Are all dogs ridiculously expensive now?

[lechatnoir]

We're ready to welcome a dog into our home but just can't afford the ££££'s being asked by breeders and as novice/first time dog owners wary about getting a rescue. Is £1500-2k standard nowadays? I'm shocked and sad that this is beyond our reach so it's looking unlikely we will be able to find one. We are aware that dog ownership isn't cheap and factored in day-to-day costs it's just this upfront lump-sum we're struggling with. Any advice?

Check out some smaller local independent shelters, they are often much more willing to consider applications from families on their individual merits. The place we got our greyhound charges a mandatory minimum adoption fee of just £150, which goes back into the rescue's work (we gave more as we wanted and could afford to do so). A greyhound most likely wouldn't be suitable for you with a cat, but there must be lots of family-friendly smaller dogs out there in rescues. If you've seen The Dog House on channel 4, they rehome to families with young kids all the time.

I paid £150 to a rescue for a pedigree with papers. The £150 also covered vaccinations, chipping and spaying and lifetime rescue support absolute bargain we love her dearly.

OP any decent breeder will have a wait list anyway so you could be waiting up to a year anyway. Any breeder who magically has a litter ready immediately when you contact them is more than likely a puppy farmer so be aware!

We adopted a 3 month old puppy from a Spanish rescue. Cost was still around £600 and on top of that we had to travel for around 2 hours for collection as the transport (Spain to UK) only brought them so far. Having looked extensively before we took the leap, Romanian rescues are also similarly priced.

The plus side is that they tend to have younger dogs available as the stray/ pregnant abandoned dog problem is so rife over there. They also often have older dogs available that have been with them for a long time so they know their personalities well and can give advice on whether its a good match.

Downsides is that even the younger dogs will have been through some trauma; either born on the streets and been hungry or possibly abandoned/hurt by people. You have to go in with your eyes open that it's going to take these dogs longer than normal to acclimatise.

We've had our dog for 3 years now and wouldn't be without her. We had a dog behaviourist at the beginning to help us settle her in but she'll never be the 'Andrex puppy rolling on the floor with the neighbours' type of animal. She adores her family but not remotely interested in other people and can be very stand-offish. Suits our lifestyle fine but its not for everyone.

Big plus side for us is that she is tough as old boots. My sister has two pedigree dogs that get the runs as soon as they look at anything that's not chicken and rice where as our rescue eats anything she's given, has a lovely shiny coat, would run all day and is an easy delight. We pay £15 a month for lifetime cover pet insurance and outwith the initial spaying/flea treatments etc, she's only been to the vets once and insurance covered it all except excess. So, not every dog needs £1500 per annum on vet fees. I'm a very experienced dog owner and I've never had a simpler, easier to train, easier to look after doggo than my lovely wee street mutt 😍

It's really tricky. Our two we adopted as older dogs from a local breeder. She charges £750 for her pups - and the same for older ones - a litter every year/18 months - bred for show and improving her lines. So in reality only one or two available from each litter.

I'd make a firm decision about the breeds which would be a good fit for your family. Get in touch with breed clubs and go to shows. Contact local breeders about rehoming an older dog and register for breed rescues.

I disagree about not buying a dog as they are expensive to keep. Buy well, insure and save for the unexpected.

If buying make sure they are from a health tested line to avoid serious illness.

I would have loved a Cav too but after reading about the breed sadly decided against.

Just a suggestion but what a Jack Russell (not a parsons just a regular none kc one), they’re quite reasonable, compared to fashionable breeds/crossbreeds in my area at least and aren’t typically prone to a lot of health issues.

We maxed out our annual allowance of £7k per year on the insurance last year.
And had to pay another couple of thousand on top of that in excess due to his age. Very glad we have the expensive insurance (~£150/month now) for him so he's still covered now, as the treatment continues, and is as expensive as it is effective.

This is not counting food, kenneling, or that one time DDog did something awful on the soft furnishings, which had to be replaced.

"Oh this won't happen with my dog!"
Well.
you've got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky?

I think it's fair enough that you have to pay a decent sum of money to adopt a dog.

Too many people adopt animals which they then change their minds about, or suddenly can't afford. A large adoption fee helps to ensure that people are making a decision they will stick by.

If you don't want to save up this amount then of course there are cheaper options like going to a rescue or seeing if there are any dogs up for rehoming locally on facebook groups etc.

Just do your research about puppy farms/ unethical breeders and avoid them.

Missed this response re rehoming a younger dog, which we have done twice.

Getting to know local show kennels may be a possibility for this option.
My breeder has 5-6 dogs she shows and breeds one or twice with girls under 3yrs. They aren't huge litters and she will keep one or two pups and see how they grow against the breed standard.
At a point in time she would make a decision to keep or move one on, this could be because they don't enjoy being shown, have a wonky tooth say, or just aren't fitting in with her pack dynamics.
If you can find a local breeder and are prepared to wait then this could be an option.

We rehomed a 2 yr old dog from another family and paid a nominal charge of £250. Think this was simply to stop anyone applying to take him. He's gorgeous and has a lovely temperament and has settled in so well. This was through Pets for Homes adoption page. I know people are wary of the site and perhaps we lucked out - but we obviously went to meet him before we agreed to adopt him... I definitely didn't want a puppy as I wasn't prepared for that phase and didn't want to pay a fortune to a breeder when there are lovely dogs needing new homes through no fault of their own. An adolescent dog suited our home better.

Greyhounds are pedigree dogs and there are plenty of them looking for a good home for whatever the rescue charges. Ours is such a fantastic pet.

It really does sound like you could be understimating costs of dog ownership. I did, massively. The main issue is, it's a bit of a blank cheque. You could get a healthy dog who needs very little in the way of ongoing healthcare, or you could get unlucky and bring home one with hidden health issues or one that has an accident, that will be costly even with top-notch insurance (which is around £60 pcm for my very young but pedigree dog). Or, you could need behavioural support - very expensive. Then, you are essentially faced what the choice of rehoming the dog or shelling out the medical or behaviourist costs.

Will you really never need holiday or work-related care or walking? I don't know anyone who relies entirely on family and friends. If so, then you are really lucky. Overnight care is in the region of £40 to £50 per 24 hr period, daycare somewhere between £25 and £50 per day.

Food doesn't have to be megabucks. Nor toys, collars, leads or accessories.

I think they should be expensive, to discourage people buying them on an ill thought out whim.

Also, absolutely don't get a CKCS from a 'home breeder' aka, someone who doesn't do the proper health checks. For those breeds, a KC approved litter with verifiable health checks is the only way to go. Even then I wouldn't.
Jack Russells are good, healthy dogs.

45k is the cost over 10 years so 4.5k per year that I have had him. Not counting the 7k paid by petplan.

My dog easily costs me £300-400 PCM and we barely buy anything extraneous. No gratuitous collars, leads, toys, or even treats any more - well, maybe a bone once a week. No grooming at all, ever. But we do use holiday care and daycare on an average of one day per week.

My total includes care, but also: routine healthcare that insurance doesn't cover (£100 excess each year one-off and not per claim, other policies differ), flea/ tick/ worm treatment, one-off things like neutering, annual health checks, medisuits/ buster collars if anything surgical, ear cleaning gubbins, kibble/ wet food mix, additional house maintenance and DIY costs (yes, really - think new grass seed each year, replacing the odd destroyed garden plant, attending to cushions and sofas that develop mysterious holes when you go out for a couple of hours/ overnight, a couple of chewed up electrical items that got left within reach... I could go on, and on, and on!).

One thing that's important to remember is that you never know what your dog will actually be like.

So, as an example, it's all very well saying you'll groom your dog at home, but what if they're terrified of the clippers and become aggressive? What if they're too nervous or wriggly for you to manage?

IMO it's really important to budget for stuff like this, then if you don't need it, it's a bonus, rather than something you have to struggle to find every month.

There are lots of specific breed rescue charities. There’s a Labrador one near us. They often have dogs whose owners have died/ hospitalised. There’s a spaniel rescue plus greyhound ones plus lots more in sure.

Would a greyhound suit? One local shelter charges £250, another is minimum £100 but whatever you can afford. Both desperate for people to rehome them after their racing career ( if they do actually race! )

Be careful of rescues. Having seen first hand what they can be like - lack of basic dog care, poor hygiene, always banging on about how great they are because they are a rescue whilst cleaning up with money/donations of everything- I'd never re-home from or through a rescue. No.
Better dealing with a registered, licensed and regulated breeder who knows their animals and knows their breed.

Only by using a rescue rather than a breeder will prices come down to something nearer to what it was before lockdown, and sadly a lot of those lockdown pups are finding their way to rehoming centres now.
OP, of you have a particular breed in mind, google rescues that only take in the breed you are after.

As to whether dogs are expensive - how much does an iPhone in the latest model cost now?

We paid 1500 18 months ago

In your position and you have obviously put a lot of thought in to it, I would, like others have suggested, go to a rescue. I was going to suggest a Greyhound until I saw you had a cat and wanted a small dog (although some are cat friendly and curl up very small!) . A local independent rescue would probably provide more back up than some of the bigger national ones and will be keen to find the best match for you especially as first time dog owners. Good luck with your search.