Photo by Ratterrell
Ok, one puppy, and she is coming home tonight with Yankee Bill. She is a 3 month old black lab mix from the shelter. The shelter folks named her Tracy but we’ll probably come up with a new name.
The biggest and most exciting thing? We haven’t told the kids yet. I can’t wait to see how thrilled they are going to be-they have been begging for a dog for months!
Dogs however are not frugal. Let’s face it, even a “free” dog from the shelter costs money. Our “free” dog is costing us almost $300 (although we get a $200 rebate if we can show proof of having her spayed within 6 months). Then yesterday I spent almost $90 at the pet store on food, kong, chew toy, nylabone, flea dip, milkbones and two pet beds (our floors get very cold in the winter-one is for her crate, one for the living room).
Although we’ve been dogless for almost four years, we kept a lot of our other supplies so we don’t have to purchase a pet carrier, crate*, food bowls, collars and leashes. There is a stockpile of newspapers we have built up for paper training. We also still have one pet/child gate and are borrowing another from my Mother in Law* .
There will be the continuing cost of food and veterinary care, and of course if we go away anywhere that we can’t bring a pet we will have the cost of boarding her.
And let’s not forget that she is a puppy and despite all our best intentions I’m sure SOMETHING will get chewed up that we will have to replace. . .
Obviously it is less expensive not to have a dog at all! Yet dogs can bring so much to a family-there is just something about the companionship that they offer that fills a need in so many of us. To many folks not having a dog is just not an option they want to consider.
My best tricks for saving money with a dog?
1-Look for equipment at yard sales. I picked up two collars and a leash recently at a yard sale for less than 2 dollars.
2-Comparison shop for your dog food. We have very specific brands we like to use because we feel that they offer the most nutrition and the least filler (less filler means less to be. . .um. . .excreted as waste). I will be checking the prices on those brands at the 3 local pet stores and the major grocery store chains to see who has the best price per lb.
3-Borrow when possible. If you will only occasionally use a pet carrier try to borrow one from a friend when necessary rather than buying. Or if you need equipment that your pet will grow out of maybe you can borrow the smaller size (crate, carrier, pet bed etc) from a friend.
So what ways are there to save when you have a dog? Give me your best tips & tricks and I’ll compile them all (with attribution) into a post next week. Feel free to include links to any previous posts you have on how to save money with pets~if I think they are truly frugal I will include them. Spammers need not apply 😉
*We always crate train our dogs for nigh time and when we are out of the house. We also don’t allow them upstairs, so we block off the stairways with gates until they are full grown and have that ingrained.
yay for puppies! if you use frontline for flea/tick prevention, look for it on amazon.com! we buy ours there in large vials rather than the pricey single-dose ones. it’s easy to measure out and saves quite a bit! 🙂
As an owner of two dogs, I only give Frontline until the frost and then as it begins to thaw. IF your dog is going to be out, then you probably need to extend it, but that is how I save money on flea protection.
have fun!
I am the proud pet parent to 5 dogs. Three of these are rescue dogs. I have the pet care insurance at Petsmart. I believe it saves me a lot of money in the long run. I have the 2nd level of care. It pays for teeth cleaning, all exams, minor surgery, and tests etc. I still have to pay for any prescriptions; but our vet is very frugal minded of me because I have 5 dogs and she goes the extra mile to see that my vet care is cost effective. When I must use a prescription for a dog, (one of my pets is 14 and requires a medication everyday) she wrote the script for me to take to Walmart pharmacy and get it for 4 dollars. I cut the pill into 4 pieces with a pill splitter.
I also buy our dog food at a local AG store (feed store) They have the best prices I have found. I also make them some food from time to time of liver and chicken necks and backs. (cooked in a pressure cooker it is fast) My dogs are very healthy and have all lived long happy lives.
I am sure your children will love their new puppy. Blessings to you for taking a dog from a shelter. My dogs are all small (except the Bassett hound that weighs 60 pounds) If I had a bigger yard I would have a big dog like a Lab. We have a pet door and our girls all come and go as they please. Potty training our last rescue was a breeze because she just followed the other girls…really I never had a single issue of ‘toidy’ on the floor. Blessings Roxie
Shop around for the cheapest prices when it comes to regular vet visits. After we had aour dog a couple of years we realized we could save over $100 per yearly visit at another local vet. clinic!
We use Frontline/Advantix, but we have found we don’t need to apply it every month.
We also have a lab/mix. We have found it will save you money if you keep him supplied in chew toys and exercise him regularly. He will be less prone to destroying things in the house!
Congratulations on your pup! Labs are great dogs to have with kids around!
Good for you on picking a puppy from the shelter! Rescued dogs are the best!
I just wanted to say congrats on the new puppy:)
Yay puppies! That is so exciting.
My dog will destroy any toy – no matter how expensive or how “indestructible” – and I used to spend a fortune. Now we get her the dollar store plush toys with the squeaker inside and let her rip it apart, then I take the squeaker and toss it. Better than the $10 toys she used to eat… Really, avoiding the pet superstores seems to save me a lot – most things seem to cost more there.
Congrats on your new addition to your family!! After just going thru the puppy stage with an adopted German Wirehair/Coonhound mix who is now 10 months old I can undertand your chewing concerns – I have a couple things in our house that had to be replaced… The best advice I can give is wear the puppy out playing. I try to give all of our dogs ‘outside time’ of several hours on the weekend and at least on hour on week nights. A tired doggie does not turn destructive in the house and best of all – play time is free!! And bonus – it gets me up and moving more burning calories.
One other frgual thought I have about having our dogs – no need to buy an electronic security system and pay monthly service fees! Our dogs provide more than enough security and warning of anyone near the house. One of our dogs is a 165 pound mastiff/ridgeback cross… gotta love the ‘big dog’ bark as a deterrent!
A new dog – lots of fun! My sister in law who is an AKC agility judge says the best toy for dogs is a simple “braid” of strips of fleece – each about five inches wide. She knots each end after braiding them. They are big, sturdy, washable and very hard to rip apart. Since you can use remnants for the braid – cheap, too!
She also recommends making friends with someone who plays tennis so you can get their old, not-very-bouncy tennis balls for use as dog fetch toys.
For your sanity while the dog is young, I recommend:
Wiping down your wooden furniture legs with Bitter Apple spray before bringing the dog home. Especially kitchen chairs as they often have splatters and drips on them from kids. I didn’t do it this time (how we forget!) and I have the gnawed table and chair legs to prove it.
Use a Gentle Leader. After going through many dog collar systems with our German Shepherds, I firmly believe in the dog halters. They lead your dog by the muzzle and there is a lot less pulling involved. That is about $25 not on sale but they are often on sale at pet food stores for about $10-$15.
The rest is just too fun to put a price tag on!
We haven’t owned a dog since our last one past away about 6 years ago (when my son was a baby). We haven’t taken the plunge to dog ownership yet, but would like to do so one of these days. I think a dog is such a special thing for a kid. I will look forward to reading lots of tips.
As for frugal pet ownership, we adopted a “free” cat from a shelter this spring. In keeping costs of cat ownership down, we often shop for supplies (litter & food) at the farm store near our house as opposed to one of the big pet chains or the grocery store. It’s a very no-frills farm store, which is what probably helps keep their prices down some.
While we aren’t dog people, we are pet people. There are 3 cats, 2 guinea pigs, and 2 fish tanks of fish at our house. My tip for saving money is to ask your vet if they have low-cost clinics on annual shots – like rabies – or other services. You can also check local pet stores for clinics. The Petco by us has very low cost rabies shots available about once a month.
think you will find this puppy will train her or hiself, look like a lab and if you listen to them they will housebreak theirself, very easy to train dogs,buy lot of chew toys, the sturdy ones or they will tear apart faster than you can buy,take time to play fetch with your pat daily high exercise dog,likes to please