plus excess of insurance you shouldn't have one! Likewise you shouldn't have more kids than you can afford to pay for!

Let alone those vet costs many cant afford £60 for dog food.

Then why get a dog?

I had a dog walker when I was at uni. It was only for a few weeks at a time.

The ongoing costs if not sound like a lot, is it not covered by your insurance?

We adopted a dog from the Dog's Trust and he had problems, but because it was something that was obviously existing when we adopted him, they covered that aspect of his care. I don't know if that's because we continued with the same vet the Trust uses because they just told us it was covered by the Trust and not something we asked. I know that's not what you asked but thought it might be worth bearing in mind.

I know what you mean about the cost and how it might be out of some people's reach. However, one thing worth mentioning is that low-income families in the UK can pay vet bills through charities like PDSA and Blue Cross, which offer free or low-cost care for eligible benefit recipients. I wasn't aware of this until we had to take one of our pets to the out of hours vet our own vet works with. We were there a long time due to the severity of the problem and got chatting with the lady on reception and she mentioned it when I also questioned how some pet ownership might become beyond some people's reach.

@YeOldeGreyhound as a temporary fine but if someone is paying a dog walked and not walking their dog, should they have one?

Should someone have a child if they go to a nursery?

@YeOldeGreyhound fair point. Some on MN would say no. DD went to nursery, i’d never get a dog walker or put them in kennels!

Totally agree about there being too many bad owners with untrained dogs. I don't think it even matters sometimes whether the dogs are cheap or not, I've met plenty of pedigree dog owners who are irresponsible too. I don't think they should have stopped the necessity for a license. It didn't stop everyone, but it did create a degree of accountability I think.

I'm not sure I agree about the rescue though as they usually have quite extensive health checks and are with the rescue for a degree of time to ascertain health and behaviour issues (or at least the Dog's Trust definitely do). I have had both rescue dogs and dogs from respected breeders. One of my rescues had a problem, but the Dog's Trust covered that because it was existing and he didn't need anything else although we had insurance just in case. My beautiful girl I have now was from a respected breeder, but she had a medical problem early on. She is fine now and quickly recovered, but I think sometimes these things can't be predicted. I wonder if the OP took insurance, but didn't start it until she picked up her dog. I don't think they usually cover things that occur in the first 14 days.

Not fair? 🤣 dog ownership isn’t a right

I think owning dogs should be rare and that the dog population should be much lower.

Because full-time minimum wage (or equivalent salary) should not mean anyone is still poor and sensible pet ownership (1 dog household when in a position to not leave there dog too long) should not be out of reach for any working person/ family, because when it is there is something really wrong with society.

She’s had the dog four weeks, based on previous posts. If she can’t afford it now that is 1000% on her.

Exactly this.

I wouldn’t take any notice of this comment, out of the 7 resident dogs we’ve had only one was from a breeder the rest of them gave all come through rescues and they’ve all been amazing.
No dog is perfect but 2 we lost last year were the sweetest, kindest dogs I’ve ever had the pleasure of coming into contact with and they are still much missed by my children especially every single day.