Money Matters
Xstatic3333
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Proof my dog budget!
A few months ago I mentioned that H and I were considering getting a dog, though we had different ideas about what we wanted. Well, earlier this week we put in an application to adopt a 3-year old Brittany Spaniel from a reputable local rescue group. This dog would be perfect, because H (who wanted a "breed") grew up with a Brittany, but I will still get to fulfill my desire to adopt. He won't be ready to go to a new home until the end of January, but so far things are looking good with our application and I think it's likely we will be approved. I'm so excited!
Since I know a lot of you have dogs, would you mind proofing my dog equipment budget and see if I am forgetting anything important or am way off on pricing? This doesn't include the adoption fee ($500) or the initial vet visit (I'm thinking that will be around $150). The dog food will probably look a little high; this rescue group emphasizes using expensive brands like Blue Buffalo, so that is probably what our pup will be used to. Thanks in advance!
|
Item |
Expected Cost |
|
Crate (30” by 30”) |
50 |
|
Retractable Leash |
20 |
|
Dog bed |
50 |
|
Pad for below bowls |
10 |
|
Bowls |
20 |
|
Crate Pad |
40 |
|
Food |
50 |
|
Collar |
15 |
|
Harness or slip leash |
15 |
|
Dog Food (30 lbs) |
50 |
|
Treats and toys |
30 |
|
|
|
|
Total |
350 |
Re: Proof my dog budget!
Don't forget to add the annual license fee.
The city I used to live in offered free rabies shots once a year. Check if your town offers it. It does not cost a lot to get it done at the vet office, but if you're able to get it for free, why not?
I always thought dog treats and toys were a bit pricey, $30 might not be enough? But if you are willing, you can find a bunch of homemade dog treats recipes. Simple Google search and you will have more than enough to choose from.
Dog crate might cost a bit more also? Everything else sounds about right, but it has been years since I bought any of that stuff, so I might be wrong.
As for crate, I think I can get it for that price just because there is a store in our area, Ocean State Job Lot, that deeply discounts them. Most of my friends with dogs get theirs there. I certainly won't skimp on size, though, and will get what he's used to from his foster home
Your vet costs seem pretty good, noffgurI! I'm budgeting up a bit since we're HCOL and this particular dog had some health problems.
Thanks for the finger crossing @HoneyBee973!
I checked and yearly registration in our city is only $5. Woohoo!
Don't get a retractable leash, they do not function as a good reading tool, they can injure a dog's neck (and you if you get tangled in one), and they fail frequently... Invest in a nice 6' flat lead.
My dog eats any bedding that goes in her crate, don't invest in any nicer bedding until youth knows what doggy will do.
Revolution is a flea, tick, parasite preventative your vet will recommend, if there's snow on the ground, you don't need it.
What about training classes?
Consider a small vet e-fund
Edited because words
I checked out obedience classes at PetCo (where my parents had the best luck) yesterday and they are $120/6 weeks. Not too bad!
Vet e-fund is a good idea, although part of me was considering just using the regular e-fund and raising our target amount (budgeting for the expected, of course). I'd be curious what others do there.
@vlagrl29 the dog comes microchipped from the rescue, which I'm pumped about! Unfortunately this poor dog is being currently treated for heartworms, so I wouldn't be surprised if that means extra follow-up visits for a few months to make sure they've got them all with the treatment cycle he's in now.
Man, so dog obsessed right now. I hope they can do our home visit soon so we can sign the contract!
I've found $20-25/class to be pretty standard.
Heartworm treatment sucks! Definitely look into revolution, it prevents heartworm too.
We've found the training to be invaluable, it gave us a lot of insight into why our dog was doing certain things, and we get great feedback about things out dog might be good at and things that might make her uncomfortable. So we can avoid seeing her up for failure in situations where she really isn't comfortable. Our dog had a lot of "body guarding" issues, she gets nervous when people try to touch her to groom our inspect her, the trainer helped us work through things, she'll now let me out boots on her in the winter, can be successful at the vet most of the time without extra restraint or sedation, she'll also begrudgingly allow a groomer to trim her nails.
Hi! I'm mostly just a lurker, but I remember your post a few months back about adopting a pup so I thought I'd chime in. First of all, congratulations on your (hopefully!) new addition! We adopted our little beagle girl at 7 months back in March, and we could not love her more! I think it's great that you've outlined a budget. Here are my thoughts.
1. Generally speaking, having bought our first home about a year and half before we got the dog, we found the experiences to be similar in that there's a lot of expenses (some expected, some not) upfront for the first couple of months, and then it tapers off after you've really gotten settled. I think expanding your e-fund or having a set amount in your regular budget that's more than you think you'll realistically spend is a good practice so that the less expensive months will off-set the more expensive ones.
2. I agree with PP about not getting a retractable leash. H and I were advised against getting one and got a 6-foot, regular leash instead. I've walked a dog with a retractable leash before, and in addition to it giving you less control and the whole tangling hazard, it can also burn your hands if the dog charges forward unexpectedly.
3. I'm so glad to see the rescue place you're working with recommends Blue Buffalo - we LOVE that food for our pup, and believe it is absolutely worth the expense! Find out for sure the exact brand and variety your pup has been getting in his foster home - you'll want to purchase a small bag of that if it's not Blue Buffalo and slowly switch to the new food if he's not already getting what you want to feed him. If there's a Petco or a similar store near you, sign up for their rewards program - Blue Buffalo doesn't go on sale and you can't use their sale promotions to buy it at a discount, but they do send us coupons for it occasionally. The adoption event we went to when we met her and brought her home took place at a Petco, and since were adopting they gave us a huge coupon book that included offers for money off all kinds of things we bought in the beginning, including the food and the training classes.
4. I can't speak to the exact vet costs since they tend to vary by area, but see if you can get a recommendation from someone in your area that already has a dog. We chose our vet because the hours are fantastic (they are open 7 days a week, until 10:00 each night) and they do boarding if we go away for a night or two and don't take her with us. That might be something worth looking in to if you think it would be worthwhile. Expect a lot of the upfront costs to be vet related - our pup needed a few shots in the first couple of months we had her (simply because she hadn't been due for them while she was in foster care), plus she had an ear infection that took two visits to get resolved. Also, I'd recommend bringing him to the vet as soon as you can after bringing him home (I think we had only had her for 3 or 4 days when we took her for the first time) - even if you get all the documents from his recent vet visits when you bring him home (which you should, so they know his shot history and all of that) and feel you know what you're getting in terms of his health, it's worth it to have him examined right in front of you to make sure he doesn't have any medical issues the rescue agency wasn't aware of. You may also discover in time that he has some non-major issues like allergies that require some kind of easy to administer medication or maintenance. Ours has dry skin and some not overly bothersome seasonal allergies. She also gets motion sick on long car rides! She gets a fish oil pill every morning for the dry skin (it has worked WONDERS to stop her flaking and scratching), a Benadryl when we've noticed her eyes are running or she's been biting her feet a lot from her allergies, and a prescription anti-nausea medication that I have to refill every time we're about to take a trip that involves a long car ride. None of it is hard to take care of or any type of real expense to anticipate, but they were a few more things on top of the shots and ear infection that required a call to the vet and some money for meds during those first few months.
5. Paying for training classes is worth it in our experience. We did the Adult 1 and Adult 2 series with our pup at Petco, and found it to be really beneficial for both us and her. She learned some basic commands and had a blast with all the attention she got from us and the trainer (and all the treats she got while we were there, haha!), as well as socializing with the other dogs. It was also great for us because we learned not just how to work with her but also some general tips and techniques for owning and taking care of a dog that we found really valuable. The trainers at Petco have a lot of experience working with rescues and can give you lots of tips for how to work with him to overcome any issues he may have. Even if you or your H had dogs growing up (I did, my H did not), it's a really different experience when YOU are the adult responsible for the dog, even if you feel you pitched in a lot as a teenager or young adult with your parents' dogs.
6. One thing that you may also want to budget for is grooming expenses. Most dogs at least need to be brushed every now and then. I don't know if spaniels require haircuts (our beagle doesn't), but you'll want to make sure he gets a bath at least once a month. That's another thing you'll want to do shortly after bringing him home as well, since you probably won't know when the last time was that he had one. Even though all our girl needs is a bath and we could really do it ourselves, we pay to have her bathed once a month at Petco since I'm afraid to trim her nails myself (dogs have veins in their nails, and I'm afraid I'll make her bleed!) and beagles are a breed that need to have their anal glands expelled on a regular basis (no explanation needed I'm sure as to why we don't want to do that ourselves!). We think it's money well spent just based on those two things alone.
Sorry for the lengthy post - hope some of it was useful! Good luck on having your application approved - fingers are crossed for you!!!
I'm glad to hear that the two Petco series were such a great experience! That's our plan. I'm also really interested in the clicker training class. You both also definitely have me sold that there will be no retractable lead. Things have changed since I was a kid! I'm so glad to have learned that before our home visit.
Grooming costs are a good budget addition. I didn't really realize about the nail clipping but that sounds well worth $10 for me. Anal glands, worth whatever they charge! Baths I'll probably try myself first.
Skijouring sounds really cool! Show pictures! I'm definitely hoping this dog will like to run with me, pending his heartworm recovery. It's one of the reasons we sought out a high-energy breed. Brittanys need to feel like they have a "job" so training and exercise will be big priorities.
Ahhhh so excited!
1. This may be included in your vet bill expenses, but don't forget about the cost of buying heartworm and flea prevention. We use trifexis (which covers both in one pill) and it is about $100 for 6 months of pills. Buy this stuff from 1-800-Pet Meds or from a discount vet; it is much cheaper than a regular vet. If you buy from Pet Meds, google coupon codes... they almost always have them.
2. Don't buy a dog bed upfront. Do you have an old comforter you can use instead? Our dog eats beds, but loves sleeping on old blankets. Every dog is different, but its best to get to know your dog first.
3. Once you get an understanding for how long a bag of dog food lasts in your house, set up automatic dog food purchasing through Petsmart or Petco or Amazon. It saves you a ton of money, and the food ships straight to your house for free. You have to buy $50 worth, but we just buy two bags at a time to meet that amount.
4. Be prepared to have a lot of unexpected events and expenses when you first get the dog (and if you ever move, because the dog gets confused when you move.) Here are just a few examples of things that happened to us when we first got our dog and when we moved with her: she got loose, caught Parvo ($500 vet bill), scraped her head severely (another $500 vet bill), tore up the carpet in our apartment ($200), and we probably spent about $80 on toys before we found the right toys that kept her attention (and kept her away from eating things she shouldn't eat). Oh! Then there was the time she tracked poo all over our bed and we had to buy a new comforter and sheets. And those three remote controls that she chewed up... ha! Hope this doesn't scare you. It may be better, since you aren't getting a baby puppy. Just be ready. If stuff like this does happen, just remember that it gets better once the dog settles in.
Congratulations on your new addition!
Had to respond to this one - our pup is scared of the vacuum (among other things), and has peed on our bed, most likely out of fear, about 3 or 4 times since we've gotten her while we're cleaning and running the vacuum! I've gotten good at getting rid of the stain and the smell if we catch her in the act, but our king sized comforter has been dry cleaned about 3 times in the last 6 months! At $35 a pop, we keep telling her she has to get a job if she keeps it up! Add Nature's Miracle spray to your shopping list
.
And ditto on the unexpected expenses and experiences in the beginning - for us, one of the more memorable ones was when she chewed on the leg of one of our nice pieces of furniture in our bedroom while H was out and I was in the shower. We hadn't had it long and invested in good pieces that we want to last us for a long time. That event inspired a trip to Home Depot for wood filler and a call to the furniture manufacturer for touch up stain.
This is a good thing to consider and something we didn't think of ourselves until recently. As I mentioned before, our pup gets carsick, and since our families live 4 hours away we take her on long drives on a fairly regular basis. My brother and SIL recently lost their dog, so we are inheriting her carseat (a harness like the one @Gdaisy09 described wouldn't work for our girl since she only weighs 14 pound). We're hoping it'll help with the motion sicknesses, and my SIL also told us that her dog groomer mentioned that in NJ (where we're all from) you can actually get a ticket if you get pulled over and have an unrestrained dog in the car! That was news to me, but it makes sense, plus you definitely don't want the dog to get hurt in the event you were in an accident.
We adopted our pittie mix, MOOSE in September and the cost has been higher than expected.
The annual registration for us in only $15 a year.
We bought these bowls online (7-cup) for under $5 a bowl (http://www.chewy.com/dog/bergan-stainless-steel-standard-bowl/dp/39937). This is also where we buy his food and treats on "auto ship".
We ended up spending quite a bit on bedding. First he chewed up two beds we attempted to put into his crate. Then we decided to introduce him to bedding outside the crate for a few nights before putting them in there, and he's adjusted to that bed. We also have a bed for downstairs (living area) and one for in our bedroom. The beds added up to about $150.
I agree with PP that treats and toys will add up to more than expects. Our guy is a crazy chewer and is able to DESTROY most toys in the matter of minutes. We've settled on antlers as his primary toy and for his size, they run about $20-30 each. He goes through on every 3 weeks or so.
We also got pet insurance through Healthy Paws Pet Insurance. We signed up for a $200 deductible and then 90% reimbursement for all covered expenses ($35/month). It has already been worth it since he's had a bladder infection and roundworms in the first 2 months since adoption.
Also, as someone else mentioned, heartworm/flea medicine should be included.
Hope this helps!!
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