My dogs are costing me $850/month

[Anonymous]

Your boarding cost sounds so high.. Are you traveling that much that it breaks down to $200/mo? Use rover.com instead to find a reasonable sitter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just did the math. I have two dogs, ages 9 and 1; both are large-breed dogs, weighing about 75 pounds each.

$250/month for vet - visits, treatments, meds (averaged over a year)
$70/month for special meds - calming/anxiety drug, glucosamine liquid for dog with hip dysplasia
$130/month for dog food - Performatrin Ultra Limited dry & also cans of wet food to supplement
$200/month for boarding - occasional board for the puppy (adult dog stays with my parents)
$200/month for training - training fees for the puppy

Until I broke it all down, I hadn't realized how much they were costing me. We can afford the expense, but that doesn't mean I love paying that much every month. If the puppy weren't so rambunctious, we could leave her with friends, but for the time being that's not an option. And if she weren't so crazy, we could stop with the training fees as well.

I'd been wondering where much of my money was going, and now I know.

What exactly is the purpose of owning this animal?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, dogs are expensive! Here are our monthly costs for one, not even including averaged out vet visits and flea/tick meds.

Walker $310
Food/treats ~$60
Bark box $20
Groomer $75
1x/week day care $180-$225

I can’t believe that there’s ‘bark box’ when there are starving people here and all over the world. Somewhere some kid is slaving away to make monthly dog toys for some rich dog in America to play with two times, while that kid is malnutritioned and we have people here going without medical and dental care.
It’s absurd.

That's called "speciesism," according to the Australian philosopher Peter Singer. Discrimination based on membership to species, like racism, sexism.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you invested that money instead, you could have $200,000 after 10 years, assuming a 10% rate of return.

Imagine how much you'd have if you didn't have kids, but got dogs instead.

Yep. Kid is costing me 30K/yr or so. Dog is only about 1500. And dog is always happy to see me.

Let me tell you - as someone with no kids, and four pets, I don't know how folks with kids do it. G_d bless you for taking on that responsibility.

Yes, of course kids are expensive. But this thread is about dogs specifically and how they are affecting the OP's finances. OP is shelling out $200,000 over a ten year period, which could be going towards retirement. If OP invested that 200,000 accrued over 10 years and added nothing for the next 20 years, it would equal well over a million dollars. I like dogs, but that's quite a trade-off.

OP could just put himself into a long coma and really save money that way, too.

The point I am making is that some of us really love dogs. They make our lives richer and better. I'm sure you have some expensive habits, too. Perhaps you bought more house than as strictly necessary because you liked it. I bet you don't eat the very cheapest food available, either. Did you have children? What a $$ suck!

The point is that OP could probably cut down his pet-related expenses if he wanted to, without having to take the extreme position of never having any pets. Though he didn't actually sound that concerned about doing so.

You forget that children represent ROI for some parents (esp if they're Asian). Dogs can't do anything for humans. And I will also place all pets in this category. It's pointless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, dogs are expensive! Here are our monthly costs for one, not even including averaged out vet visits and flea/tick meds.

Walker $310
Food/treats ~$60
Bark box $20
Groomer $75
1x/week day care $180-$225

You dont need Bark Box

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you invested that money instead, you could have $200,000 after 10 years, assuming a 10% rate of return.

Imagine how much you'd have if you didn't have kids, but got dogs instead.

Yep. Kid is costing me 30K/yr or so. Dog is only about 1500. And dog is always happy to see me.

Let me tell you - as someone with no kids, and four pets, I don't know how folks with kids do it. G_d bless you for taking on that responsibility.

Yes, of course kids are expensive. But this thread is about dogs specifically and how they are affecting the OP's finances. OP is shelling out $200,000 over a ten year period, which could be going towards retirement. If OP invested that 200,000 accrued over 10 years and added nothing for the next 20 years, it would equal well over a million dollars. I like dogs, but that's quite a trade-off.

OP could just put himself into a long coma and really save money that way, too.

The point I am making is that some of us really love dogs. They make our lives richer and better. I'm sure you have some expensive habits, too. Perhaps you bought more house than as strictly necessary because you liked it. I bet you don't eat the very cheapest food available, either. Did you have children? What a $$ suck!

The point is that OP could probably cut down his pet-related expenses if he wanted to, without having to take the extreme position of never having any pets. Though he didn't actually sound that concerned about doing so.

You forget that children represent ROI for some parents (esp if they're Asian). Dogs can't do anything for humans. And I will also place all pets in this category. It's pointless.

What a fxxxin' racist you are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you invested that money instead, you could have $200,000 after 10 years, assuming a 10% rate of return.

Imagine how much you'd have if you didn't have kids, but got dogs instead.

Yep. Kid is costing me 30K/yr or so. Dog is only about 1500. And dog is always happy to see me.

Let me tell you - as someone with no kids, and four pets, I don't know how folks with kids do it. G_d bless you for taking on that responsibility.

Yes, of course kids are expensive. But this thread is about dogs specifically and how they are affecting the OP's finances. OP is shelling out $200,000 over a ten year period, which could be going towards retirement. If OP invested that 200,000 accrued over 10 years and added nothing for the next 20 years, it would equal well over a million dollars. I like dogs, but that's quite a trade-off.

OP could just put himself into a long coma and really save money that way, too.

The point I am making is that some of us really love dogs. They make our lives richer and better. I'm sure you have some expensive habits, too. Perhaps you bought more house than as strictly necessary because you liked it. I bet you don't eat the very cheapest food available, either. Did you have children? What a $$ suck!

The point is that OP could probably cut down his pet-related expenses if he wanted to, without having to take the extreme position of never having any pets. Though he didn't actually sound that concerned about doing so.

You forget that children represent ROI for some parents (esp if they're Asian). Dogs can't do anything for humans. And I will also place all pets in this category. It's pointless.

I mean if you want to go down that road - studies show folks with pets tend to be healthier and wealthier. It's probably correlation and not causation - you need money and health to take care of pets. But having a dog probably does mean you get some exercise, it means you get some socialization, it means you have a blood pressure reducer living in your home. There are benefits to the owner as well as the pets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Walker $310
1x/week day care $180-$225

This is not a dog; this is an accessory.

Seriously, I don't get why people even bother. I guess the same could be said of kids too though. If you don't want to take care of them yourself, why have them?

Uh, b/c this is taking care of them. When folks are at work, the dog still needs to be let out to pee and exercised. Failing to do that is a)how dogs become destructive and/or soil the house and b) is cruel to the animal.

Or are we going to have a SAH v. WOH dog argument now?

[Anonymous]

OP here.

Your boarding cost sounds so high.. Are you traveling that much that it breaks down to $200/mo? Use rover.com instead to find a reasonable sitter.

We board the pup about 4 days every month (business conferences with my DH, as we run a company together and are both required to travel at the same time). We pay an additional activity fee to allow for extra walks & snuggles & treats, which works out to ~$50/day.

I've looked into rover.com, but it won't work because of the nature of the (my) beast. She's accustomed to the boarding facility, because we introduced her to the people and place when she was a wee pup. But now that she's 16 months, 75ish pounds and protective, I wouldn't trust her not to become aggressive with a new person.

Thankfully my parents take care of my older dog, and it's possible that DH and I can cut back on our business travel. DH wants to take the dogs everywhere with us in an RV after we retire in 2 years, so that will be interesting and possibly less expensive on the pet front.

What exactly is the purpose of owning this animal?

Well, they're warm and furry. I like learning new things with the pup--I'm excited about starting with agility training. On a serious note, my youngest daughter (age 20) suffers from mental health issues, and she finds the dogs to be essential to her well-being. I couldn't ask for more loving and non-judgmental therapists than my dogs (guess that speaks to the quality of mental health care in this country, right?).

I mean if you want to go down that road - studies show folks with pets tend to be healthier and wealthier. It's probably correlation and not causation - you need money and health to take care of pets. But having a dog probably does mean you get some exercise, it means you get some socialization, it means you have a blood pressure reducer living in your home. There are benefits to the owner as well as the pets.

Ah yes! My DH enjoys walking the dogs, as it's the only exercise he routinely gets. But I'm not going to lie...those dogs are a money suck. I'm going to start cracking down on their treats for sure.

[Anonymous]

Another reason why I don't like to have dogs. Cost more to own one, who you still have to pick up their sh*t for years.

[Anonymous]

The idea of picking up dog poo is gross. I don't know how dog owners can do it.

[Anonymous]

That's why we got cats. Benefit is they keep the mice away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The idea of picking up dog poo is gross. I don't know how dog owners can do it.

The idea of wiping someone else's behind is gross. I don't know how parents do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To the no pet people, for some of us, there is an intrinsic value to a dog. In addition to safety. I figure the life lesson cost of a dog is about 1500/yr. But most years, I spend about 700. End of life can be very expensive, though.

With that said, tomorrow when I get home from this business trip, my dog will be really happy to see me. Kid will want to know what I got germ and wife will pst to Facebook that I am home, and how happy she is to see me while actually ignoring my presence

Ha! Classic!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The idea of picking up dog poo is gross. I don't know how dog owners can do it.

The idea of wiping someone else's behind is gross. I don't know how parents do it.

It's different when you're the immediate parent who created said person.