Ah shure, just feed it leftovers, they're not that expensive...

The Sweeper

Dear God, the money.

I've recently widened my animal focus somewhat, and included a dog in the family. Some of you may know me as the cat lady, and that's fine - I have a good handle on my kitties and their expenses, and find it very financially manageable to feed them with bulk purchases and so on.

Then I got Gus, my pup.

Now, I knew animals were expensive - or at least I thought I did. But wow, a dog is a WHOLE different kettle of fish to the costs of cats, even six of them.

Vet bills: stinking enormous for the dog because he's a great big lump of puppy lovin.

Insurance: twice the price of a cat.

Food: this bit's good - I feed raw so having him allows me to bulk buy more, because he's not as fussy as the moggies.

But what's left me gobsmacked is the unexpected expenses!! Like what, ye say? Like the following:

Dog bed.
...second dog bed (dog has eaten the first dog bed.)
Third dog bed (dog was not yet fully toilet trained, needed interchangeable bedding in case of accidents).
Trampoline bed (saves bedding getting wet in case of accidents).
Second trampoline bed (dog has eaten the first trampoline bed.)

Baby gate to keep the dog in certain parts of the house.
Second baby gate to extend this managed confinement.

Yard: new garden fence plus gate, within the already-fenced garden, because dog is DESTRUCTOPUPPY!!! Without literal every-minute-management of his activities, dog digs, chews, unearths, shreds and destroys the garden contents with delighted gusto.

Damage caused by what dog is eating is relatively minimal - he's chewed through a speaker wire, but other than his bed and pot-plants outdoors, he's mostly accompanied so the money went on the things to manage his location as opposed to replacing stuff he wrecked.

Now I'm conisdering a crate (it was inappropriate to crate him before now, because he was heavily confined in the first months of his life, leading to him being left in his own urine and faeces in enclosed space - so crate training wouldn't have helped with toilet training etc.) and that's another few hundred bucks (because he's too destructive for a soft crate and too large for a small one).

Then all the routine stuff - collar, leash, registration fees, toys he can't destroy (naturally this is the most expensive solid rubber stuff, a $2 squeaky plastic bone isn't going to cut it, neither's a tennis ball).

I've stopped counting. I haven't stopped wincing. :eek:

adser53

Ah yes I know the feeling of the doggy money pit but its worth it! you can't put a price on the feeling you get when your greeted by that big silly lump wagging its tail with sheer delight cos you're there. or the feeling you get when you walk into a room that's been destroyed and your dog is sitting in the middle of the carnage with a smile on its face

chucken1

adser53 wrote: »

Ah yes I know the feeling of the doggy money pit but its worth it! you can't put a price on the feeling you get when your greeted by that big silly lump wagging its tail with sheer delight cos you're there. or the feeling you get when you walk into a room that's been destroyed and your dog is sitting in the middle of the carnage with a smile on its face

Im never greeted..they're usually on the bed..tired you know:D. I mean they have Satuday off from the busyness..Babys:).I'd never ever put a cost on my doggies or kittys.They're family:)

Hellrazer

The Sweeper wrote: »

Then I got Gus, my pup.

Theres your problem there

Vet bills: stinking enormous for the dog because he's a great big lump of puppy lovin.

Yep I know that feeling.My Samoyed got Parvo the first week we got him home and that cost me over a grand in vets fees.Then when his kidneys failed that was another 500/600 euros in diabetes treatment.Sadly we lost him a few years back.The kids wanted an individual cremation and that was another 400 euros.You know something though--all the money in the world wouldnt change the brilliant 10+ years we had with that dog.

Food: this bit's good - I feed raw so having him allows me to bulk buy more, because he's not as fussy as the moggies.

Likewise--My lab will eat any type of food so bulk is great.

But what's left me gobsmacked is the unexpected expenses!! Like what, ye say? Like the following:

Heres my list.
Doggy beds,breifcase with loads of important documents in it.An electric drill,my wallet with a few hundred pounds in it.A wall--yep the dog ate right through a stud wall in the house over night.3 different sets of tables and chairs--He had a fondness for the legs of them.Shoes,toys.

My garden was destroyed with holes and I dont meant little holes--these were like those sink holes you see in jungle pictures--loads of them about 2-3
feet across and the same deep.Like yourself a new fence and then a second new fence when he got bigger and could jump the first new fence.

I've stopped counting. I haven't stopped wincing. :eek:

Ive stopped counting aswell--Theres no point anymore--Its just not worth worrying yourself over it.You have a dog its going to cost you big time.Its just aswell Ive decided on a little tiny breed for my next dog in order to try and save a few quid with the next one--A Bernese or Newfoundland :D

MickShamrock

I've two big dogs and really don't find them that expensive to keep at all.

The Sweeper

I think it probably depends entirely on your setup. The costs I have in terms of my fence, the indoor gates and so on are largely due to the dog not being my only pet. I have to consider my other pets, so I have to confine him to different places - e.g. if I'm up in the living room with him and he gets up and wanders off I can't just let him do it because I'll find him at the opposite end of the house, bailed up by one of the cats in a corner with them hissing at him and him trying to start a row with them generally. Hence I had to use baby gates.

Outdoors similar - if I want the dog and cats out together, I need a run for him so they have the remainder of the yard and he won't chase them. He's relatively good with them, but he's still a pup and he needs to be watched. The financial outlay is a trade-off against watching him 24 x 7 - it lets me do things like go out to work and not return home to carnage.

TooManyDogs

The Sweeper wrote: »

Dog bed.
...second dog bed (dog has eaten the first dog bed.)
Third dog bed (dog was not yet fully toilet trained, needed interchangeable bedding in case of accidents).
Trampoline bed (saves bedding getting wet in case of accidents).
Second trampoline bed (dog has eaten the first trampoline bed.)

And this is why I'm a cruel mammy and only give my new pups a cardboard box with blankets in it at the start.... when they stop chewing the cardboard they can have a nice bed! Just couldn't help but see € signs as I came in and another chunk of bed was missing!

The Sweeper wrote: »

Yard: new garden fence plus gate, within the already-fenced garden, because dog is DESTRUCTOPUPPY!!! Without literal every-minute-management of his activities, dog digs, chews, unearths, shreds and destroys the garden contents with delighted gusto.

I tell people you have to have a huge sense of humour if you're going to garden with a dog.... and then try and remember that myself when one of my dogs decides my new flower bed is actually a rat's nest so needs to be unearthed as quickly as possible, so the other 5 dogs give her a hand!!!!

Come to think of it..... why do I have dogs? A tank of fish would be much more civilised!

boomerang

The first year is definitely the most expensive

But even now at seven and eight my dogs are a huge expense... Food and insurance and sundries is a hundred euros a month

kildareash

Have our pups just over two months and find the biggest expense is food.

Luckily, they haven't chewed their blankets either indoor or outdoor.

A tree which we had planted only a few weeks before we got them has been the only major casualty so far along with a few tennis balls. We've bought all their toys in discount stores along with their bowls, leads and stuff.

I'm going to invest in a couple of kongs for them for when were at work or if we have to head out for a few hrs.

I can empathise with the op tho the initial outlay can mount up.

liah

TooManyDogs wrote: »

I tell people you have to have a huge sense of humour if you're going to garden with a dog....

I think you need a sense of humour if you're going to have a dog.. full stop!

They are the most hilarious creatures ever.. in retrospect.

Sigma Force

Some things long term you can save on but a new pup does cost a lot esp. initial set up, I normally never prepare much because I usually have doggy stuff lying around but there's a good few years between my second last and my last dog so we hadn't all the puppy stuff really except for crates.
One expense was the puppy play pen which was brilliant being a small breed he needed somewhere safe but bigger than a crate to play in.

I stuck with vet bed though in the end it's great and generally I find pups don't chew as much if they are kept busy I've chosen not to replace the couch and the chairs he chewed so I've saved some money there lol.
It adds character..so I keep telling myself. He's only small, a Papillon but he could chew for Ireland black kongs aren't a problem for him.

I find cats more expensive though cat litter costs a bomb especially, ok food wise they eat less but vet bills are the same as with a dog.

jack presley

Worth every penny know I think you'll come to discover though. I've never regretted the money I've spent on my lads over the years (and that includes a rather expensive operation)

The Sweeper

Sigma Force wrote: »

I find pups don't chew as much if they are kept busy I've chosen not to replace the couch and the chairs he chewed so I've saved some money there lol.

I'm just thinking it's probably my expectations too. My cats have cat-trees built for them so they specifically don't wreck my furniture. It's possible for me to vacuum, dust and shut the door of the cat room, and a visitor to the house wouldn't know I have cats.

Against that I'd forgotten how much of an eagle eye you need for a pup.

My guy enjoys his Kong toy, which is useful, and also loves pigs ears and will enjoy a lamb shinbone when he gets the chance, but our circumstance has changed somewhat and now he's due to be alone for eight hours for three days in the week. He'll be outside in his run for that time, so I figured on not feeding him breakfast, but turning his breakfast into 'work', e.g. hiding bones, treats, kibble and so on around his run (grassy, 6.5m wide x 10m long), but I'm considering buying a toy that basically you bolt to the wall - it's a football with a tug-handle on a bungee cord designed for home-alone dogs to pull and rag when bored.

...which is another $115.

lrushe

I think when you change from one pet you are familar with to one you're not the inital 'setup' is going to be expensive as it is all a learning curve.
For example I would be a 'dog person', have never had a day of my life go by where I didn't have some kind of dog trailing behind me therefore when I get a new pup I usually have most of the kit there already from previous dogs, beds, blankets, leashes, bowls, crates etc. and I'm experienced enough to know what to put up out of a pup's reach.
Then I got a cat 8 and a half years ago (by accident as often happens with cats ) and boy was that a learning curve that was for me! I had none of the kit for a cat. I didn't know how to toilet train a cat, I've cleaned up after manys a puppy but it never prepared me for a cat 'accident', that's a smell I could live without ever smelling again Plus no one told me that kittens would love to abseil down my expensive curtains with their claws out or scratch up my new carpet
But no matter how much they cost or how much we'd love to strangle them at times, the expense and hard work just always seems worth it, well it must do, I keep doing it again and again and again..............:D

Discodog

It gets easier as the numbers grow. My new pup has cost very little. I found him so he was free & I already had a spare Fatboy bed. We have had a chat & he now understands that chewing, anything other than what I give him to chew, is unacceptable.

So I have had to pay for jabs & food. Mine are all in brilliant condition & they get Pedigree Complete. My local shop assists by putting aside loads of bags when they are on offer !.

The joy that I get back from the little guy snoring & farting simultaneously on my lap is priceless !.

OP see my thread Cat Lovers.

Discodog

Oh & as you have been mainly conversing in Cat your Dog would like you to understand some of the basics from Dogs point of view:

If I like it, it's mine.

If it's in my mouth, it's mine.

If I had it a while ago, it's mine.

If I can take it from you, it's mine.

If it looks like mine, it's mine.

If it's mine, it must never be yours.

If I saw it first, it's mine.

If you have something & put it down, it's mine.

If I chew something, all of the pieces are mine.

If it used to be yours, get over it.

If it's broken, it's yours & the cat broke it.

DeadlyByDesign

Lol love the above post! Just put a deposit down on a great dane yesterday and will be picking it up in december, so I am saving like a lunatic knowing the damage the little fecker will do the fiest few months!

TooManyDogs

I'm telling you, cardboard boxes are the only way to go!!!

The Sweeper

Discodog wrote: »

Oh & as you have been mainly conversing in Cat your Dog would like you to understand some of the basics from Dogs point of view:

If I like it, it's mine.

If it's in my mouth, it's mine.

If I had it a while ago, it's mine.

If I can take it from you, it's mine.

If it looks like mine, it's mine.

If it's mine, it must never be yours.

If I saw it first, it's mine.

If you have something & put it down, it's mine.

If I chew something, all of the pieces are mine.

If it used to be yours, get over it.

If it's broken, it's yours & the cat broke it.

I pick up language quickly. You've left out:

Whatever I can swipe when you're not watching is mine.

The counters are only out of bounds when you're watching.

When you find me eating your socks, I'm cute.

When you find me eating your shoes, I'm cute.

When you find me eating a tea towel, I'm cute.

When you find me eating cat crap, I'm cute. Oh, and you may want to throw out those shoes, socks and tea towels.

The more tired you are, the more annoying I want to be.

Fetch is for cats. You throw it, I'll claim it, and then we can play an extended game where I keep the toy, okay?

seamus

The Sweeper wrote: »

You've left out:

I think he also forgot, "If you want it, it's mine. If you don't want it, then neither do I".

DeadlyByDesign

Or the old classic

"that table leg was in bits already...the cat did...swear to god"

Discodog