How much does it cost to keep a dog?

[SaligoBay]

What would be your rough monthly estimate, how much would you budget for a small dog's keep?

He's been here 2 months so far, had his two puppy vaccins, at 38 euros each.

He'll need some sort of tagging, either chip or tattoo.  And a collar.  And worming tablets, and anti-flea things, and no doubt more injections along the way.

I find the pet food aisle in supermarkets morally repulsive, so thought we could feed him ourselves, but then found we often don't have any leftovers!

When he gets whiffy, does he really need doggy shampoo, or will washing-up liquid do?

Thank you!  [:)]

[Lori]

Good question.  I really think it depends up on the dog, the owner and the lifestyle of the two.

We have a 4 year old collie.  His annual vaccinations run 60

euros.  We take him in for a good grooming twice per year at a

cost of 50 each.  He is a collie and has lots and lots of

fur.  Not something I want running down my drains and it is too

difficult to tackle this type of thing outdoors.  He is rarely

sick, but did have a bunch of those awful dried grass/weed stickers go

into his skin last summer.  Had to have those surgically

removed.  Can't remember the cost, but it was over 100

euros.  Had his teeth cleaned at the same time as he was already

under anesthesia.  That cost 60 euros - more than I pay for my own

teeth cleaning.

9 months out of the year, we put Frontline flea control on him at a

cost of about 12 euros per month - worth every penny !  He also

wears a tick/mosquito/flea repellent collar to protect him from the

ills of those beasts.  The collar lasts 6 months and cost 15

euros.  He gets a worm pill every six months at a cost of around 3

euros.

We have always been told not to feed the dog from the table left-overs,

so we feed him Royal Canine Adult dog food; 55 euros sac lasts us about

5 to 6 weeks.  We replace is outside water and food bowls about

every year - 3 euros at the discount shops.

Also, our dog is rather large and we have a 3000 m2 garden for him to

run and play in (fenced), so he stays most of the time outside. 

This can add to the need for regular baths.  He sleeps in the

house at night.  Also if your dog is a male, you will want to

consider neutering him - he will lift his leg far less often and be

calmer in most cases.  If you have a female, I am told the health

care for females can be higher than male dogs - don't know if this is

true or not.

He has his basket of toys and his leash that we have purchased for

walks.  That is about all I can think of.  Certain breeds are

more inclined to need more things than others.

Most all these things depend upon the owners preference and how they feel about their dog.

[Chrissie]

I agree about not feeding a dog on table scraps, so food can run dear.  Agree also that ours costs about 10 euros per dog per week.  Don't forget the cost of baskets/bedding and cleaning or replacing of same.  What else?  Brushes, poop bags, treats, guard or harnessing for safe travel in car.  Occasional dog-sitters if you are planning long days away.  And of course, as he gets older he is likely to require regular medication such as anti-inflammatories/heart pills etc - this may seem a long way off but I speak from impoverished experience!

Chrissie (81)

[Chrissie]

Sorry, forgot to say that I don't think washing-up liquid is at all suitable for dogs - they are usually made with very strong detergents.  Most dog shampoos are really not dear and you use as little as possible as it's the rinsing that's difficult.  False economy to risk a skin problem!

Chrissie (81)

[Ewa]

Just adding on to the comments about feeding scraps - some human food is poisonous to dogs. Cooked onions, raisins/grapes and chocolate are the main ones I'm aware of. Cooked onions can cause leukaemia (our last dog, a Rough Collie aged 10, died of the start of Lupus possibly brought on by cooked onions so I'm a little sensitive about this one), cocoa beans contain a heart stimulant so the darker the chocolate the worse it is (white chocolate may just about be okay) and I'm not sure of the reason behind grapes/raisins but many people mention this one.

So, just beware scrap feeding - cooking food intended for your dog is fine: my mother used to buy blocks of mince specifically for dogs (presume they had ground up bits and pieces humans wouldn't be too happy with) and she cooked this up for our Belgian Sheepdog - until my grandmother mistook the mince for our supper and cooked it for us all....!!

Royal Canin is an excellent brand which we feed to our Retriever who does very well on it (it costs me £14-ish for a 5kg bag (I think) here in the UK and I'm sure it's cheaper in large bags but we just don't have space for storage.

Ewa

Devon & 27

PS Rather than washing up liquid, use human hair shampoo - makes your dog smell lovely (although some vets may not agree with this practice, it hasn't hurt our Goldie!!).

[SaligoBay]

[quote user="Ewa"]cooking food intended for your dog is fine: [/quote]

I bought some of the "Dechets pour animaux" from HyperU last week.  TOH identified it as lung, cos he had a job in Uncle Dave's butcher shop when he was at school.   First major failure on the eating front!!  Dog picked all the bits of lung out and carried them through to the living room one by one and dumped them there.

Thank you for your replies. [:)] 

[Mpprh]

Hi

Annual anti worm pills, jabs, etc : Euro 40 ish

Anti ?????? collar Euro 10 from Intermarche, Euro 19 from the vets

Food ? Reckon Euro 10 per week from Lidl, rather more from Royal Canine.

Expect 1 extra vet visit per year, say Euro 40

Replacing worn out, (eaten) collars, leads etc, say a few Euro

Then :

Reseeding lawn, redecorating house, replacing furniture, respraying car doors,  .................... hmm - just as well you love him/her ? 

Mrs mpprh says he's a little darling. And it is true he gets treated better than me :

http://tlp.netfirms.com/useless.jpg

BTW : he is an idle male

 

Peter

 

 

[Deimos]

Vet prices seem to vary quite a lot in different areas (from

prices for things people have posted here). 

In practice  you have little

choice about the vet bills.  If you get

the combined “everything” and rabies at the same time it is marginally more

than the “everything” vaccination and a lot cheaper than the “everything” cost

plus the “rabies” cost.

You may want to get him “seen to” which will be a one-off

bill but for a bloke is not too bad.

I would suggest getting your dog decent dog food.  As with humans, what you eat directly

affects your health and the cheapo stuff is said to contain rubbish.  Poor diet can affect a dogs health and

behaviour (normally making it worse). 

Dogs tend to manage better eating the same all the time (less prone to

become fussy eaters as they get older). 

I have always gone for dried complete foods as they are easy, you buy

them in big sacks which keep (and are thus lower cost), quick feed and clean,

etc.  I used to use Burns (which is

excellent and not as expensive as you might thing – depending on where you

live) but now use Royal Cannin (costs me about €50 per 15Kg sack).

I don’t know much about small dogs but my Border Collies

have never had a shampoo.  Sometimes they

go out and get covered in river mud – but get a hose off outside to remove the

mud and don’t smell too bad (to me anyway). 

They do get a regular’ish brush (by me, not in any posh place”).  Again, things like washing-up liquid could

contain chemicals “inappropriate” to dogs skin and if you get an irritation

could be your vet bill start increasing.

It’s a good plan to get him used to being bathed (even if

its just with water).  Mine are not and

hate it – thus bathing then is something of a challenge and mostly a

non-started.  Fortunately the one worse

with the river mud is also the one who loves playing with the hose – which makes

life a bit easier.

I think that once things “stabilise” you will find it easier

to estimate costs and costs will go down. 

For example, once you have purchased a collar and lead they will last

for years.

Other good news that will help is TVA staying at 5.5% -

which means your dog damage repairs, redecoration, etc. will cost you less.

Ian

[SaligoBay]

[quote user="Mpprh"]

http://tlp.netfirms.com/useless.jpg

[/quote]

You poor thing!  Where do you sleep now that he's taken your basket?  [:O]

[quote user="Mpprh"]

BTW : he is an idle male

[/quote]

Bof, is there any other kind?   Bet he doesn't even change the toilet roll.