My dogs are costing me $850/month
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Anonymous
*$2400 total. Not enough coffee today! 
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Anonymous
K-9 Divine Ranch, $35/night, will do pick up and drop off from your house. Plus after a certain number of nights you get an automatic discount. The bigger issue is that OP is spending $200/month on training and still has such a ~*~rambunctious~*~ dog they can't ask a friend or family member to watch it for the weekend. The trainer is the one taking them for a ride here. |
Anonymous
Uh puppies, even well trained ones, are rambunctious. Maybe OP is trying to be polite and not foist her puppy on friends and family because they’re just...a lot. There’s a lot of unnecessary judgement in your post. |
Anonymous
Your K-9 Divine place is $44/night according to their website (and $70/night if you use the pick up and drop off) but thanks for playing! |
Anonymous
I think I love you! Perfect observation. |
Anonymous
The dog is a year old, and according to OP it's a large breed. Large breeds aren't "puppies" for longer than a year. It's been in a professional training program for at least a few months. They shouldn't be paying $200/month for training that isn't working. |
Anonymous
I must be grandfathered in. Oh well. |
Anonymous
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I try not to think about how much our dog costs, and while my wife doesn't always agree i think it's worth it and he's great with the kids:
-$400/month dog walker -$60/month food -$200/month boarding (not each month, but across the year @ $100/day) I think that's about it for recurring expenses, aside from his usual check-ups which seem to run about $300/per visit, but the real kicker for us is unplanned healthcare. We've had 4 major surgeries (to remove items from his stomach) and an MRI to try to learn what is causing a recent batch of seizures. Each surgery was around $5k and the MRI was $2k...we could have put this dog through a year of college. |
Anonymous
Boarding 4-5 nights PER MONTH is a lot! |
Anonymous
LOL, my cats have cost me the most out of my whole bunch of pets. A couple of urinary blockages that happen in the middle of the night so only the super expensive emergency vet is open is all it takes. |
Anonymous
Same here. Rather spend my discretionary cash on my family. |
Anonymous
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You set yourself up for this.
I assume the puppy training expenses will end soon so there's a plus. Can you find food and meds cheaper? And why so much boarding? Surely, you can find a cheaper alternative. And once the puppy settles down you can drop it off with your parents too. |
Anonymous
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OP here. I work from home, so that means I'm available for both of my dogs, who are office companions. DH and I travel for work about 5 days every month, and that's the $200/board (it's actually only $28/night, but we add a $12/day package for extra pup love & walking & treats). My parents watch the older dog, but the young one is simply too energetic and unpredictable to be around elderly people (my dad is nearly 90).
We groom the dogs ourselves. As for the meds, our older dog (9 years old) has hip dysplasia, and she has anxiety for which we purchase a natural supplement recommended by our vet. The med is called Solliquin, and it's $60 for 45 days. So far, it seems to have helped our dog be less anxious. We had a dog that lived to be 15, and she had numerous expensive surgeries, including an enucleation. We've considered a hip replacement for our 9-year-old dog, and that will be expensive, but at this point I think we're going to pass. We might go forward with the femoral head osteotomy, though.
This made me laugh! Large breeds are actually quite rambunctious for the first couple of years & take longer to mature. I used to have a 130-pound Kuvasz who didn't chill out until he was 3. Giant breeds aren't fully mature until they're 3, and my 16-month-old pup still has another 15 pounds to add to her frame. Our young large breed dog is a rescue Malinois/Shepherd. Someone decided to create a designer litter, resulting in 13 puppies, and my sweet but utterly insane dog is one of those pups. Because I'm a responsible owner, I want to ensure my dog is as well-trained as possible. She's been through extensive training, and next we're going to start with agility this fall. The reason I posted is because I sat down with a financial advisor yesterday to discuss retiring within the next few years, and I had to account for monthly expenses on a granular level. I was surprised to see the numbers! |
Anonymous
I must know, what breeder does this? That alone would be worth it, to me. |
Anonymous
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OP again - I've tried cheaper food options, but they go through a lot of food. I buy 2 bags a month of Performatrin Ultra Limited, and because of a pet store loyalty program, I pay $50/bag. That's $100/month. To that, I add $30 in canned dog food, because I buy 12 cans a month at $2.50/can after discounts. I could skip the wet food, but I like to put a few dollops on top of the dry food.
I'm 100% open to good, cheap dog food suggestions! We used to feed them Taste of the Wild and then moved to Performatrin, which is less expensive. I don't have a Costco membership, but I belong to BJ's if there's a good alternative at that store. The boarding fee will eventually decrease, but it will be at least a couple of years before my elderly parents would feel comfortable with my crazy pup. The training fee could drop now, but I'm about to dig in & start with agility, which I think will be an enjoyable outlet for me and the pup. As for the vet cost, that $250/month is based on $3,000/year for 2 dogs. Most of that goes to the older dog, who has repeat UTIs and ear infections, plus regular treatment and scans for her hip dysplasia. Regular vaccination appointments are at least $150 as well. Yikes. |